59.lourdes t david (pp416-422) session 8a ppt

An assessment of the perception of licensed librarians about theiracademic preparation and satisfaction in their job as librarians

Item type Conference Paper

Authors David, Lourdes T.; Perez, Dante R.

Citation An assessment of the perception of licensed librariansabout their academic preparation and satisfaction in theirjob as librarians 2006, :416-422

Publisher School of Communication & Information, NanyangTechnological University

Downloaded 29-Mar-2018 20:12:43

Link to item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/105136

http://hdl.handle.net/10150/105136

A-LIEP 2006, NTU Singapore

1

1

Perception of Licensed Librarians about Their Academic Preparation and Job Satisfaction

Paper presented by Lourdes T. David, Director, Rizal Library, Philippines at the 2006 A-LIEP Conference, Singapore

David, L. T., & Perez, D. R. (2006). An assessment of the perception of licensed librarians about their academic preparation and satisfaction in their job as librarians.

Presented at the Asia-Pacific Conference on Library & Information Education & Practice 2006 (A-LIEP 2006), Singapore, 3 -6 April 2006, Nanyang Technological University.

2

IntroductionThe practice of librarianship in the Philippines is

regulated by:o Republic Act 6966: The Philippine

Librarianship Act 1990. o Republic Act No. 9246: The Philippine

Librarianship Act of 2003. “An Act Modernizing the Practice of Librarianship in the Philippines”


2

3

Aims of RA 9246

o To supervise, control and regulate the practice of librarianship

o To integrate the librarians into one national organization (Philippine Librarians Association, Inc.)

o To develop the professional competence of librarians.

4

RA 9246 on the Professional Competence of Librarianso It delineates the scope of the licensure

examinationo It defines and prescribes the content of the

library and information science curriculum at the undergraduate level in the country.

o It sets the qualifications required of the examinee in order to be allowed to take the exam.


3

5

The SituationThere are more than 15 different types of undergraduate and graduate library science curricula in the country offered by 76 library schools spread out in the country. However, only the graduates of a few schools (10) are consistently passing the board exam.

••

••

•

•

•

•• ••••

6

The Curriculumo As provided for in RA 9246, by 2009, all

library schools in the country will be offering a uniform curriculum since all graduates take the same board examination and only those graduates of the prescribed curriculum will qualify to take the Board Exam.

o Schools which consistently do not have Board passers will be closed down.


4

7

Passing Rate in the Board Examo The average passing rate is 47%. The lowest

passing rate was 29 % in 2004 while the highest was 55% in 1998.

o As of 2005, (From 1990) 6378 have taken the licensure examination but only 3004 have passed the exam less than 10% of the 40,000 libraries are manned by licensed librarians.

8

Aims of this studyo To determine/identifyn The characteristics of those who passed the

licensure examinationn The perception of the librarians about their

academic preparation for the workplacen The problems in the workplace met by newly

hired librariansn The job satisfaction of librarians

o It also aims to seek out possible areas of further study


5

9

Results: Characteristics of the Respondents (1)o Eighty one percent (81%) of the 162 respondents

were female. This indicates that librarianship in the Philippines is still more attractive to females than to males.

o The age range of the respondent group was from under 25 years old to more than 41 years old.n Under 25yrs old--10%n 26-30yrs old--24%n 31-35yrs old--20%n 36-40yrs old--29%n 41yrs old +--17%

10

Results: Characteristics of the Respondents (2)o Most of the

respondents have worked in a library for more than 5 years.n Less than 1 year—5%n 1-2 years—11%n 3-4 years—10%n 5 or more years—74%

o More than half (78%) obtained their license in the last 10 years. n 1991-1995—24%n 1996-2000—41%n 2001-2005—37%


6

11

Results: Characteristics of the Respondents (3)

18232001-2005

112201996-2000

17161991-1995

11141Before 1991

PhD (4%)

Master’s degree (48%)

Undergraduate Degree (100%)

Year graduated:

o Highest Degree Obtained

12

Perception: Gap between Theory and Practice?o 100 per cent of the respondents found that there

is a gap between theory and practice.o They attribute their success in passing the

examination and readiness for the workforce to:n Undergraduate curriculum (52 per cent) and/or the

graduate curriculum (35 per cent)n Computer laboratory exercisesn Out-of-school seminars attendedn Visits to other librariesn On the job training.


7

13

Comments about the Gap (1)o S/he (Teacher) has the basic theories of

librarianship but lacks other skills learned on the job like management, public relations, school administration, student-teacher-librarian relationship.

o In the Philippines, we seem to adopt western theories blindly when they are applicable only to their own environment. There is a need to develop theories that are anchored on the real situation in the Philippines.

14

Comments about the Gap (2)o Not all theories/concepts are perfectly

applied due to the variation of practices and experiences.

o Most of the theories I have learned are very different from actual practice. Most of the rules and regulations are based on managerial decisions of higher bosses and depends on actual situations.


8

15

Comments about the Gap (3)o One of the contributing factors that widen the

gap between theory and practice is the absence of an adequate orientation program for new recruits. Libraries tend to assume that they are ready when they are hired to smoothly take on the tasks assigned to them.

o They feel most prepared for cataloguing and indexing tasks but less prepared for reference work because of the new digital resources and the Internet.

16

Job Satisfactiono Librarians in the Philippines are satisfied that

they chose librarianship as a career, although some of them became librarians by accident.

o They do not perceive themselves as leaving the profession in the near future.

o They predict that librarianship in the Philippines is just becoming increasingly important and they are ready to face the challenges of the near future.


9

17

Conclusions and Recommendations (1)o The very low passing rate in the licensure examination

is indicative of the need to examine the curriculum and the situation in the different schools that might be contributing to the non-performance of many of the 76 library schools in the country.

o A follow-up study in this area is recommended. The study should determine the correlation between and among the following:n The curriculumn Qualifications of the teacher and her teaching methodologyn Entrance and academic requirements of the schooln Facilities of the schooln On-the-job training requirements

18

Conclusions and Recommendations (2)o Librarians perceive that they are prepared for entry into the

workplace. The problems that they encounter in the workplace seems related to:n the management practices in the library where they are working in, n the absence of an adequate orientation program for new recruits.

o This is an area where n An orientation program for new recruits could be produced and a

study on its impact could be conducted. n A study on the impact of continuing education on the knowledge

and skills of librarians could be studied. Continuing education was a requirement of the former Philippine Librarianship Act.


10

19

Conclusions and Recommendations (3)

o Many see a bright future for librarianship in the Philippines. They do not perceive themselves as leaving either the profession or their particular workplace in the near future although some indicated that they became librarians by accident.

o The study of Perez (2004) on Philippine libraries and librarianship 1900-2000: a historical perspective, should be continued up to 2005 and beyond to determine if this perception would remain valid at least in the next 10 years.

20

Thank you!o Lourdes T. Davido Director, Rizal Library,

Ateneo de Manila University

o [email protected] (632)426-5961

59.lourdes t david (pp416-422) session 8a ppt

Documents