Saying no to mediocrity is the first step in that direction
Dear friends Ananda worked with me at QMed for about a month or so immediately after her MLIS, just to gain some experience. She happened to be one of the rare "fresh flowers" that still spring up in the profession every now and then. It was not just her academic record (which was superb). She proactively did things that she felt needed to be done at QMed. Once she got the school job and moved there (as a trainee), a little while later I had a vacancy, and asked her if she would come back. She told me that she would soon become permanent at the school, and she liked her job there too - and wanted to stay on. I was obviously disappointed, but I was also thrilled about a "Bigger Picture". I always believe that the foundation of our profession began at School Librarianship level - and I was happy that the area got someone like Ananda - "out of her choice - not simply because she landed there". I am really happy to see a very will written and passionate posting from her. Well done - Ananda! Her comment (that I have chosen at the beginning of the mail) - is definitely one step that has to be taken. We cannot make great professionals by just adding soft skills in the curriculum for ordinary of below par people. (Please note - I do not mean to negate any effort made in that direction. That is very important). In the long run, we need to take in students of high calibre AND train them not only in the technical + domain areas of LIS, but ALSO in soft skills Apart from that - I think Ananda's observation about how difficult it is to get a good intern, is very often shared with me even by librarians at leading public libraries. I really believe this is a wake up call. Many other respondents to this topic have made a point about - "let us not blame the LIS schools". I will add to that - Let us not blame anyone. That does not help. "Let us fix the problem - not fix a blame (on anyone or any organization)" - should be our motto Vasumathi Sriganesh Director, QMed Services A-3, Shubham Centre, Cardinal Gracious Road Chakala, Andheri East, Mumbai 400099, India Tel: 91-22-40054474 / 75 Fax: 91-22-40054358 Please visit our Directory of Indian Medical Sites- www.qmedin.com/medsites ----- Original Message ----- From: ananda thakur To: lis-forum@ncsi.iisc.ernet.in Sent: Saturday, April 14, 2007 12:55 PM Subject: Re: [LIS-Forum] Training in LIS Hi all, I agree with the views of Mr. Arunachalam and Ms Vasumathi. As a school librarian , I face some unique problems regarding quality of librarians............ -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.