Educational technology and school librarianship :

Abstract

The procedure chosen for the study was historiography, the seeking and writing of past events. This recounting of past events within the fields of educational technology and school librarianship will perhaps have salient influence on current happenings in the fields. Information for the study was found in journals, monographs, and professional association records of educational technology, school librarianship, and the broader area of education.

Both educational technology and school librarianship have grown toward professional maturity in the twentieth century; their growth has been parallel with no significant relating to each other along the way. Each field has failed to explore the possible assistance that perhaps could have been offered by the other. Misunderstanding by educators not a part of either field as to the roles of educational technology and school librarianship has led to competition between educational technologists and school librarians. Efforts to unify the two fields have been made and led to publication of joint standards for school library media programs. There is current progress toward unified certification of educational technologists and school librarians. The analysis of the histories of these two fields shows that each has a unique contribution to make to today's educational programs and this uniqueness should be preserved. Proper concern and leadership among the professionals in educational technology and school librarianship can lead to complementary progress of the fields in the future.

This study traced the development of the relationship between educational technology and school librarianship by focusing on events and circumstances which have contributed to the present relationship between the two fields.