Development of Training for the Master’s Degree in the Direction “Library and Information Activities”

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to trace the retrospective of training for the library Master’s degree, to comprehend the accumulated experience in order to find new solutions for its development in the context of the rejection of the Bologna system of education. On the agenda is the restructuring of the entire education system in accordance with the proposals of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation. The transformation of the higher library education, including library Master’s degree, is also ahead. It arose and evolved in the 2000s, in line with the introduction of the Bologna system in the higher library education in Russia. The normative framework for regulating training for Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in the field of library and information activities was consistently developed in the form of Federal State standards of higher professional education of the first, second and third generations, model educational programs for the library Master’s degree. The comparison of the mandatory part of the curricula for the preparation of masters of library and information activities in the leading specialized universities showed the existing significant discrepancies in the composition, number, volume of credits and sequence of disciplines taught. During the existence of the library Master’s degree, the model of its graduate has not finally developed, despite the overabundance of general cultural, general professional, professional competencies that, according to Federal State standards of higher professional education, he must cope with. The situation with the employment of graduates of the library Master’s degree has changed cardinally since March 1, 2023 due to the introduction of the Professional Standard of a specialist in library and information activities. At the present stage, many problems of the library magistracy functioning that arose earlier remain. The article presents them as requiring professional discussion and working out a coordinated approach to their solution.