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Rethinking Library and Information Studies in Spain: Crossing the boundaries*

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Espanya. Les Ciències de la Informació estan adscrites a altres disciplines (facultats / departaments)

Objectives: The main objectives of this paper are to provide an overview of the current state of studies in library and information science in Spanish universities and to discuss the challenges this discipline is facing and the strategies that might strengthen the position of LIS-related studies and professional practice. But the paper also reconsiders why LIS in Spain is crossing the boundaries in two ways. First, it examines interdisciplinarity in LIS and identifies some of the travel companions LIS has made on its journey across the boundaries; and second, it analyzes the negative social repercussions LIS has experienced. Finally, the paper proposes initiatives to mitigate the low visibility of LIS education and the profession as a whole.

Methodology: Data were gathered from the official agencies the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports, the Instituto Nacional de Estadística (National Institute of Statistics, INE) and the Red de Centros y Departamentos de Información y Documentación (Network of University Centres and Departments of Information and Documentation, RUID). Further data were obtained from the annual reports of Spanish universities.

Results: We describe the current situation of undergraduate courses, master’s degrees and doctoral programmes. Among other observations, we note the general decrease in the demand for LIS undergraduate studies and we propose that the increase in postgraduate studies is unsatisfactory. Finally we reflect on the challenges that these studies are currently facing in this country and suggest strategies that may be used to strengthen the position of both LIS education and the profession as a whole.

Assigning metadata to EPUB3 digital ebooks. Part 1: EPUB3 specifications for metadata

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Objectius: descriure els mecanismes i la funció de les metadades internes i descriptives en el format EPUB3 segons els estàndards vigents i les bones pràctiques difoses per la indústria editorial, i identificar un conjunt de recomanacions especialment orientades a petits editors o autors que s’autoediten les obres.

Metodologia: l’article és descriptiu i instructiu, ja que a partir de l’explicació de l’estructura interna d’un llibre en format EPUB3 s’expliquen els diferents elements de metadades, els estàndards corresponents, la seva estructura i els possibles valors. El conjunt de propostes s’exemplifica a partir d’un cas d’estudi.

Resultats: el format EPUB disposa de mecanismes de descripció del context, el contingut i l’estructura dels llibres que emulen, en origen, els instruments específicament orientats a la catalogació, una mostra de la consolidació del model de metadades en origen. Els autors recomanen especialment la inclusió dels cinc elements de metadades obligatoris, tres dels quals (identificador, títol i idioma) dins l’esquema Dublin Core i dos segons un esquema propi, per descriure la data de la darrera modificació i la durada dels mitjans audiovisuals inclosos.

Library and Information Education in Europe: an overview

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The article describes the current situation of Library and Information Science (LIS) education in the European Union. European centres offering LIS-related programmes were identified using an IFLA directory and were classified in eight disciplines. The characteristics of the undergraduate and graduate programmes offered by these schools and departments, and any experience of domestic or international collaboration, were recorded through visits to their websites. The results show the absence of a common European approach to LIS education and a very low level of activity in domestic or international partnerships. Most undergraduate degrees combine a grounding in general culture with courses in technology, languages and practical training. In many cases there are no clear differences between undergraduate and graduate programmes; the programmes have similar names and no target audiences are specified. In addition to the general postgraduate degrees in librarianship and archive studies, most programmes revolve around digital curation, business information services and data analytics.

New career opportunities and their impact on Library and Information Science degrees, an exploratory study

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In the USA and Canada, there has been considerable effort on the part of program providers of professional degrees in Library and Information Science to expand job opportunities for graduates of their programs beyond the traditional placement in libraries. This has led to the development of specializations in topics such as Data Curation and Data Analysis. In other cases, new degrees in Information Management and Knowledge Management have been developed and offered in the effort of improving job placement results of graduates. Expanding placement opportunities for graduates of programs educating information professionals is often referred to as developing alternative career opportunities to the traditional jobs for information professionals in libraries and related organizations such as archives and museums. Such programs often focus on the broader term information and promote education and research for the information professions beyond the traditional LIS professions in libraries and related institutions. A number of schools no longer offer LIS degrees, but offer degrees in Information instead. This paper examines the patterns of name changes found in degrees and programs in schools with American Library Association accredited programs and presents an analysis of the reported impact on alternative and/or new career opportunities on the graduates specifically with Information Management degrees. Suggestions are made for further research needed to determine the success of these new degrees as well as issues related to the relevance of accreditation of programs by the American Library Association in the context of the changes taking place in LIS education.

The Filmoteca de Catalunya: conservation and dissemination of film culture

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Figura 1. Seu de la Filmoteca de Catalunya a Barcelona

La Filmoteca de Catalunya té com a missió principal recuperar, conservar, investigar i difondre les pel·lícules i les obres audiovisuals, així com els materials, documents, equips i qualsevol altre element que sigui d’interès per a l’estudi del cinema i l’audiovisual en general, i del cinema català en particular. En essència, conservar i difondre la cultura cinematogràfica. Es descriuen les àrees que contribueixen a aquesta fita i es reflexiona sobre la necessitat d’oferir un servei fiable i professional a la ciutadania, les institucions i les empreses amb interessos en el sector cinematogràfic.

The digital restoration of film

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Aquest article tracta sobre la conservació i la restauració de pel·lícules amb tecnologies digitals. Les pel·lícules, com a expressió de la memòria col·lectiva, formen part del patrimoni comú de la humanitat, i mereixen ser preservades i difoses. Per això, la qüestió de la preservació dels materials cinematogràfics està guanyant pes, sobretot si tenim en compte la fragilitat estructural i la curta durada de l’estoc de pel·lícules.

L’estat actual del mitjà audiovisual és de transició: a poc a poc l’element analògic i fotoquímic és substituït pel sistema digital. I això influeix molt en les pràctiques de producció i distribució del cinema, i també en els debats teòrics sobre el mitjà: els criteris d’arxivament i els processos de restauració no són una excepció a aquesta lògica.

Use, acceptance and expectations for the ebook in a research library

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Response distribution according to academic status and age

Objectives: This work attempts to establish the use and attitudes that users of the Library of the Institute of Physical-Chemistry ‘Rocasolano’ (Biqfr) of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) have with regard to scientific and technical ebooks. Thereby a better understanding will be obtained of the behavioural patterns towards this electronic resource which is in its early stages of implementation within the research environment.

Methods: An online survey was carried out of the users mentioned through the library blog, obtaining a sample of seventy users of which 63% use Biqfr ebooks.

Results: In the main, ebooks are used for the purpose of work and research, and the PC is the device most used to read them. Despite this, the attitude of the users towards ebooks is considered conservative, though at the same time optimistic, as they consider them as a useful tool when searching for information.

Digital education and responsible behaviour: the gold standards for improving quality of medical and health-related information on the Internet

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Objectives: The aim of this article is to present the state of the art in the quality of health information on the Internet; to identify who the leading actors are and which the situations of the new information and communication scenario where technologies, users and information converge are; as well as pointing out the ways which contribute to the improvement of both the quality of health and medical online information and users’ information literacy skills.

Methods: Literature review and analysis of the current context of information and communication regarding the quality of health and medical information on the Internet.

Results: Immersed in the so-called network society, we have identified the protagonists of the new information and communication scenario, the matters they share, and the recurrent problem resulting from the introduction of new technologies within their relationships. Health is an issue of general interest, and health and medical information is one of the most requested topics online. New technologies have led users to be more proactive in their personal health care, and social web has moved into a leadership position in the network. Users with different profiles share affinities and values ​​in a place where the quality of information becomes the cornerstone of the framework composed by provider-user-information. The gold-standard treatments for improving the quality of health and medical information on the Internet, as well as users’ literacy skills, are the responsible behaviour of all actors and the digital education.