tag: Library education
Blog Post
July 5, 2018
Strengthening Library Education
New Report from IMLS
Last November, the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) convened experts to explore how to strengthen the formal education component of the Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian grant program to best support library and information science programs to meet the needs of students and libraries while increasing diversity within the library and archives professions. I’m excited to share that this report which I coauthored, “Positioning Library and Information Science Graduate Programs for 21st Century…
Blog Post
May 30, 2017
Re-Framing Advanced Subject Degrees for Library Work
Late last week my librarian twitter-sphere erupted into a new round of what is a regular topic of debate about the place for advanced subject degrees in the profession (for example, see here and here). Proponents argue that advanced subject degrees can directly inform library work by providing in-depth knowledge into a subject area being served. Proponents also argue for the indirect benefit of gaining experiential knowledge into the processes of academia. Opponents highlight that these perceived values…
Blog Post
April 13, 2016
Teaching the US Faculty Survey
The new faculty survey report has arrived! As an LIS faculty member teaching in the areas of Academic Libraries and Sources and Services in the Humanities and Social Sciences, I couldn’t be more excited. Over the past several iterations, I have found the survey reports invaluable in my work as both an educator of future practitioners and a researcher exploring the role of libraries in the 21st Century Academy. The common thread through much of my teaching and research…
Blog Post
September 10, 2015
Education for Academic Information Professionals
Many MLS programs have in recent years been organized as parts of schools that also offer degrees in information, communication, or education. This week brought news of the proposal that the Graduate School of Library and Informations Science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign be revamped as the School of Information Sciences. In many cases, the programs are not blended strategically but rather managed largely separately. Library education programs typically offer a program of study that is designed for all…
Blog Post
May 7, 2015
Educating the Research Librarian
Are We Falling Short?
Arguing that the enormous changes occurring in research libraries are not matched by the pace of change in library program curricula, Deanna Marcum explores the gap between teaching and practice in our latest issue brief. We hope that this brief will stimulate others to think about what we should expect from our MLIS programs. Please use our blog as a forum to share your ideas for reform and change. Interested? Download “Educating the Research Librarian: Are…
Issue Brief
May 7, 2015
Educating the Research Librarian
Are We Falling Short?
For the entirety of my professional career, it has been a hobby of most practitioners to fret about library education. Practitioners have complained that the schools of library and information science were not preparing professionals as well as they might for particular segments of the profession—school libraries, public libraries, academic libraries, etc. The professional schools have responded that their job is to prepare students to work in all kinds of information organizations, not just libraries, and that these skills are…