Internationalization of LIS Education in India

Abstract

Internationalization of education is a perspective. It shapes the objectives and modalities of an educational program aiming at internationalization. Some existing modalities are accreditation of academic programs by international accreditation agencies, exchange programs, international conferences, etc. Library and Information Science (LIS) as academic discipline in many countries, particularly in India, may not achieve the goal of internationalization through any of these routes exclusively and quickly for various reasons discussed in this chapter. A new form of collaboration among LIS classes of two institutions from different countries/cultures is proposed here. This type of collaboration can provide an alternate route to the internationalization of LIS education in India. This chapter discusses several issues – internationalization of LIS education in general and efforts in India in this regard, how Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are becoming relevant in spreading education. Finally, the chapter proposes an ICT-based model that can help internationalization of Indian LIS education.