Re: [ARSCLIST] Job Posting

["Steven C. Barr" <stevenc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Peter Hirsch" <punto@xxxxxxxx>
> Steven,
> 
> It was not my intention to dis you or your achievements, which I do 
> respect. Much of my life up through my mid-forties, was spent in pretty 
> much the same boat and I probably have accomplished a good deal less 
> than you in the areas you describe. I just tried to give some 
> perspective on what might be the motives and justifications of a HR 
> dept. writing such a job description. No one pursuing a graduate degree 
> in Library Science would have the time or means to accumulate all the 
> valuable experience you describe in their course of study. A good deal 
> of this experience would be quite valuable to a librarian/archivist, but 
> so would a lot of other things that tend to come up in library school. I 
> would be eager (seriously) to take your discography 101 course, but I 
> stick to my guns on what might be quantifiable and of most value in an 
> institutional setting like the one in the original posting.
> 
> Anyhow, I was just musing about what I value in  my background and it 
> was never meant to denigrate a kindred spirit.
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Peter Hirsch
Well, my comment wasn't intended as a "dis(s)"...it was just my thoughts
on the subject! At the ripe old age of 62.9, I'm unlikely to be looking
for work in the field (or have time for grad school!). This all goes
back to a decade or more ago; I had been working with the National
Library of Canada on a sequel to their "Roll Back the Years" and found
out the current music librarian was retiring (which eventually ended
the project). I inquired about the post, and was told that I would
need at least a Master's...PhD preferred...in Library Science to
avoid my application immediately being placed in "File 13" (the
dustbin!).

My real point was that folks in upper-level archiving positions
often lack the innate knowledge which they really need to complete
their tasks...and I don't think anyone is able to provide that
knowledge, which is unfortunate and which also affects the
quality of our archives and archival data. Dunno how to fix that, 
though...

Steven C. Barr
(Who would, of course, be available for consultant positions
in the field...)