ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 272 Continuing Ed ucation— X V II More than halt the accredited library schools in the United States, as one facet o f their effort in continuing education, are offering a post-m aster’s certifica te program . T h e total num ber o f such programs and the num ber of graduates seem to be growing slowly. F or academic librarians who may be thinking about such a formal program as th e next step in their continuing education, a b rie f review and prospect may be helpful. T he need for something betw een the basic pro­ fessional degree and the doctorate has long been felt. Before around 1950 the B .L .S . was the basic degree, offered at the postgraduate level and cor­ responding to other professional b achelo r’s d e­ grees that required an undergraduate degree for admission (bachelor of laws, bachelor of divinity). In this period at least two schools, the University o f C hicago and B e rk e le y , offered a sixth -y ear program leading to the master’s degree. After the M .L .S . replaced the B .L .S ., these second-level m aster’s degree programs w ere phased out. In 1961, Columbia University School o f Library Service began to offer a certificate for advanced study not leading to the doctorate. Schools with doctoral programs could offer the certificate to students who began doctoral study but stopped before completing all the requirem ents. Schools with or without doctoral programs could offer the certificate to students who wished to study on an advanced lev el in a formal program . By 1979 thirty-two schools w ere offering such a program. A telephone survey shows the following com ­ parison with the State University of New York at Albany. 1. Typical enrollments are small, 5 to 15 stu­ d en ts a ctiv ely p ursu in g th e c e r tific a te in any given y ear. C o n s e q u e n tly , e n ro llm e n t in th e thirty-two schools is probably betw een 300 and 40 0 stud ents. A lbany’s active e n ro llm e n t, b e ­ tween 15 and 20 students, was reached quickly after the program was announced; if the experi­ ence of other schools is duplicated, the enroll­ m ent will level off at this point. 2. T h e fu ll-tim e stud ent is rare but not un­ known. One school used three H E W fellowships for certificate students. Academic sabbaticals are being used increasingly for advanced study. Sev­ eral schools are ad v ertisin g th e availability o f financial aid for full-time students. In its first year Albany had one full-time student, and it expects three more in its second year. 3. T h e prepon derance o f en rollm en t is from academic librarians, with school librarians next. Public and special librarians are rare. 4. Program requirem ents range from 24 to 36 sem ester hours. G enerally the requirem ents can be com pleted in an academic year, rather than the calendar year typical of the M .L .S . 5. The typical program is a specialist program, individually tailored to a stud ent’s professional goals, and taking advantage, as the M .L .S . typi­ cally does not, o f the offerings of the entire uni­ versity or college. 6. T he most common specializations are in two areas: in administration, m anagem ent, planning finance and in new technologies, automation, sys­ tems analysis. At Albany one other specialization has em erged: library instruction, user education. 7. In schools offering the d octorate a m ove­ m ent from the certificate program to the doctoral program is possible, though not usual. 8. Students are using the certificate programs in two ways: as evidence applying for promotion, ten u re, m erit salary increases and as a way of changing career directions, e .g ., from school to special librarianship. 9. T h e professional accep tab ility o f the c e r ­ tificate remains an unknown. In spite of eighteen years o f experience, the total num ber of gradu­ ates rem ains sm all. D ean s and d irecto rs with whom I talked could give instances in which the certificate had been equated with a second mas­ te r ’s d egree, but they w ere unwilling to make any generalizations. In view o f the substantial num ber of academic librarians enrolled in such p ro g ra m s, th e q u e s tio n o f p ro fe s s io n a l a c ­ ceptability and usefulness would seem to m erit study and discussion. How are employers evaluating the certificate in com parison to an equ iv alent effort devoted to single courses, workshops, p recon ference insti­ tutes, e tc .? In comparison to a su bject m aster’s d e g r e e ? In co m p a ris o n to an M .B .A . or an M .P .A . degree?— R o b e r t S. B u rg ess. E d it o r ’s N o te : R o b e r t S. B u r g e s s is p r o f e s s o r ‚ S c h o o l o f L ib r a r y a n d In fo rm a tio n S c ien c e, S ta te U niversity o f N ew Y o rk , A lb a n y , N ew Y ork. ■■ C h in e se -A m e rica n L ib ra ria n s John Yung-hsiang Lai, associate librarian in the Harvard-Yenching Library, Harvard U ni­ versity, was recently elected president o f the Chinese American Librarians Association, an affiliate group o f the ALA. T h e association’s purpose is to promote b e tter communication among Chinese American librarians in North A merica and to support the developm ent of C hinese and American librarianship. N ow a v a ila b le fo r th e fir s t tim e on M ic ro fic h e 1973-1977 Quinquennium Library of Congress National Union Catalog and Four Quinquenniums 1953-1972 also Current NUC’s for 1978,1979,1980 a ll from a single source Advanced Library Systems — the leading producer By switching to ALS microfiche from LC hard of the LC NUC on microfiche — now offers the copy, you can reduce shelf space by 94%, and have 1973-1977 NUC Quinquennium on microfiche for the entire collection at your fingertips. The ALS immediate delivery. Also available for the first time, current NUC subscription is less than 1/3 the cost the four previous Quinquenniums (1953-1972) in of the LC hard copy. the same microfiche format for immediate delivery. ALS microfiche NUC service is COMPLETE… This gives you 25 years of retrospective NUC’s in COMPATIBLE … CONTINUING … and one compatible and easy-to-use form. COST SAVING. ALS can also provide updates to your NUC For complete information use the coupon collection with monthly, quarterly and annual below. Or call the number below left. cummulations from 1978 forward. Updates will be delivered in approximately two weeks after publication by the Library of Congress. A D V A N C E D L I B R A R Y S Y S T E M S I N C . 93 M ain S tre e t, A ndover, M assachusetts 01810 (617) 470-0610 Serving Libraries throughout the World