Importance of Practical Courses for a Professional Degree: A Case of Library & Information Science (LIS)

Farhat Naz Hussain ,Munira Nasreen Ansari

doi:10.7176/jesd/10-8-20

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to seek the opinion of Pakistani library professionals employed in different types of libraries and organizations about importance of practical courses, theory courses and practical-cum-theory courses they had studied for the fulfillment of their professional degree. It is a survey research based on a structured questionnaire. The survey reveals that the library schools of Pakistan design and develop their courses of their own accord to fulfill the local needs but they also follow the curriculum designed by the Higher Education Commission (HEC). While designing curricula, the international standard and uniformity is taken into consideration and the core courses to be taught in the first year of Masters program remain more or less same in all library schools. The theory and practical courses are also the part of curricula and imparting practical education is given due consideration. The professionals identified some courses in which more practical factor should be included so that the graduates should not face problems after joining the professional field. Keywords: LIS education; Practical Courses; Theory-Practical Ratio; Curriculum; Pakistan; Curriculum Development DOI : 10.7176/JESD/10-8-20 Publication date : April 30 th 2019

Highlights

To meet the varying needs of the environment, the emphasis of LIS education has been laid on producing capable and competent manpower
The significance of courses of studies has been realized for the present-day information atmosphere, with more importance and weightage given to LIS curriculum than traineeship
The findings reveal that the practicum duration was insufficient, there was gap in communication among the three parties i.e. students, external and internal supervisor, slake supervision and scarce attention on professional skills are the problems reported by LIS graduates

Summary

Introduction

To meet the varying needs of the environment, the emphasis of LIS education has been laid on producing capable and competent manpower. History of librarianship and library education has seen a number of developmental changes from 1887 (when first library school was established in United States by the originator of Dewey Decimal Classification Scheme, Melvil Dewey) to date. During this period, the significance of courses of studies has been realized for the present-day information atmosphere, with more importance and weightage given to LIS curriculum than traineeship. Curriculum models contain the designing and the actions, the resources’ support and the examination required They are primarily layout to give undeviating educational methods and anticipated outcomes of students. Even some schools modify these curriculum models as per the needs and trends of local market

Methods

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion