The impact on education for librarianship and information studies of the Bologna process and related European Commission programmes – and some outstanding issues in Europe and beyond

Abstract

The Bologna Declaration of 1999 is the basis for continuing reforms in higher education intended to support international mobility in employment within the European Union. This paper describes the standardised structure and nomenclature for courses that have been implemented, together with a credit transfer system, a quality assurance regime, and the ERASMUS and MUNDUS programmes that support international student mobility. However, the European Commission has left crucial aspects of the implementation of the Bologna principles to Member States, and several issues have arisen because of national variations. The paper expresses concerns about differences in assessment standards and conventions, and questions the relevance of various attempts that have been made to produce model lists of competences and curricula. The European Union’s international assistance programmes, TEMPUS and ALFA, have encouraged collaboration in assisting development in non-member states, but with limited effect, perhaps because of organisational changes that stemmed partly from the Bologna process. The changes in higher education stimulated the establishment of a pan-European association, EUCLID: the European association for library and information education and research, but the paper argues that the expectations of the founders of the association remain largely unfulfilled, and argues for more empirical research to review issues such as the academic level at which education for librarianship is undertaken, and the need for a European accreditation scheme.