PLEASE DO NOT FORWARD TO OTHER LISTS. THANK YOU.
Dear AXSLIB-L list members:
Yes, I agree with everyone that much more needs to be done.
Working at a[n ALA-accredited] LIS program [Texas Woman's] for the past 5 1/2
years has given me some insight: change takes time. Not because people want to
make changes NOW: MANY people do. Despite the best intentions and the strong
desire of people within associations and educational institutions to join our
cause and DO IT NOW, we must consider that processes such as creating an
accessible website for an institution/association or formally establishing a
LIS course [i.e. in accessibility] take time, sometimes, a long time. It is
like the application process for a job. As I tell the students in our LIS
program, that it may take months to hear from an employer about the status of your
application, let alone an inquiry about a possible interview (so begin the job
search well in advance of graduation).
In organizations like ALA, there is a process of how things get done, sometimes
complicated, documents/issues weaving their way in and out and through a
multitude of committees, subcommittees, ad hoc committees, roundtables, Boards
of Directors, etc.
LIS programs exist within a very complex structure and hierarchy, and must
answer not only to multiple accreditation agencies (for instance, ALA COA,
NCATE, etc.), but also to a host of university entities, including department,
college, AND university-wide faculty curriculum committees, Boards of Regents,
University systems, state Coordinating Boards, state legislatures, other
funding agencies, etc. As for web accessibility, there may be a university-wide
template that department pages must follow.
With accessibility, we are dealing with an issue that unfortunately is wrought
- overwrought - with age-old negative terminology and descriptors that have
bred ultra-negative misperceptions, stereotypes, and negativity. So especially
until we go positive in our approach and lexicon as concerns the issue, it
seems doubly no surprise that positive change is taking time.
The above is why I strongly believe the route to follow is incorporation of
accessibility as integrated into the major LIS principles to which
accessibility is directly related: values that are emphasized in EVERY course,
in particular in REQUIRED courses that ALL students MUST take: Equity of
Access, Intellectual Freedom, and Diversity. This type of incorporation will
help eliminate the misperceptions that accessibility is only about "The A.D.A."
and "PWDs" [that have generated common negative attitudes, such as "Disabled
persons' don't need access anyhow-after all, they're disabled;" "It doesn't say
so in The A.D.A. so we don't have to do it;" "We don't have any of those at our
school"]. It seems preferable NOT to advocate for "Accessibility" as a separate
course. If made a separate course, "Accessibility" most likely would end up
being an elective or special topics course rather than a required course, so
some, but not all students would have the opportunity to take it. An MLS is 36
credit hours and LIS programs have a varying number of required courses, in
place also for state-mandated school librarianship certification. Actually,
accessibility already is incorporated as a principle within teacher
certification guidelines, at least in Texas. If school librarians=teachers
need to have accessibility training, it should follow that all types of LIS
professionals need to know about accessibility. Even with only the power of
persuasion that I have as a staff member, this "incorporation" approach seems
to be working at Texas Woman's.
While we work on formally incorporating accessibility awareness into LIS
curricula and within ALA and other LIS associations, let us also go the
informal route. There is something all of us, especially many of us who are
alumni of an LIS program as well as members of other LIS associations other
than ALA, and ALA divisions other than ASCLA, can do - and already are doing.
The more Century Scholars we have, the more matching Century Scholarships like
the Texas Library Association's Texas Century Scholarship
[http://www.txla.org/html/awards/scholar/century.html] there are, the more
mentoring we do, the more accessibility programs and workshops we volunteer to
do, the more positive, personalized advocacy we do, the sooner we should get what
we want.
For example, From feedback on my advocacy, networking, and programs (see:
http://twu.edu/~s_perlow/), for instance, in ALA, in ALISE, the library
educators' association (2000-2002 annual conference programs on Century, AT and
accessibility, and LIS program website accessibility respectively), Texas
Library Association (diversity advocacy that helped bring about the Texas
Century Scholarship) and the ALA Core Competencies Task Force (accessibility
training is included in the draft documents), etc., I sense that progress is
being made.
Bottom line: People do what people WANT AND LIKE to do, and what is personally
relevant. We are really fortunate. If presented positively, Accessibility is
one of the most naturally universally "likable," "super cool," and personally
relevant topics in the world.
A for Accessibility: Positive Wins. Every Time.
Thank you very much for your help in recruiting and mentoring for the ALA ASCLA
Century Scholarship. Next Application deadline less than 2 weeks away, Friday,
March 1, 2002 [application receipt date]. See:
http://www.ala.org/ascla/centuryscholarship.html
Thank you again,
----------------
Ellen Perlow
Chair, ALA ASCLA Century Scholarship Committee
The ALA ASCLA Century Scholarship Diversity Initiative
"Celebrating a New Century that Celebrates Diversity"
http://www.ala.org/ascla/centuryscholarship.html
Next Submission Deadline: March 1, 2002
See Also: ALA HRDR Page: http://www.ala.org/hrdr/scholarship.html
Texas Century Scholarship: http://www.txla.org/html/awards/scholar/century.html
Have YOU recruited/applied to be a Century Scholarship applicant today?
----------------------------------------------------
Manager of Information Services
School of Library and Information Studies
Texas Woman's University
P.O. Box 425438
Denton, TX 76204-5438
Tel.: 940-898-2622 Fax: 940-898-2611
Web: http://twu.edu/~s_perlow/
E-Mail: [log in to unmask]
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