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 Professional Resource Specialists
Author:Edw. Stollery
Date:Wednesday, 12th Jun 2002 12:07
Views:3,194 (excluding Digests and RSS feeds)
Category:Information Issues
URL:http://www.freepint.com/go/b18189

PROFESSIONAL RESOURCE SPECIALISTS
Edw. Stollery

Okay, it's a fancy name. "Maintenance engineers" clean up buildings but get paid more than "janitors." (Yet, in hotels, "maids" are still "maids." Go figure!)

Librarians are one of the oldest professions on earth, certainly the oldest MENTAL profession; before writing, we were the information sources of our families, clans and societies. After, we become the file cabinet supervisors -- and more, of course.

Add numbers, and especially Dewey's contribution to organization of the non-fictional segment of our arcane filing system, and we became alphabetical mathemeticians. This became especially evident when users discovered certain built in errors to Dewey's system. Our job descriptions changed, our titles did not.

Over time, lawyers who graduated from college with a Bachelor of Law and Letters evolved into a graduate with a JJD degree...fortunately for most of them, about the only thing that changed was their billings increased. Their titles didn't, and a cursoury glance tells me not much changed in their course of study either. (I may be seeing things from a "California" or "USA" standpoint. Email me direct on this.)

Doctors have likewise improved their skills, from the days of cutting hair to, today, making very fine incisions beyond the surface of that scalp...of course, their income has also risen, to the level governments and insurance companies allow.

But Librarians, equally important in today's world, suffer from a lack of understanding and salesmanship. A recent forum at Free Pint disclosed the general futility of upgrading a Librarian!

Over a year ago I needed a title to fit a circumstance whereby I would help people learn how to find things for themselves. Yes, insiders call these "teaching librarians" among other less polite terms. I finally realized, and coined the phrase, PROFESSIONAL RESOURCE SPECIALIST. It makes for a gaudy, cumbersome but elegant signature:

Edward W. Stollery II, PRS

Or, of course you can put your name in front of the letters, and then spell out the terms below your name.

Do we dare? Frankly, why not? Let's consider a less applicable term
"Search Engine Organizer" -- which became
"Search Engine Marketer."
(In reality, the person is a WEB PAGE IMPROVER.)

========================

PART TWO.

Now that we have an improved name, we need an improved organization which can in turn bestow that name on us. For this purpose, I propose we "form" an organization: IAPRS, which is the INTERNATIONAL ORDER OF PROFESSIONAL RESOURCE SPECIALISTS.

Membership is restricted to paid or unpaid Librarians, with or without "Information Studies" degrees, etc. -- but limited to those who want to demonstrate their name / job title is MORE than "Marian the librarian." (Okay, I stole that from the Music Man.)

I further propose that Free Pinters be automatic members, with zero dues, no membership cards, etc. -- and that William and Simon and administration in general merely add the three words to their already extended vocabularies about what to call us. (Politely.)


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Topic Author Date ID
  Professional Resource Specialists
PROFESSIONAL RESOURCE SPECIALISTS Edw. Stollery Okay, it's a fancy name. "Maintenance engineers" clean up buildings but get paid more than "janitors." (Yet, ...
Edw. Stollery 12/06/02 12:07 18189
   Re: Professional Resource Specialists
Nick Stevens gives us a powerful closing thought -- he said, "" I think the key to professionalism lies with ...
Edw. Stollery 06/08/02 04:34 19089
   Re: Professional Resource Specialists
One final hat thrown in the ring. I am a librarian, and proud of it for years I have had ...
Alan Lewis 03/07/02 17:14 18641
    Re: Professional Resource Specialists
Alan, that quote deserves its own Topic / Category. At present it's buried inside this thread -- I'd START ...
Edw. Stollery 04/07/02 03:53 18650
   Re: Professional Resource Specialists
Edward, Great idea! You can definitely include me in membership to this new organisation. There's little enough for Librarians in Hong Kong. Regards Jane
jane macoustra 18/06/02 04:53 18313
   Re: Professional Resource Specialists
q u o t e o f t h e d a y _____________________________________________________________________ "If ...
Ben Russell 17/06/02 15:30 18295
    Re: Professional Resource Specialists
Glad we recognise each other (if not in the street) then at least in terms of our thinking. Professional Resource ...
Andrew Everest 18/06/02 11:27 18322
   Re: Professional Resource Specialists
Excellent suggestion :-) sign me up! There are lots of associations out there but none of them seem to be truely ...
Anjlee 14/06/02 14:40 18252
    Re: Professional Resource Specialists
You are a Professional Resource Specialist indeed! If you read the small print, I've already "nominated" William and Simon as honorary ...
Edw. Stollery 15/06/02 04:44 18264
     Re: Professional Resource Specialists
Given the lack of admin duties required, we could all take turns at being secretary, treasurer, etc... 'nada but our good ...
Anjlee 18/06/02 15:59 18333
      Re: Professional Resource Specialists
Dear All I have been interested in this strand, and would like to add my tuppence-worth. The concept of having a professional ...
Paul 19/06/02 11:57 18354
      Re: Professional Resource Specialists
Dear Anjlee, an earlier FP member pierced my veil to see that I was partly joking, in discovering a term ...
Edw. Stollery 19/06/02 03:57 18344
       Re: Professional Resource Specialists
Dear Ed, I realise that I'm dreaming and I personally haven't got the time, funding or influence to start up such ...
Anjlee 20/06/02 11:10 18395
        Re: Professional Resource Specialists
Anyone else?
Edw. Stollery 21/06/02 03:15 18408
         Re: Professional Resource Specialists
C'est le premiere person qui as tout les resources come le "gold, le "silver", le"titanium", le "platinum". C'est qui-la J'espere ...
Rita Sanders 06/07/02 14:03 18681
          Re: Professional Resource Specialists
Magnifique! No, no parlais Francois; o no hablo espaniol. O Italian, Duetch, ... However, I derive that the ...
Edw. Stollery 07/07/02 03:52 18685
           Re: Professional Resource Specialists
Greetings - Go for the Gold>>> Edw. Stollery<<< signing off. RNS-C
Rita Sanders 10/07/02 16:53 18741
           Re: Professional Resource Specialists
Hi Ed, You may have already made inquiries into this so apologies if I'm covering old ground, but thought you might ...
Tracey Howard-Baker 08/07/02 18:02 18704
            Re: Professional Resource Specialists
Thank you, Tracy. Your point is well made. There are certain standards which must be met in establishing ...
Edw. Stollery 09/07/02 03:53 18712
            Re: Professional Resource Specialists
P.S. Perhaps it should be called IPRS - Intelligent Professional Resource Specialists ;-) T
Tracey Howard-Baker 08/07/02 18:19 18706
             Re: Professional Resource Specialists
Intelligent Professional Resource Specialist. Information Resource Specialist. Professional Information Resource Specialist. Consider the last line; you have your own PEER group, even as ...
Edw. Stollery 11/07/02 03:11 18750
              Re: Professional Resource Specialists
Surely any group which feels the need to include 'Professional' in its title isn't? Tony
Tony Walker 31/07/02 09:09 19019
               Re: Professional Resource Specialists
Perhaps I should instead have suggested that the putative members of such a formal grouping feel insecure and unrecognised. ...
Tony Walker 08/08/02 10:39 19154
                Re: Professional Resource Specialists
Tony, first point: you ended up responding to your own prior note -- and not to mine. Second point: ...
Edw. Stollery 10/08/02 04:02 19219
                 Re: Professional Resource Specialists
Ed: Yes, I lost the beginning of this thread. I also agree that the topic should close for now. I ...
Tony Walker 12/08/02 15:43 19266
               Re: Professional Resource Specialists
My free pint's worth is that (at the risk of ridicule and hostility) I have to agree - I think ...
Nick Stephens 02/08/02 13:46 19057
               Re: Professional Resource Specialists
Good thought. On the other hand, what then separates us from students and others who aren't paid to do research? ...
Edw. Stollery 01/08/02 02:33 19032
         Re: Professional Resource Specialists
I was a student member of both LA and IIS, and I'm now a member of CILIP. Although I ...
Claire Innes 25/06/02 12:43 18467
          Re: Professional Resource Specialists
You say ". I percieve [sic] Librarians to be persons who work in libraries whose primary role would be ...
Tony Walker 01/07/02 17:19 18586
          Re: Professional Resource Specialists
"I like the idea of "Information Professionals"." Claire, in some parts of the world your term is semi-reserved for computer code ...
Edw. Stollery 26/06/02 20:01 18497
   Re: Professional Resource Specialists
Surely the oldest thinking profession must have been the priesthood, not the record-keepers. Imagine being the first member of ...
Atalanta 14/06/02 11:58 18242
    Re: Professional Resource Specialists
Atalanta, while my first reaction was that librarians kept track of hunts and etc. and therefore predated shamans, et al, ...
Edw. Stollery 18/06/02 01:14 18310
    Re: Professional Resource Specialists
Your thought is well taken, if a bit late in the development of mankind. Atalanta, you need to regress further ...
Edw. Stollery 15/06/02 04:27 18263
   Re: Professional Resource Specialists
Oh, Ed: thank you! You have brightened my morning greatly! I love the idea of a 'virtual' professional organisation - ...
Zena 14/06/02 11:49 18239
    Re: Professional Resource Specialists
I know Ed started this an a semi humorous note, but this seems to be running quite close to some ...
Andrew Everest 14/06/02 23:34 18259
     Re: Professional Resource Specialists
Andrew, your point is my point entirely, stated with a more professional background. PRS has a cachet that FP'er doesn't ...
Edw. Stollery 18/06/02 01:35 18312

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