Message-Id: <mailto:199411291559.JAA07349@library.wustl.edu> Date: Tue, 29 Nov 1994 09:41:51 EST From: "ASTRID R. OTEY" <mailto:AOTEY@MIAMIU.ACS.MUOHIO.EDU> Subject: Re: Position description To: Multiple recipients of list IMAGELIB
Mr. Gribovsky, I take issue with many of your fundamental presumptions. Your characterization of a visual resource position as "professional librarian work" which someone without an MLIS "has no business doing" is disturbing at best. The field bene- fits from the participation of individuals with varying backgrounds and know- ledge in a wide range of subject areas. It has long been accepted by those in the art library field and documented specifically by ARLIS in the _Standards for Art Libraries and Fine Arts Slide Collections_ that the director of a fine arts slide collection (the terms librarian and curator seem to be freely inter- changed in _general_ usage) is capable of fulfilling the duties of the job with a masters degree in art history and appropriate professional training or exper- ience. Knowledge of art history is an essential element in the management of an art history image collection. Knowledge in the area of library science is another element in the field, but a lack of specific training in this area does not lessen the professional quality of the collection, its director, or the field.Astrid R. Otey Miami University, Oxford, OH mailto:AOTEY@MIAMIU.ACS.MUOHIO.EDU mailto:AOTEY@MIAMIU.BITNET