Hi there FOXY...

Thank you very much for that. I thought there must've been some clear delineation between the two ? I would imagine also that both professions would require a high level of scholarship in order to be successful in such a job ?

Without pretending to attribute any false praise for you FOXY, you write brilliantly, and so concisely, as evidenced by your protracted exposure to your previous profession.

As an individual who received very little formal education myself (has anybody noticed!!), I always admire anybody who can, so adroitly make full use of our fantastic English language such as yourself FOXY ! Dare I say POIROT is also very well versed in it's consummate use too ! In your case as a former Librarian, you would've had ample opportunity to read, even critically examine, some of the great writers of our age.

Oh well back to my current book..."Big Ears and Mr Plod" !

Hi there INDIVIDUAL...

Brilliant my friend, really brilliant ! :-)

Hi there ONTHEBEACH...

C'mon ol' man, that's a bit tough on FOXY, isn't it ? I recall a very nice lady Librarian who got me out of a real heap of 'manure' when I was still in the Job ! She was briefly seconded to a Task Force in order to assist in copying, collating and then juxtaposing written material against the 'originals' held by detectives 'as exhibits' forming our brief of evidence.

I'd failed to return some originals to the property officer and suddenly DPP wanted to read this stuff over the weekend, before the hearing. That was set for the following Monday - the originals were left sitting in my briefcase, she kindly arranged for the prosecutorial associate, to receive copies which saved my bacon ?

I reckon there's good in everybody I believe !

Dear O Sung Wu,

Thank You for your kind and generous words.
You really have such a big and good heart and
always act with great civility never forgetting
that there are human beings on the other side of
our computers. I agree with you - humans are
the most extraordinary creatures and a big part
of me still wants to reach an even greater understanding
about who we are. Not because I need to know more
necessarily, but because I am drawn to the process of
discovery. Still I have to admit that I find it
difficult to get emotionally involved with goonish
behaviour. I find it simply too ridiculous to engage me.
Yes, I have met some bad people along my journey in
life. But I have met some amazing souls - and their
light fills me.
You are one of them, as is Poirot, and quite a few others
on this forum.

o sung wu,

No I don't believe that finding the relevant facts is being a bit tough. It is a discussion site and it can be difficult to sort the wheat from the chaff.

There are no damsels in distress.

How has your Easter been so far?

Hi o sung wu, my take on librarian qualifications.

Like nursing, it was one of those qualifications you got on the job. Start as a library assistant, & you could do a TECH night course to qualify as a librarian, or a library technician. This was the usual course until the later 60s. Usually it was only technical librarians, who required qualifications in a discipline to be able to do the job, who were degree qualified. In NSW at least, council librarians were usually TAFE qualified.

Then in their typical grasp for more courses & income, like nursing, universities took over the training, so it required a degree, usually a BA, & a postgraduate course in librarian qualifications.

My lady was an early degree librarian. She had done a BA, & planned in following that with a Diploma of education, [Dip Ed], to become an English teacher.

In those days, when your suitability for employment was more important than your civil rights, she discovered the NSW education dept. would not employ asthmatics as teachers, so she did the library course instead.

When all the older management librarians were TAFE qualified there was some friction between those with different qualifications. Shortly after this, the TAFE qualification was discontinued.

In those days research was an important part of a librarians work. Perhaps Foxy can tell us if Google has taken over much of that area of their work, or if it is still important.

Dear Hasbeen,

What you're referring to is the "Registration Certificate"
of Librarianship that existed during the 1960s. The first
three papers of that course gave you a Preliminary Certificate
as a Library Technician. Evening courses were given, at
least in Sydney - at the State Library of NSW.
One of my former colleagues went through this process and
became the Chief Librarian at the Ashfield Municipal
Library. Lovely lady.