Issue 35 (December 2015)
Focus on: Education and Research
Coordinator: Ernest Abadal
Deadline for submissions: June 30
Authors guidelines: https://bid.ub.edu/en/authors-guidelines
Challenges for Library and Information Science (LIS) education and research
The Escola Superior de Bibliotecàries (School of Librarians) was created in 1915 to train the staff of the public libraries that were to open in Catalonia from 1918 onwards. Initially, training focused on library organization and printed books as the standard document type.
In 1931, Charles C. Williamson published “The place of research in library service” in the first issue of Library Quarterly – one of the first papers on research in our discipline. It described the characteristics of research in Library and Information Science (LIS) and tried to explain why there was so little research at the time.
Great progress has been made since then, both in education and research. The time that has passed offers us the chance to take stock on the current challenges for LIS education and research. Indeed, this is the goal of the proposed special issue of the BiD journal, and of the Third International Seminar on LIS Education and Research (http://bd.ub.edu/liser) organized to mark the centenary of the Escola Superior de Bibliotecàries.
In broad terms, some of the issues to be looked at in terms of education are:
- What are the current problems and what changes need to be made to courses to meet current needs?
- What kind of new teaching methods need to be introduced?
- Which bachelor’s and master’s degree courses should be offered?
- What skills do LIS professionals need?
- How can the courses be made more attractive to high-school graduates?
- How will MOOCs affect the university courses offered?
And in terms of research:
- What are the current issues and methods in LIS?
- Which disciplines are collaborated with most?
- What impact does research have in the profession?
- What kind of transfer takes place and in which sectors?
