Digital Library Education in Nordic Research School in Library and Information Science/NORSLIS International Workshop Digital Library Education Florence,

Digital Library Education in Nordic Research School in Library and Information Science/NORSLIS

International Workshop Digital Library EducationFlorence, Villa Morghen, 24-25 March 2005Prof Aira LepikDepartment of Information StudiesTallinn University, Estonia

Prof A. Lepik, Tallinn University, Estonia

This paper

• will discuss the postgraduate research training of information professionals in Nordic and Baltic countries by analysing activities of Nordic Research School of Library and Information Science from the aspects

– of organization of training;– mobility of researchers;– use and sharing of resources.


PhD programs in LIS in the Nordic and Baltic Countries

• There are 15 institutions in 8 countries that provide PhD education in LIS;

• The majority of the institutions are quite small and the network is of great importance for all institutions to be able to offer a critical mass of doctoral courses and competent advisors.


NordIS-Net (1998-2002)

• During the years 1998-2002 Nordic Academy for Advanced Study /NorFA supported a network for doctoral training in LIS called NordIS-Net.

• It attracted doctoral students from all of the five Nordic and three Baltic countries to participate in joint research courses and workshops.


NordIS-Net (1998-2002)

• The research courses organised once in a year consisted of intensive lecture series on theoretical approaches and research methods in LIS and the workshops organised also once in a year provided the students with an opportunity to get feed-back to their papers by a broad range of Nordic-Baltic researchers.


NorFA & NordForsk

• NordForsk supports five graduate schools within the humanities and social sciences. The graduate schools were started by NorFA in 2004.

• The purpose of this graduate school initiative is to increase mobility in the region, to strengthen research training, and to develop models to improve research training in each country and in the region as a whole.


Nordic Research School in Library and Information Science

• During 2004-2008 NorFA and Nordic Research Board/NordForsk (since 1.01.2005) supports Nordic Research School in Library and Information Science (NORSLIS), the objective of which is to increase the quality of doctoral education in LIS in order to meet the requirements of a knowledge society.


NORSLIS (2004-2008)

• The research school intends to achive synergic effects, effectiveness and efficiency in doctoral education and research of LIS by collecting the scattered scientific expertise, often in small-size research educational units, throughout the Nordic and Baltic countries.


Organization of NORSLIS

• Research School Director;• The Research School board;• Participating institutions from Denmark (1),

Finland (3), Island (1), Norway (3), Sweden (4), Estonia (1), Latvia (1), Lithuania (1);

• Research students 150, post-doctoral students 24, senior researchers 40.


Main activities of NORSLIS (1)

• Courses (2 per year);

• Workshops (1 per year);

• Road show seminars (1 per year);

• Visiting professors (1 per year);

• Supporting mobility and attendance in research courses.


Main activities of NORSLIS (2)

• Matching mentors and doctoral students for guiding purposes;

• Short visits of senior reseachers;

• Web-based portal for the research school with variety of information functions (discussion groups, mailing lisits, chats, black board etc).


NORSLIS 2005• Course: Research Issues in Knowledge

Organisation (April 11-15, Hundested kro, Denmark);• Course: Libraries in Transitions (November 14-18,

Vilnius, Lithuania);• Workshop: Structures of Power: Information,

Knowledge, and Property (September 15-17, Uppsala, Sweden)

• Road show seminar in Information Seeking & Retrieval in Contexts (April 14-15, Tampere, Finland; October 3-4 Copenhagen, Denmark);

• Visiting professor: Dr Ian Ruthven (Glasgow, Scotland).


Research Issues in Knowledge Organisation

• Purpose of the course:

Knowledge Organization is mostly regarded a core field within Library and Information Science. Its point of departure is bibliographical records in an extended sense (including full-text records and bibliometrical networks).

Knowledge Organization is concerned with the optimal design of bibliographical records for information retrieval. Systems of knowledge organization includes classification systems, thesauri, semantic networks, bibliometrical maps etc.


Research Issues in Knowledge Organisation

The course will include the following issues:• Research traditions in Knowledge Organization;

• Theoretical views on knowledge, concepts, semantics and meaning and their implication for Knowledge Organization;

• Knowledge Organization in different domains (e.g. Art, Biology, Music and Psychology);

• Methodological problems in Knowledge Organization.


Structures of Power: Information, Knowledge, and Property

• The workshop will explore, in as wide a possible a way, the nexus between information, knowledge, and property, taking as point of departure the fact that information and knowledge have become valuable resources of the knowledge-based society. What are the possible ramifications for civil society and public institutions such as libraries in this scenario, where both increased access and increased control struggle for domination?


Structures of Power: Information, Knowledge, and Property

• The workshop should be of interest to all graduate students whose work touch upon information access, dissemination, and control within this larger social/economic/cultural context.

• Main responsible person:Dr. Eva Hemmungs Wirtén, University of Uppsala, Sweden Lecturers:Dr Matthew Rimmer, The Australian National University, Australia Dr Bernd Frohmann, University of Western Ontario, Canada


Road show seminar

• The novel component is the road show seminar attended by 2-3 senior researches of high international status will visit about 3 network sites offering lectures and tutorials on a pre-selected research area, as well as supplying improved supervision and consultation.


Road show seminar in Information Seeking & Retrieval in Contexts

• In 2005 the aim of the road show is to present the latest developments in Information Seeking & Retrieval in Contexts. Lectures will be mixed with laboratory casework, exchange of critical know-how and specialized computer software. The stops chosen are based on knowledge of ongoing PhD work in which these kinds of methods are being applied.


Road show seminar in Information Seeking & Retrieval in Contexts

• Stop 1: April 14-15, Dept of Information Studies, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland

• Stop 2: October 3-4, Royal School of Library and Information Science, Copenhagen, Demnark

Main responsible person:Prof.Eero Sormunen, Univ of Tampere

Lectures/supervisors:Dr. Ian Ruthven,Univ of Strathclyde, UKProf. Kalervo Järvelin, Univ of TampereProf. Peter Ingwersen, RSLIS, Copenhagen


Advantages of networks

• By cooperation and coordination it is possible to increase the effectiveness and make the research education more efficient by collecting the scattered scientific expertise, often in small-size research and educational units.



• By pooling the doctoral students in Nordic and Baltic countries it becomes possible to gather groups large enough for providing them with relevant research courses tailored to their needs.



• The advantage is also the possibility to organize informal thematic discussion (or research) groups and workshops that may include doctoral and post-doctoral students as well as senior researchers.


Thank you!

• For more information – please visit website of NORSLIS http://www.norslis.net

• Questions and comments – Graduate School of Social Sciences of Tallinn University http://www.tu.ee/sdkAira Lepik –[email protected]

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Digital Library Education in Nordic Research School in Library and Information Science/NORSLIS International Workshop Digital Library Education Florence,