Schools Of Information Studies Research Articles

Data librarianship in South African academic and research libraries: a survey

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to establish the current skills base of librarians working in research data management services in academic and research libraries in South Africa. The purpose was also to determine the relevance of courses and programmes that are currently being offered by library and information studies programmes in response to the needs of research data management services and make recommendations on curriculum improvement.Design/methodology/approachAbout 13 institutions which were considered early adopters of research data management services were identified as participants in an online survey. In addition, a review of Web pages of existing library and information studies schools was carried to establish courses that would support research data management services. Data collected through the two approaches were analysed and presented quantitatively and qualitatively.FindingsThe findings reveal an environment in a developmental stage, with limited skilled personnel to run research data management services. The findings also show an absence of specific data librarianship courses within existing library and information studies programmes and a very limited scope for the full range of data management courses within professional development programmes.Originality/valueThe paper provides information on approaches to further develop existing curriculum and contribute to the data management needs and support governments, funders and publishers' requirements for the discoverability and re-use of research data across research domains.

Quality information on the internet: Norwegian library students on the search

PurposeIn the autumn of 2006, two groups of students from the Faculty of Journalism, Library and Information Science at Oslo University College participated in a cooperative project with the Norwegian online reference service, Biblioteksvar.no (Ask The Library (ATL)). The students were in their third term of studies and received instruction in retrieval systems and tools. The main purpose of this paper is to evaluate the performance of the students in actual reference work. It seeks to examine a sample of questions and answers. In a wider perspective, the study highlights the value of this kind of educational strategy.Design/methodology/approachThe evaluation criteria in this study are based on a qualitative analysis of actual questions and answers from the ATL, student summaries of their own work on the project and interviews with professional librarians working with the ATL service. A substantial amount of data has been collected during the project period.FindingsAnalysis shows that the students generally performed very well. This corroborates the findings from a similar project last year. The students' answers had the same level of quality as the responses supplied by professional, experienced librarians working on the ATL service. Possible reasons for this result are discussed. The study confirms the importance of the reference interview for increasing the quality of the responses.Practical implicationsThe results of the study indicate that the ATL service should not only provide links to information sources in response to user questions, but should also include a short explanation of how the links are found. Further, patron satisfaction surveys are useful. The collection of contextual data about the question and the patron may improve the quality of the response from the service. It is recommended that the SMS‐based service be included in the student project next year so that the students will have the opportunity to participate in all three of the currently available ATL services from Biblioteksvar.no.Originality/valueThe paper may inspire other faculties and schools of information studies to cooperate more closely with the library profession and to prepare students for their future careers as reference librarians through participation in actual reference work from a relatively early stage in the program of study. The project described in this paper illustrates the change from traditional lecture‐based teaching to problem‐based learning in projects as outlined in The Quality Reform in Norwegian Higher Education.

Contested Terrain: Accreditation and the Future of the Profession of Librarianship

This article explores the future trajectory of librarianship and its status as a profession in the context of the contested terrain of the information professions and particularly the development of a differentiated information technology workforce. Andrew Abbott’s theory of the system of professions informs the historical comparison and future forecasting of the relative power of librarianship and the emerging information technology professions to persist into the twenty‐first century. How might value differences manifest themselves in the development of a legitimatizing process for information technology education? What effect might these have on the future development of information technology degree programs offered within schools of information studies? Is it likely that the stability that ALA has enjoyed as a mediator between librarianship and the discipline of information studies will be challenged? Finally, what are the likely consequences for the status of the profession of librarianship?

Ethics in Library and Information Science. What Are We Teaching?

IntroductionThe American Library Association's first consideration of a formalized code of dates to i930, with its suggested code of ethics, and with subsequent statements, revisions, or developments in i939, i975, i979, i98i, and i995. Ethics has continued to play an important role in the library and science field, and significant ethical issues have recently been receiving great attention in light of filtering and CIPA/COPA, as well as privacy, intellectual freedom, and related rights under attack from the USA Patriot Act. We in the professions must remain committed to the ethical principles presented by the ALA's Code, as foundations to our existence.And although the ALA continues to be the major accrediting body for schools of library and science, it does not regulate or standardize the teaching of ethics, nor does it require that accredited schools o∂er coursework in ethics. Some professional organizations, such as the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM), has gone this further step and requires computer science students to take coursework totaling i6 hours, with i0 Social/Professional/Ethical units (Tavani, 2003). In the library and science field, it is assumed that major principles of will be discussed through, for example, management or collection development, but many schools of library and science have developed elective courses which delve more deeply into the myriad of issues facing professionals today. Surveys conducted by Buchanan (2003) reveal that overwhelmingly students in the professions feel that coursework should be required. As the range of ethical issues facing LIS students continues to grow and become ever more complex, such courses may very well come to be required by MLIS programs of study.The introduction and use of the term ethics originates with librarian Robert Hauptman in the late i980s, when Raphael Cappura in Germany also began using the term. Some have defined the domain of as of the ethical issues related to the production, storage, access, and dissemination of information (Weckert and Adeney, i997, p. ix). Much of what we discuss and teach in schools of LIS revolves in and around these four areas-production, storage, access, and dissemination of information. Within all of these realms, the array of ethical issues has grown quite large and complex: There are many issues, many ways of teaching ethics, and much diverse reading in this area. As new professionals leave our schools, they must be equipped with the knowledge and skills to embrace and resolve ethical dilemmas. Just as we teach our students the theory and practice of reference or management, for instance, in preparation for work in the field, we should also teach ethics. Thus, the remainder of this paper surveys courses and their coverage in accredited schools of LIS in the United States and makes recommendations for more consideration of throughout LIS curricula.MethodsA list of all Library and Information Studies schools in the United States2 was obtained from the website of the American Library Association (ALA) in the directory of ALA-accredited Master's programs: Forty-nine ALA-accredited programs were included in the analysis.3, 4The websites of the forty-nine accredited programs were searched to find out whether they o∂ered a graduate-level course. This included searching all posted class schedules and course descriptions. Course schedule/description dates were checked for currency to ensure appropriate representation. Professors teaching the class had to be located, sometimes, by contacting the school or department head; those teaching a graduate level, for-credit class were contacted with a request (sent via e-mail) to provide a course syllabus. In some cases, the syllabi were available on the school web site and it was not necessary to contact the professor. …

Information management in the Baltic, Nordic, and UK LIS schools

The aim of this paper is to analyse information management study programmes and courses given at the Nordic, Baltic, and British library and information studies schools, and also to highlight the differences that depend on different backgrounds, traditions and experiences and common features. The paper consists of three parts. The first introduces some earlier research done by the scholars in the area of information management education or helping to clarify the issue. The second provides an overview of higher education institutions teaching information management in the Baltic States, Nordic countries, and the UK. The third is an attempt to find coherence in study programmes of information management and summarise the concepts they reflect.

Comment Change and the changing face of a regional newspaper library 1990‐2000

This paper arises from the work that the author has done during the past year in preparing for a series of lectures on the analysis of the factors that have influenced the development of the Library of an English regional morning newspaper over the last decade. He ha given these lectures to students at various Schools of Information Studies in the UK. It id all about the scale and speed of change in one particular sector of the library market, but there are lessons and surprises) here for everyone. The interpretation of the changes is purely the authors, and is not based on the rigorous analysis using management or information science theories. Rather, the commentary should be read as a reflection upon events and an attempt to look into the future for one relatively small corporate information unit.

Continuing professional development in the NHS—what is to be done?

Continuing professional development in the NHS—what is to be done?

Development of the Information Sector in Africa

Discusses obstacles to the development of the information sector in Africa, focusing on the situation of African information professionals and professional associations and the need for a new type of information professional in Africa. Outlines the main stages in the development of the Schools of Information Studies in Africa at Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia, and the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. Concludes by outlining the conditions for the creation of a new profile for African information professionals.

New media/traditional values: selecting government information on the Internet

The schools of information studies of today place training for work in distributed computing environments at the core of the curriculum. However, this was not the case ten years ago. Looks, therefore, at the current role of traditionally trained librarians. Focusses on the experience of the University of Michigan Library’s Documents Center, and how the collection development principles learned for selection of traditional library media apply today to selecting Internet materials.

Rediscovering the Theoretical Base of Records Management and Its Implications for Graduate Education: Searching for the New School of Information Studies

In the Fall 1992 issue of JELIS, Eugenia K. Brumm published a brief description of the graduate records management education program at the University of Texas at Austin Graduate School of Library and Information Science. Brumm attempts to demonstrate to library educators that they should support graduate records management education because it has a theoretical base that is shared with library science. While Brumm's goal is desirable, this article sets out to show that linking records management theory with the broader discipline of information science and its information resource management perspectives is a more fruitful and accurate approach. It will further show that the critical link between archives and records theory is central to records management education, while library science theory is only tangential to it. The author calls for two changes: (1) that information professionals and educators broaden their awareness beyond the library profession to include other information professions and their disciplinary knowledge and theoretical bases and (2) the evolution of new schools of information studies will respect the need for independent degrees based on the distinct disciplinary knowledge that defines and supports each information profession. He strongly endorses the development of graduate degree programs for the nonbibliographic information professions in the United States.

The Role of LIS Schools and Departments in Continuing Professional Development

Analyses how the departments and schools of library and information studies (LIS) in the UK might contribute to continuing professional development (CPD). Looks at the diversity of the profession, outlines the changing natures of LIS professional education, and considers some areas for future professional training and development. Using the School of Information Studies, UCE, Birmingham, as a model, suggests that existing taught modules might be offered as part of a structured CPD programme.