Library and Information Science Education in Slovenia

dr. Alenka Šauperl, assistant professor

Department of Library and Information Science and Book Studies, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana

Introduction to Slovenia 1/2

• Population: 1.997.004 (2003 census)

• Territory: 20.273 km2

• Tallest mountain: Triglav (2.864 m)

• Adriatic coastline: about 42 km

• Capital city: Ljubljana (population 300.000)

• Indepentent state since 1991

Introduction to Slovenia 2/2

• Currency: TOLAR

Architect: Jože Plečnik (1872-1957)

Building: National and University Library (1936-1941)

The National and University Library

beginning in1774the palace1941

Slovenian libraries

• 64 public libraries in most towns and cities

• Academic libraries in all state and private faculties

• School libraries in all primary and secondary schools

• Special libraries in some of the major companies

Professional positions

• Librarian with a high school diploma• For basic work operations

• Librarian with a college degree• Work in circulation and technical

services

• Librarian with an university degree• Work in all areas, management positions

Slovenian national library network

• Almost 300 libraries cooperate in the national union cataloging system

• High level of cooperation also in interlibrary loan and other services and activities

• Cooperation among, and within public, academic, special and school libraries

Three Slovenian universities• University of Ljubljana

• 1919• 26 faculties, 8.419 graduates in 2004

• University of Maribor• 1975• 13 faculties, 3.651 graduates in 2004

• University of Primorska (in Koper)• 2003• 5 faculties, 341 graduates in 2004

Three Slovenian universities

The University of Ljubljana

1919

Schools 1. Academy of Fine Arts 2. Academy of Music 3. Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film

and Television 4. College of Nursing 5. Biotechnical Faculty 6. Faculty of Administration 7. Faculty of Architecture 8. Faculty of Arts 9. Faculty of Chemistry and

Chemical Engineering 10. Faculty of Civil and Geodetic

Engineering11. Faculty of Computer Science12. Faculty of Economics 13. Faculty of Education 14. Faculty of Electronics

15. Faculty of Law

16. Faculty of Maritime Studies and Transport

17. Faculty of Mathematics and Physics

18. Faculty of Mechanical Engineering

19. Faculty of Medicine

20. Faculty of Natural Sciences

21. Faculty of Pharmacy

22. Faculty of Social Sciences

23. Faculty of Social Work

24. Faculty of Sports

25. Faculty of Theology

26. Faculty of Veterinary Medicine

Faculty of Arts in the centre of Ljubljana

Faculty of Arts departments• Archeology• Art history • Comparative

linguistics and literature

• Ethnology• Geography • History • Library and

information science and book studies

• Musicology

• Pedagogy • Philosophy• Psychology• Several languages with

literature, including Czech• Sociology• Translating and interpreting

Facts about Faculty of Arts

• Founded in 1919• About 8.000 students• About 300 faculty members• Computers for all faculty, one

computer lab and only a few computers for students

• Departmental libraries

History of LIS education 1/2

• First organized course:• 5 weeks long• For secondary school graduates• 1947, 1949

• First college program:• 2 years• Major or minor• Academy of Education (now Faculty of

Education)• 1964/65

History of LIS education 2/2• First university program:

• 4 +1 year program• Major or minor• 1987/1988• Faculty of Arts• development:

• Only LS can be studied since 1996/97• Information science and book studies added in 2000 • Graduate programs:

• Master’s: 2+1 year, individual programs• Doctoral program up to 5 years• Since 1995/96

• Still the only LIS program in Slovenia

State examination

• All these years a parallel system:• All graduates of

• Secondary schools• Colleges• Universities

• Work experience + preparatory lectures

• Examinations in 7 subjects at the National and University Library

Department of Library and Information Science and Book Studies

• Enrollment of about 50 students per year• About 30 students in single subject program• About 20 students also studying at another

department of Faculty of Arts

• Faculty:• 8 full-time professors and assistants• About 20 adjunct lecturers• 4 classrooms + shared computer lab

First year• Bibliography• Descriptive

Cataloguing• English Language

I• Foundations of

Librarianship• History and

Philosophy of Science

• History of Librarianship

• Information Technology

• Introduction to information science

• Publishing and Book Trade I

• Research Methods I

Second year• Contemporary

Organization of Librarianship I – Basics

• Databases I • Descriptive

Cataloguing II • Developmental

Psychology • English Language II• Library Automation

• Research Methods II• Placement• Public Libraries • Publishing and Book

Trade II• School Libraries

• Subject Cataloguing I

Third year• Academic Libraries• Bibliometrics• Codicology• Cognitive Psychology I• Contemporary

Organization of Librarianship II – Systems

• Databases II• Descriptive

Cataloguing III

• Placement• Publishing and Book

Trade III• Reference Service

and Methods• Sociology of Mass

Media• Special Libraries• Subject Cataloguing

II

Fourth year• Book History• Cognitive Psychology

II• Comparative

Librarianship• Computer

Communications• Contemporary

Organization of Librarianship III – Theory

• Descriptive Cataloguing IV.

• Documentation • Library Management• Library Marketing• Library User Studies• Preservation and

restauration of library materials

• Publishing and Book Trade IV

Final year

• Passing all exams• Graduation thesis:

• Advisor• Approval of a

committee• Text of 40+ pages• Defense in front of

a 3 member committee

• Defenses are scheduled in January, April, May, June, September, and November

• The dean hands out diplomas in a formal ceremony several times a year

Payment

• Undergraduate study:• No tuition for full-time students• About 2.500 EUR per year for part-time

students

• Master’s study:• 60% funded by the Ministry of Education• Total cost about 2.000 EUR per year

• Average salary in Slovenia• 730 EUR (neto)

Master’s program

• 4 required courses• 2 elective courses, one outside

department• Master’s thesis

Required courses

Library science Information science

Book studies

Organization of information

Organization of information

Contemporary publishing

LIS research methods

LIS research methods

Copyright & trade of intell. property

Development of LIS

Information retrieval systems

Marketing methods in publ.

Library management

Digital libraries Electronic publishing

Master’s program – Elective courses

• Data structures, algorithms and programming

• Database design • Issues in contemporary LIS• Issues in contemporary

publishing • Learning as a contiunous

process in personal development

• Library information systems • Library marketing • Library systems and

evaluation

• New technologies in publishing• Preservation of library

materials • Social aspects of information

science • Theory of descriptive

cataloging• Information theory • Theory of information sources

and services • Theory of subject cataloging • User studies • Visual information in digital

libraries

New program undergoing accreditation in 2005

• Bologna declaration

• 3 years of undergraduate + 2 years of graduate studies

• One undergraduate degree with 3 tracks:• library science, • information science• book studies

• Four graduate degrees:• library science• school librarianship • information science• book studies

International cooperation

• Socrates/Erasmus• Prague• City University

London

• Leonardo da Vinci • Leipzig• Paris• Oxford

• Joint degree program in book studies:• Hochschule für

Technik, Wirtschaft und Kultur, Fachbereich Buch und Museum, Leipzig

• Pôle Métiers du Livre, Univ. Paris X-Nanterre

• Oxford International Centre for Publishing Studies, Oxford Brookes University

EKIPA Project in Leonardo da Vinci Program

• Students work in libraries, information centres, publishers and bookstores

• Become a truly European graduate of LISB

Thank you.

Come to visit or study in Ljubljana.