Faculty status for librarians: force-fitting into an inappropriate mold or not?

摘要

Much has been written on the status of academic librarians. If one were to compile a bibliography on the topic, it would be reasonable to expect at least 250 entries. Based on a casual observation of the literature, many of the articles published on the topic occurred in the 1970s and 1980s. Fewer articles have been published on the status of academic librarians in the 1990s than in the 1980s. Are our colleagues having second thoughts about achieving and/or maintaining faculty status? I think not. Notwithstanding the tremendous growing pressures on academic librarians to meet higher expectations of users, it is my opinion that most librarians with faculty status still firmly believe in the virtues associated with this standing.