Page 169 - Training for librarianship; library work as a career
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TRAINING FOR LIBRARIANSHIP
mation, and the ability to condense this into
a clear, short, yet complete monogi^aph, kept
constantly up to date, is necessary. The
preparation of such reports and descriptive
bibliographies is an important function of
the technical hbrarian.
A prominent technical librarian, C. B.
Fairchild, of the Philadelphia Rapid Transit
Company, has said: " It is a real job for any
man or woman. It calls for breadth of vision,
highly specialized training, a degree of Uter-
ary capacity, infinite patience, a non-quench-
able cheerfulness, and, above all, the analyti-
cal instinct. The library itself is not the chief
requisite, but rather the knowledge of where
and how the essential information can be
obtained. The sources of information to be
utihzed are myriad, and I stop to mention
only two as typical, namely, the columns of
the technical magazines and correspondence
with other specializing librarians."
That the next decade will see the establish-
ment in industry, by individual manufac-
turers, corporations or associations of techni-
cal and engineering libraries on a large scale
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