LIS Programs Research Articles

Developing Personal Course Plans (PCPs) as an Example of Self-Directed Learning in Library Management and Project Management Education

ABSTRACTThis article examines the education of library (MLS) graduate students in courses of library management or in special topic courses in project management in libraries and information centers. To examine the specific skill of project management, a method was employed allowing students to set deadlines as a form of self-directed learning. The student-created syllabi milestones were piloted to search for a match between student abilities and development of project management processes upon degree completion. The use of a proposed and piloted technique was implemented here through a tool named the Personal Course Plan (PCP). It was designed to assist students in learning the value of setting personal schedules for their enrolled graduate course, much as a library project manager would use in practice in libraries. Personal Course Plans (PCPs) were effectively developed by students and allowed the ability to self-monitor their performance on completing project deliverables, meeting expectations of supervisors, and judging their own performance. As the experience was a positive one for both the instructor and students, this article provides not only an operational examination, but also proposes theoretical justification for using such a teaching method in library and information science education. Described are details LIS faculty should consider in implementing the method in teaching and gives future library employers of LIS program graduates a sense of what project management skills recent graduates are receiving.

Is Management the “Tower of Babel” for Library and Information Science Programs?

ABSTRACTGiven the explosive growth of digital collections and the digital transformation of services in libraries, the need for management education in library and information science programs has grown. However, I contend in this article that confusion abounds like the “Tower of Babel” for LIS programs to accomplish this goal. A one size fits all approach does not work. Instead, management theory and principles need to be LIS-centric in accord with present day needs and conceptions. Management education also needs to be linked with scientific rigor to practice to meet the needs and expectations of LIS students. Rather than delivering management education that speaks the language of business, the content needs to resonate with the conditions for managing in the LIS context and to be supportive of the values of the LIS field. The article provides examples from research on management and innovation in libraries and other information-rich contexts. It also illustrates the types of issues that management education in LIS programs should address to deepen our understanding of the essential principles needed to manage information and knowledge.

An analysis of the changing role of systems librarians

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyze technology-related librarian advertisements to examine the changing role of the systems librarian in today’s modern, technology-filled libraries.Design/methodology/approachThe authors examined 70 advertisements for technology-focused librarians posted on ALA’s JobList in 2014. The ads were examined for area of focus and required knowledge and experiences.FindingsThe ads revealed three main areas of focus: traditional systems, digital initiatives, and web services. In addition to traditional computer and library systems skills, employers were seeking candidates with project management, digital collection, customer service, technology implementation, and problem solving skills and experience.Practical implicationsThis study highlights how the adoption and expansion of library technology has altered the roles and responsibilities of systems librarians. Instead of solely focusing on maintaining library databases and ILSs, technology librarians have branched out and become more integrated within the library.Originality/valueThis study has implications for those entering the library field and LIS programs, as well as gaining insight into the expanding role of technology librarians today’s library.

Welcome from the Editors

Welcome from the Editors

The Laboratory of Museum Studies: Museality in the Making

Kent State University School of Information, kflatham@kent.edu As makerspaces and hackerspaces pop up in libraries and museums, one little lab sits in the middle of an Information School, but it is not a maker-space, a gallery, or a museum. The MuseLab, at the Kent State School of Information, is something else, something new—or perhaps something familiar, but situated in a different context, making it less easy to define. The MuseLab is a laboratory for museum studies, where museality—the characteristic of something that in one reality documents another reality—is at the heart of all our activities. Created around design thinking principles and propositions of emergence and openness, the MuseLab is truly a space for experimentation, practice, and breaking rules in the interest of learning, innovating, and discovery. As more and more higher education courses go online, face-to-face creative group activities are becoming scarce. The story of the lab’s genesis and development may be of interest for other LIS schools, programs, teachers, and information practitioners.

Diversified Research Methods Education in LIS: Thinking Outside the Box

A small number of LIS degree programs have adopted a diversified approach to research methods education, including offering an array of specialized research methods courses in addition to a general introductory course. The current study conducted an in-depth investigation of the diversified research methods curriculum of the LIS program at San Jose State University. The curriculum featured ten different research methods courses, and permitted students to make a selection to fulfill the requirement. Students tended to base their selections on individual interests, and reported a high level of satisfaction with their learning experience. The current study examined different aspects of the diversified curriculum from the student perspective, and reviewed the implications of this curricular model.

Interview with Dr. Ken Haycock as Conducted by Dr. Robert P. Holley

ABSTRACTDr. Ken Haycock directs the recently created Master of Management in Library and Information Science (MMLIS) program in the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California. As the only LIS program located in a major business school, the MMLIS is focused on integrating business skills with traditional library and information science to graduate students who are prepared for leadership roles in the profession. The MMLIS program requires students to have prior work experience. Students work in teams to solve real world problems and also choose an independent project. Of particular interest is a proposed special track for experienced library and information science managers to acquire the MLIS.

Information Sharing, Community Development, and Deindividuation in the eLearning Domain

In a study of the information behaviors of graduate students enrolled in an online Masters of Library and Information Science (MLIS) program, it was determined that learners engage in threaded discussions not only for cognitive purposes but for affective reasons as well. The information sharing among students was particularly prolific during a session in which medical ailments and information were discussed. Data were collected from an asynchronous class in a graduate LIS program, and were examined through learner/context analysis and textual analysis. This study used syllabi, course construction, specific assignments and requirements, and other details that contribute to the totality of the learning environment. Specific attention was given to the threaded discussions assigned in the class. This data provided insight into the students’ activities and learning during 15 weeks, and enhanced the overall context for the small world that develops within an online learning community.
 Students connected with their peers and instructor through copious exchanges of information during which a concerted and consistent effort was made to connect with one another by using personal names, engaging in humor and joke-telling, using emoticons, and expressing support and empathy.

LIS Training for Support Staff: An Initial Review of Associate's and Certificate Programs In The U.S.

ABSTRACTThe author presents the results of a review and analysis of thirty-five colleges and universities in the United States that currently offer an Associate's degree and/or vocational certificate(s) in Library and Information Science. These programs, which are geared primarily to existing library support staff who seek additional training, have been created independently of each other and without a national standard to guide the curriculum. Although the American Library Association-Allied Professional Association's Library Support Staff Certification offers guidelines for the educational content of Associate's level LIS programs, a comparison reveals significant gaps. Furthermore, the ALA-APA program currently approves courses at only three institutions in the nation, and certifies graduates from only fourteen. The author identifies areas of misalignment between the Library Support Staff Certification and existing LIS programs and suggests directions for future improvement.Column Editor’s Note Community college libraries are deeply underrepresented in the professional literature and organizations of academic librarianship. As a result, the challenges and successes that take place in the community college world are largely invisible to others. This JLA column lifts the curtain to reveal the uniqueness of community college libraries as described by their most passionate advocates: the librarians who work there. Articles in this column pay tribute to the commitment and creativity of community college librarians by providing a platform where they can share their professional perspectives and stories. Want to write for this column? Interested authors are invited to submit articles to the editor at kimreed@cwidaho.cc.

End of Program Assessments and their Association with Early Career Success in LIS

Analyses of North American LIS program alumni survey data indicate that the completion of any end of program assessment (EPA) or capstone is associated with certain early-career success measures. Using data collected in the Workforce Issues in Library and Information Science 2 project (WILIS 2), we examined the type of EPAs (internships, portfolios, theses, etc.) completed by students and assessed whether there are relationships between their completion and the following outcomes: length of time to secure employment after graduation, acquisition of managerial or leadership roles, job/ career satisfaction, and participation in professional and leadership activities. We also assessed the graduates’ attitudes about whether these experiences were a beneficial part of their career preparation. These results should be of interest to faculty curriculum developers and program administrators in LIS programs worldwide, since they provide insight into the relative merits of EPAs and are based on aggregate data from 39 programs and over 3,000 graduates.

Teaching Tweeting: Recommendations for Teaching Social Media Work in LIS and MSIS Programs

Teaching Tweeting: Recommendations for Teaching Social Media Work in LIS and MSIS Programs

Teaching Tweeting: Recommendations for Teaching Social Media Work in LIS and MSIS Programs

A combination of public relations, marketing, advertising, and information and communication technologies, social media work is an increasingly important part of information professionals’ jobs. This paper reports on a survey-based study of 49 information professionals who routinely use social media in their work. Respondents provided information about their most-used social media tools and platforms, described their specific social media tasks, and shared how they learned to use social media. They also gave advice on the possible integration of social media into an MLIS or MSIS curriculum. While considering technical skills and the knowledge of specific platforms to be important, respondents also recommend that professionals be able to multi-task, work and update their knowledge independently, and adopt new technologies. Above all, respondents emphasized the high standards for social media communication and encouraged strong written communications skills, thus suggesting that MLIS and MSIS coursework should actively develop such skills.

Connected Learning: Evaluating and Refining an Academic Community Blogging Platform

This study investigates the benefits of a community blogging platform for students in an online LIS program. Using a web survey and descriptive content analysis methods, this paper empirically addresses how student blogging communities can be effectively foster connections amongst instructors and students, and enhance perceptions of learning performance. Overall, students reported the blogging community and blogging assignment created a positive impact on their learning performance, particularly with productivity and competence. The positive feedback concerning usability and connections to others in the system reported lead to an overall positive perception of learning within the blogging community. Instructors seeking to create communities such as this for students should make the sites usable, customizable, and attractive.

Growth and Development of LIS Education in India

The main purpose of this paper is to discuss the recent trends and development of LIS education and training in India. It has noted that first decade of 21st century was notable for library and information science education in India. A number of universities and institutions have initiated library and information science education and training program. Many universities and institutions have changed the nomenclature of LIS program, revised the curriculum, shifted from certificate course to master degree program to research study, and international collaboration. It is observed that many LIS schools have changed their curricula from minor tinkering to full revision, from traditional course to digital course. LIS schools opened-up for more interdisciplinary, more practical/practice oriented rather than theoretical classes, and also come forward for international collaboration. But, some of the LIS schools still suffer for their existence due to traditional course curricula, lack of infrastructure, lack of computer lab, and lack of teaching faculty and staff. An attempt has been made in this paper to review the trends of LIS education in India under three important phases; genesis of LIS education; LIS education during 1947-2014; and emerging trends in the new millennium in order to cover the important milestones that occurred in Indian LIS education.The literature that informs the study came from a wide range of sources.The paper provides useful current information to inform LIS professionals, fraternities, researchers, students and other stakeholders on the growth and development of LIS education in India. The article provides latest information regarding universities, institutions and colleges those imparting education, research and training program in library and information studies.

Copyright Instruction in LIS Programs: Report of a Survey of Standards in the U.S.A.

This article will detail the results of a survey distributed within the United States of America to professionals working in academic, public, school/media, and special libraries that asked respondents to rate their daily copyright and intellectual property knowledge needs vs. their actual knowledge and education in this area. The results were then compared with an analysis of course content in current ALA accredited LIS programs in the U.S. gathered from online course descriptions to determine whether there is evidence pointing to a need to alter the curriculum of LIS programs to better prepare graduates for the copyright and intellectual property demands they will face on the job. The combined data will inform Library Science colleges and educators as to whether an instruction deficit exists in their current curricula and will give these colleges and educators data to support the development of new programs.

Studying Online: Student Motivations and Experiences in ALA-Accredited LIS Programs

This paper presents a large scale study of online MLIS students (n=910), who completed at least one online course and were enrolled in 36 of the 58 ALA-accredited MLIS programs in Canada and the United States. The results indicate that the typical student is female, White, lives in an urban setting, and is in her mid-30s. Online students were found to be quite diverse, with statistically significant differences in their preferences and satisfaction across five demographic variables: age (generational cohort), employment status, urban status, commute distance, and program modality. Three motivations emerged: accommodation, predisposition, and selectivity, which influenced the respondents to choose online learning. The prevalent issues online MLIS students experienced were a sense of isolation from peers and instructors, and a lack of professional development and networking opportunities with peers. The findings have implications for enhancing MLIS online education including marketing, course offerings, and student support services.

Childhood and Culture Reflected Through the Lens of LIS Education: Embedded Practice in Danish Library and Information Science Education

According to Stearns (2009), culture shapes childhood. The way a society defines culture shapes: (a) how childhood is constructed; (b) the production of literary products and services for young people; and (c) training for library professionals. In 21st century America, children are viewed as a vulnerable population in need of protection, as evidenced by the books that are challenged in schools and libraries every year. In Denmark, however, childhood is constructed differently. While the American-style of helicopter parenting described in Finkel and Fitzsimmons (2013) exists, since the 1980s a cultural shift has occurred, as Danes move from what Juncker (2007) calls a silent, attendant culture to a vocal, participatory culture. Today, young Danes’ right to access culture is mandated through the Ministry of Culture, and libraries and cultural institutions, working in partnership with schools, are largely responsible for providing such access. According to the Royal School of Library and Information Science’s website, Bachelors and Masters degrees in Information Science and Cultural Dissemination emphasize connections between information and knowledge, but also focus on the interplay between knowledge and culture. As library education changes, children’s library centers in turn are transformed into cultural institutions that incorporate media in all forms, focusing on culture, creativity, and play. This qualitative study uses participant observation gathered in Denmark during summer 2014 at the Royal School of Library and Information Science, libraries and cultural centers, and online analysis. Findings demonstrate how the Danish LIS program addresses changing constructions of childhood and the roles of information and culture, encompassing both aesthetics and play

Reflections on the role of information retrieval for development

This commentary is based on the keynote address delivered at the Golden Jubilee of the Department of Library and Information Science, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India. It is one of the oldest LIS programmes in the region, and was inspired by the late Professor SR Ranganathan who envisaged the information sciences as an engine to growth and development. Alas, information science programmes have not made the intended impact in India that the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) have. This has been the case with most developing economies. Why? The following commentary attributes this to an era of missed opportunities.

Diversity: Then is now. Commentary on Carter, J. R. (1978) Multicultural graduate library education

Robbins Carter's portrait of the librarian workforce is still true. According to the latest American Library Association (ALA) demographics, the profile of today's librarian is that of a white (87.1 percent) woman (80.7 percent) of middle age (57.1 percent, age 45 or older) (ALA, 2013). Despite these data, support for increased diversity is strongly present among LIS faculty and within professional organizations, motivating certain initiatives such as site-specific funding, site-specific curricular foci, and national accreditation standards. The continuing challenge is recruiting potentially successful students of color into LIS graduate programs when the entry-level salary for library positions is less than $50,000 per year. The question remains: if the workforce demographics are relatively unchanged, how may diversity be better supported in master's level LIS education?In 1978, Robbins noted that there were four categories of barriers likely obstructing recruitment of students of color into LIS programs: financial, educational, psychosocial, and cultural.Financial barriers. Robbins observed that support for diversity within LIS programs was dependent on receiving external funds. This may indicate a less than sincere commitment to diversity and more of a preference for seeking convenient, and sometimes temporary, opportunities. Overall, this still seems to be the case. National attention toward increasing diversity often coincides with the awarding of federal funds through programs such as the competitive grants available through the Institute of Museum and Library Services' (IMLS) Laura Bush 21st Century Library Program. Note that international students are usually excluded from this targeted funding.Some IMLS grants launched demonstration grants that tested approaches for limited periods of time, resulting in graduates who created ripples of influence in the workforce. Other grant-funded efforts reenacted earlier diversity initiatives and supported these earlier initiatives through a more secure presence, a legion of graduates, and continual reporting through presentations and publications. A third category of diversity support directly funds students. The most visible example is ALA's Spectrum Initiative Scholarships that have provided $5,000 in funding, a leadership institute, and networking support for over 800 students from underrepresented groups since the late 1990s. Given the current costs of higher education, most funding sources require additional commitment from the LIS programs to provide students with a package of support and, often, student employment.The educational barriers are still seen. American Indian students, for example, are overrepresented nationally in the number of two-year degree holders. A lower percentage of bachelor degree completion means that their entry into master's degree programs is more challenging, requiring recruitment through long-standing personal contacts and the availability of distance-delivery course offerings. Schools continue to require application processes that students of color, especially firstgeneration graduate students, find overly complex and dependent on the quantitative measures of GRE test scores and GPA calculations. LIS education remains solidly in graduate education, although some LIS programs now offer undergraduate concentrations. In addition, there are library technical programs awarding certificates, two-year or four-year undergraduate degrees and the ALA-Allied Professional Association (ALA-APA) offers the Library Support Staff Certification Program. …

Academically Informed Creative Writing in LIS Programs and the Freedom to be Creative

Academically Informed Creative Writing in LIS Programs and the Freedom to be Creative