Preparing LIS professionals:

Ensuring the relevance of LIS

education

Louise Spiteri

School of Information Management

Dalhousie University

1

2

The main purpose of professional education

is transformation. As such professional

education should focus not just on skills and

knowledge acquisition but also on helping

students to develop ways of being the

professionals in question…skill and

knowledge alone does not ensure skilful

professional practice…To be successful,

professional education must engage the

whole person, what they know, how they act,

and who they are. ~Partridge, H. (2011). Library and information science education 2.0:

Guiding principles and models of best practice ALTC Fellowship

Report. Retrieved from http://eprints.qut.edu.au/46147/

Australia: Guidelines for LIS education

Eight themes necessary in LIS education:

• Technology

• Learning and education

• Research or evidence-based practice

• Communication

• Collaboration and team work

• User focus

• Business savvy

• Personal traits. 3

U.K.: Professional LIS education

4

Knowledge management

Organization and representation of knowledge– metadata, classification schemes, catalogues, website

organization

Publishing– creation and dissemination of knowledge

Subject indexing– analysis and indexing of individual documents/resources

Communication– transmission of knowledge, enquiries, reading lists

Information resource management – collection management, curation

Information service provision– information systems, library management systems, internet

5

Applications environment

Ethical framework– codes of practice, quality standards, diversity awareness

Legal dimension– data protection, freedom of information, intellectual

property, copyright

Information policy– local information policies, access to internet for children

Information governance– policies, strategies, adherence to legislation at institutional

level, compliance, accountability framework

Communications perspective– dynamics of information flow, collaborative working,

national and local agencies 6

General and transferable skills

• computer and information literacy

• interpersonal skills

• management skills

• marketing

• training skills

• research methods

7

IFLA: Core elements of LIS education, 1

The Information Environment, Societal impacts of the information society, Information Policy and Ethics, the History of the Field

Information Generation, Communication and Use

Assessing Information Needs and Designing Responsive Services

The Information Transfer Process

Information Resource Management to include Organization, Processing, Retrieval, Preservation and Conservation of Information in its various presentations and formats.

. 8

m

IFLA: Core elements of LIS education, 2

Research, Analysis and Interpretation of Information

Applications of Information and Communication Technologies to all

facets of Library and Information Products and Services

Knowledge Management

Management of Information Agencies

Quantitative and Qualitative Evaluation of Outcomes of Information

and Library Use.9

Pedagogical strategies

Experiential learning

• Assessment should be authentic and provide a stimulating and yet challenging learning context for students. It is important to provide students with hands-on, real-world project to prepare them for their careers.

Holistic learning environment

• Enable students to develop and expand their knowledge, skills, and behavioural traits

Community engagement

• Enable students to engage with their social communities via projects, assignments, and so forth. 10

Canada: Needs for Information

Management educationINFORMATION MANAGEMENT PRACTICES• IM Policy Development and

Implementation• IM Operational Processes• Organize, Analyze and Evaluate

Data and/or Processes• Manage IM Tools and Resources• Knowledge Transfer

RISK MANAGEMENT• Disaster Recovery• Maintain, Protect and Preserve

Information• Risk Assessment/Audit

INFORMATION PROTECTION• Information Protection and Security

Procedures• IP and Security Policy Development and

Application• Compliance

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY• o Utilizing IT• o Software Applications• o Reprographics, Imaging and Other

Office Equipment

11

References

Partridge, H. (2011). Library and information science education 2.0:

Guiding principles and models of best practice ALTC fellowship report.

Retrieved from http://eprints.qut.edu.au/46147/

Smith, K., Hallam, G., & Ghosh, S.B. (2012). (IFLA) guidelines for

professional Library/Information educational programs – 2012.

Retrieved from http://www.ifla.org/publications/guidelines-for-

professional-libraryinformation-educational-programs-2012

University College London. (n.d). LIS education in the UK [PowerPoint

slides]. Retrieved from www.ucl.ac.uk/infostudies/unc-

summerschool/LIS%20Education.ppt 12