INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

E ducation for information professionals has been a controversial topic since its

inception, and the recent rapid development of information and communication technologies
(ICTs) has created more challenges. Now, any record of human activity or thought can be
digitised, whether it is text, sound, video or graphics and in digital format, virtual documents
can be rapidly communicated. Educators are caught in a paradoxical situation, where they
must not only convey the existing knowledge of the disciplinary domain and the
competencies and skills that permit its praxis, but they need to do so in consideration of the
kinds of careers that students are likely to have, and the work that they may be called upon
to do in the future. In addition, there is a belief that, in a global world, it should be possible to
identify internationally recognised principles that are common to all information workers, and
this task becomes even more complex given the very different cultural contexts from which
the students in the Erasmus Mundus Master of Digital Library Learning (DILL, University of
Parma) are drawn1.
It is against this backdrop that the purposes of the School of Library and Information Science
(LIS) are considered. Characteristics of this context include the changing roles of information
workers and how to prepare for them, the potential for internationalisation of education for
digital Librarianship given the present nature and ambit of digital libraries, the tension
between technology and social purpose, the uniformity of intent and principle between
libraries, galleries, archives and museums as custodians of cultural heritage, social equity
and internationalisation of access to resources and the possibility for professional re-
invention.
This paper reports the conceptualisation of a research project which is currently underway.
In particular, it articulates the problems of developing a curriculum for neophyte digital
librarians, on an international basis, by examining a group of international students currently
completing this Master in Digital Library Learning. This work has been based on an
extensive literature review, participant observation of groups of international students in
DILL, and interviews with these groups over a period of four years, as well as the analysis of
aspects of the curricula that appear to attract higher achieving graduate students. Based on
these findings, we propose what we consider to be the necessary elements of theory and
praxis that should appear in a course of instruction for the librarians of the future, in order to
equip them to deal with the constant change in this field.

WHAT ARE THE VALUES UNDERLYING THE CONCEPT OF LIBRARY

IN CONTEMPORARY TIMES?

A review of changing information needs should be performed to consider both traditional and
emerging roles for information workers, as new working environments and new societal
demands would suggest. Since online bibliographic databases first appeared in the 1960s,
librarians have, on one hand, used Information and communication technologies (ICTs) in
their work, while, on the other, they have feared the demise of the discipline / profession
precisely because of ICTs – a view that is usually emphasised by non-librarians. It is true to
say that librarians’ embrace of ICTs has predominantly concentrated on their use to support,
and sometimes expand, their existing roles and practices, but in so doing, librarians have
shown themselves to be « the same, but different » – ongoing in the face of change, and
able to absorb such change. But even though the sentiment « the future of libraries is being
shaped by emerging technology » is often heard, the actual impact of ICTs on libraries is
poorly researched, and evidence is largely anecdotal and practical: there are few reflective
examinations of this phenomenon. Defensively, librarians tell each other that they have the
unique and necessary skills to play an important social role in the so-called Information
Society, but others have yet to be convinced of their proficiency or relevance. For example,
there is a communication gap in the sharing of research results between LIS and Computer
scientists. This lack of communication leads to misunderstandings – which are supported by
the lack of librarians’ involvement in counteracting the commodification and
commercialisation of information which occurs outside their arena. We feel that this is largely
the result of an inappropriate education for the discipline / profession.
In one sense, this diffuse, locally and universally accessible « library » of information
resources that is represented by Internet is understood to be desirable because it is another
technology able to overcome spatio-temporal constraints (much as information recorded in
documents did for speech). From another point of view, however, the library, its resources
and personnel could evaporate into the ether if they can be so easily replaced by ICTs. The
work of information professionals has modified to meet technological demands and this
adjustment has focused primarily on the necessity to acquire technical skills, without much
understanding of the degree to which the technical is the technological : technologies
complete with their own preferred set of social practices and values. The technical must be
supported by the theoretical in work described as professional, as T. Parsons argues : there
is a « requirement of formal technical training… giving prominence to an intellectual
component » : the development of « skills in some form of its use » ; and the « socially
responsible uses » of the profession2. Other writers such as Thomson have deplored the
development of a profession that has taken place in a « philosophical vacuum », and he
emphasises that “what a library is, what roles it should play and what a librarian should aim
to be” should receive more attention3.
This argument is becoming more pronounced, particularly within the community of
information professionals engaged in digitisation projects. In the 2008 issue of the Digital
Document Quarterly, H. M. Gladney has written a piece entitled « Information Science and
scholarly writing: a short life for Information Science (IS) », in which he states :
IS [Information Science] participants seem not to have identified a unique theoretical base.
The fundamentals of IS are epistemology and philosophy of language, which continue to be
the purview of departments of Philosophy. Furthermore, most of what might be the IS
practical side is handled by software engineers and departments of Computer science.
What’s left is little more than 60-year-old library management topics – what used to be
taught in a « Library School » – with relatively obvious extensions for digital holdings4.
He further believes that as far as digitisation is concerned, « research libraries are trying to
handle a challenge that seems to be beyond the skills of most of them »5. He refers to a
previous article on the same topic, in which he explored the distinctions or relationships
between knowledge and information, referring to Zins’ work 6, and, while recognizing that
digital preservation seem to be an almost exclusive concern of information scientists, he
draws the conclusion that « so-called Information Science » seems to him to be a « passing
enthusiasm »7. His reasons for this statement are two-fold : information scientists do not
engage with literature outside of their knowledge domain, and computer scientists and
software engineers do not « seem to pay much attention to the literature of Information
Science »8.
It is clear that the study of digitization (be it digital curation, digital preservation,
cyberinfrastructure or e-research) is substantially occupied with the technologies that
facilitate these developments. The lack of understanding of the knowledge domain shown by
H. M. Gladney (and, sadly, some others involved in LIS), the emphasis on technologies and
the subsequent overwhelming influence of computer scientists and software engineers are
potentially dangerous.

DIGITAL LIBRARIES

Digital libraries may be seen as running parallel to the existing commercial services in a de-
centred and global information infrastructure. However, exactly what a digital library is, and
what its societal role may be, still remains undecided and contested, and therefore open.
Sometimes a database is described as a digital library : other definitions are broader. In
2003, the Digital Library Federation suggested that :
Digital libraries are organisations that provide the resources, including the specialized staff,
to select, structure, offer intellectual access to, interpret, distribute, preserve the integrity of,
and ensure the persistence over time of collections of digital works9.
The emphasis here appears to be on the production and preservation of digital documents in
order to increase access, and to preserve these documents in particular ways. This
approach does not mark any significant departure from standard library practice, which for
many years has regarded information as synonymous with documents, and thus
emphasised the management of documents as physical objects. Now, even though
documents may be digital, LIS processes remain inviolate, the emphasis remains on access
(rather than successful interpretation and use of information) and the information
professional remains passive, having not made any new attempt to understand the user
community nor customise service and delivery. The user must still negotiate whatever
interface is provided by the system in order to identify, locate and retrieve the desired
information.
Gladney’s association of Information Science with document digitization is probably
inevitable, but nonetheless interesting, particularly in light of the definition offered by the
American Society of Information Science (as it was then known) in 1975 :
Information Science is concerned with the generation, collection, organisation, interpretation,
storage, retrieval, dissemination, transformation and use of information, with particular
emphasis on the applications of modern technologies in these areas.
As B. Hjørland points out, « The ASIS definition indicates that IS was born with the intention
to contribute to the automation of processes in some specific areas such as libraries and
bibliographical services »10. He continues :
The application of the most adequate tools and modern technology to a given purpose
should be taken for granted in all areas (including education, medicine, libraries and
scientific communication). Just as we cannot think of two medical sciences, one technology
oriented and one non-technology oriented, we cannot (or should not) think of two « Library
Sciences », one technology oriented and one non-technology oriented. A science must be
defined by its object, not by its tools11.
If, therefore, a digital library is to be distinguished from any other expression of the LIS
knowledge domain simply by virtue of being a result of the application of technology, it
becomes difficult to justify Digital Librarianship as a body of knowledge and practice in its
own right, just as it could be argued that there is no difference between Digital Librarianship
and Information Science. But there is little desire to detach Digital Librarianship from the
body of Librarianship, or Library and Information Science as a whole, as the terminology
would indicate.
The lack of differentiation between Digital Librarianship and any other type of Librarianship is
clear in Deanna Marcum’s view of digital libraries, whether intended or not. After expressing
a considerable degree of enthusiasm for the supposed increased accessibility of digital
libraries, she notes :
To achieve such a goal, I believe that the digital library of the future will develop three overall
characteristics :
– It will be a comprehensive collection of resources important for scholarship, teaching, and
learning ;
– It will be readily accessible to all types of users, novices as well as the experienced ;
– It will be managed and maintained by professionals who see their role as stewards of the
intellectual and cultural heritages of the world12.
We do not understand this to indicate a fundamental transformation of the enterprises we
now call libraries, particularly with their emphasis on documents as objects, rather than the
information content they contain. This rather traditional understanding is repeated by B.
Leiner, who states that « The basis for a digital library must be the information objects that
provide the content »13.

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE LIS SCHOOLS?

By asking « What is the purpose of the LIS schools ? », one needs to ask : « What is a
library ? » and « What is the role of a library in a community ? » as the answer to the latter
question will formulate the philosophy for the former. This, in a sense, summarises the
present challenges to LIS education, which must provide an education suitable for the future
professionals in a field which features major change and rapid evolution, but which continues
an ancient tradition. The practitioners, the collections of documents they manage, and the
programs that educate them, are considered by some to be obsolete, or at the very least are
understood to be increasingly redundant because of ICTs. The complex process of
internationalising the LIS curriculum is related not only to what we teach and how we teach,
but also to the implications of value judgements.
The reply to these questions is implicit in the values that the LIS schools transmit to
professionals.
First of all, such values are expressed in what is agreed to be the core of the profession, but
what is the core that distinguishes the profession? This core ought not alter over time, but
rather adapt to the changing circumstances while remaining substantially unchanged, so as
to be of permanent value in time and space. Happily, all the European LIS schools involved
in the EUCLID project agreed on this core role :
All information professionals have to organise collections, both physical and/or virtual. Their
role is that of mediator between authors and users14.
Other roles, such as librarians being educators or playing a role in social upliftment, were
debated during the discussion of the EUCLID project, but no further agreement was
reached. The organisation of knowledge is part of the professional core as it enables the
rapid retrieval of documents and, thus, the information they contain.
The authors have no intention of engaging here in the debate concerning the nature of or
differences between Librarianship and Information Science, except to express the view that
they believe that LIS is a valid, definable knowledge domain with an authentic social integrity
which is enacted by digital libraries, and can therefore be described as a discipline /
profession. As such, it has a particular social obligation, and specific ways of materializing
the theory into praxis, in order to discharge its social responsibilities. These professional
aspects are, it is argued here, quickly forgotten when considering how education for the field
must accommodate technological developments, which so clearly and intimately change the
nature of documents and the ways in which they can be disseminated.

DEFINING ONE’S TERMS

Conceptual clarity is essential in a discussion of this kind, as the terms used to suggest
various concepts can carry ideological connotations if they are considered as part of what
Wittgenstein described as language games. Wittgenstein understood his language games as
sets of legitimate linguistic moves agreed to by a particular community. For Wittgenstein, the
rules of a language game are understood by individuals within a discursive and institutional
context, and they are then able to construct and share meanings within a particular context,
enabling a particular reality to be understood. Language use therefore can construct reality
or particular versions of an experienced world, positioning the participant to subscribe to
particular beliefs, where some truths are accepted and others rejected.
Some of the terms are briefly examined here include information, digital curation, digital
preservation, and cultural heritage. The authors are guided by the following understanding of
the term information :
Information is that part of knowledge that is selected for communication by an individual, and
which is represented in some shared symbolic cultural code15.
Some information can be recorded (or captured) on a range of materials (including as
sequences of electronic impulses) and recorded information can be said, therefore, to be
contained in a document of some kind. In this way, ideas and evidence of human activity and
expression can exist and be interpreted over space and time. In principle, librarians,
archivists, gallery curators and museologists all share at least one objective : that of
preserving at least a selection of such records (which may be physical objects, books or
digital files) for posterity. This activity can be called « curation ». The Digital Curation Centre
in the United Kingdom suggests the following :
Digital curation, broadly interpreted, is about maintaining and adding value to a trusted body
of digital information for current and future use… The term digital curation is used in this call
for the actions needed to maintain digital research data and other digital materials over their
entire life-cycle and over time for current and future generations of users. Implicit in this
definition are the processes of digital archiving and preservation but it also includes all the
processes needed for good data creation and management, and the capacity to add value to
data to generate new sources of information and knowledge16.
The mention once again of « preservation » is interesting, as digitization is increasingly
understood to be a form of preservation, albeit fraught and uncertain. In fact, « digital
preservation » seems almost to be a contradiction in terms, even though preservation
remains, obviously, an important aspect of curation.
The information metacommunity mentioned above has a mutual interest in cultural,
historical, economic, political, social and technological contexts and issues. Curation is often
understood to be the preservation of cultural heritage, in particular. Many definitions of
heritage and cultural heritage exist, and the terms can be seen to include connotations of
birthright and privilege, as well as the history, traditions and customs of particular
communities, which are preserved so that their interpretation can elucidate not only times
past, but also the future.
In the project European Curriculum Reflections, digitisation of cultural heritage refers to « the
dynamic and evolving interdisciplinary domain that encompasses philosophical, social,
cultural, economic and managerial aspects and consequences of management of cultural
heritage in the technological environment and foresees the convergence between Library,
Archives, Museums (LAM) and Computer Science »17. The cultural institutions share the
traditional role of guarantors of the quality of resources, the continuity of digital resources
over time and the tenability of access. The convergence of libraries, archives and museums
suggest their shared goal of education : to help people learn, to be active citizens, and to
create new knowledge. The LAM services are :
– Providing access to digital resources ;
– Actively promoting their services ;
– Providing assistance ;
– And education18.
The convergence of cultural institutions may, in the future, provide seamless access to all
types of information contained within LAM collections, without limits of format or geography,
without spatial or temporal restriction, thus enabling the provision of the broadest and most
complete service possible to the client. This would be the fruit of a dynamic, network-
enabled collaboration within the LAM community. The challenge of LAMs is the integration at
the network level, and identifying the means to connect systems and digital collections. This
can possibly include :
– the exchange between LAMs of raw data, formats, learning resources and materials, and
flow of cultural material among LAMs ;
– exchange of expertise and knowledge within the LAM professional community ;
– coordination of technology research, planning and system development and deployment.
The problem of cultural institutions is understanding how the role of the digital library can
evolve, both as an extension of services and as an innovation of such services. The role of
digital libraries is not to manage centrally localised content but rather to promote the
aggregation of distributed collections of multimedia documents, sensitive data, mobile
information, widespread data processing services, and so on. Digital libraries simplify access
to digital objects, at the same time as providing other services, such as putting people who
are interested in the same research in contact with each other, and offering the possibility of
the use or manipulation of retrieved information. In the European Project Curriculum
Reflections, the learning outcomes at the master’s level were considered to be the following :
Students are expected to demonstrate an in-depth knowledge of what communication of
memory is. This involves an interdisciplinary approach to the concept of memory (exploiting
theories of history, cultural studies, and sociology) and introduction of such terms as
collective memory, social memory and cultural memory19.
These two aspects of service go together well : the first focuses on access to relevant
information, while the second concentrates on the sharing and communication of
information. Once a text is digitised, even the simplest search facilities will allow users to
interact with and study texts in entirely new ways. Electronic media open new modes of
dissemination and new ways of thinking about texts : scholars can use interactive music
scores, dynamically generated maps, or other multimedia elements to communicate
information in ways that are very different from text printed on a page.
If, therefore, the information professions are concerned with the curation and preservation of
cultural expression, it would seem to follow that an understanding of the semiotic, semantic
and cultural dimensions of documents and other cultural artefacts would be important. In
addition, because of the processes of making meaning of information (and thereby creating
knowledge), the relationship between knowledge creation and power as expressed by
Foucault, and Castells’s insight that controlling information flows is an expression of power,
information professionals need to be particularly careful with the selection of information and
cultural artefacts and documents, and the possible ways in which they can be understood,
particularly in a changed medium or materiality. If, therefore, digital curation (or preservation)
is preoccupied with the processes of digitisation and how digital objects may be created and
preserved, the products and their use – indeed, the reasons why this activity is undertaken
at all – become obscure.

NECESSARY COMPONENTS FOR THE EDUCATION OF INFORMATION

PROFESSIONALS IN A DIGITISED ENVIRONMENT

A particular challenge of LIS education at present is the need to address the education of
future professionals in a field featuring major change and rapid evolution. A review of
changing needs has to be performed in relation to different traditional and emerging roles,
new digital environments, and new societal and user demands. This includes the analysis of
innovative aspects of the curricula that appear to attract higher achieving secondary school
students. In other words, while an initial trend of the internationalisation is the harmonisation
of the LIS curricula and the transparency of the minimum requisites (or what is called the
core programme), an apparently opposing trend is the stimulation of excellence and
innovation in the LIS curricula in Europe. LIS schools ought to have different specialisations
and attract students through their optimal quality in such specialisations.
A key question concerns the role of internationalisation and its meaning for curriculum
design and teaching practice. The authors suggest that digital information is worldwide and
so digital librarians should be aware of the multicultural dimension of their work. While
curriculum content, teaching and learning and institutional infrastructures for facilitating
learning comprise the main focus of internationalisation strategies, currently there are no
standards for internationalising the programme and, in general, there is little evidence of
internationalisation in any LIS programmes. The Bologna Process tries to combine both
harmonisation and diversity of programme, but the difficulty lies in achieving these
outcomes20. Is internationalisation achieved by adaptation of course content to reflect a
global perspective of our disciplines, or does it imply the radical re-design of units in terms of
content, teaching strategies, resources etc. to make them more inclusive and international ?
The focus of the DILL programme is on users, the social context, and the value that digital
libraries can bring to society in assisting with information problems. The primary mission of
this programme is the education of professional librarians for work in digital libraries. It may
also provide alternative career paths to graduates, such as knowledge manager or digital
archivist. In particular, the shared vision of a digital library is that of supporting and
facilitating knowledge and learning. The purpose of international collaboration in the DILL
programme is to offer an innovative course, sharing best practices and experiences between
three LIS schools : Oslo University College, Tallinn University and the University of Parma.
The DILL curriculum includes some discussion of :
– How knowledge is created : research procedures as well as creative and innovative
insights ;
– How knowledge may be represented (in language and other forms) and how it may be
recorded (in documents of all kinds) ;
– Knowledge of various communities, and the discursive and communication activities of
such communities.
The focus of the DILL programme is on users, the social context, and the value that digital
libraries can bring to society in assisting with information problems. In particular, the shared
vision of a digital library is that of supporting and facilitating knowledge and learning.
Curriculum content, teaching and learning and institutional infrastructures for facilitating
learning comprise the main focus of internationalisation strategies. Currently, however, there
are no standards for internationalising the programme and, in general, there is little evidence
of internationalisation in any LIS programmes. Here the authors’ suggestion is that digital
information is worldwide and so digital librarians should be aware of the multicultural
dimension of their work.

INTERNATIONAL DIMENSION

What do DILL students, after having experienced an international course, think about the
international dimension of LIS education ?21 The intercultural dimension is the main
approach :
In my opinion, internationalisation means more than many nationalities or nations getting
together, but it is the communication amongst people from different cultures, backgrounds,
including in term of diverse nations.
I have sort of a view of internationalization as being multicultural and having a mental
readiness to a new way of thoughts, languages, trends, cultures, etc.
However, internationalisation is not only cultural understanding but also a methodology,
involving principles and criteria to be adapted to different contexts. The DILL course
objective was that of providing a method for applying the concepts learned in the programme
to different contexts, and some students seem to have understood this :
My view previously was more pessimistic in the sense that I thought that the world was
globalized enough not to be able to perceive differences any more in theories and practices.
But in this master’s my vision of internationalisation changed to a more cooperative view to
reinforce and attend particular or local needs according to the knowledge created
collectively as human culture (SH).
Internationalization in the rapidly developing Digital Library world is very important. The
situation is changing from day to day. And it’s impossible to work in isolation, each of us has
previous knowledge before coming to the program. We learned a lot by studying in this
program and there will be continuously learning (lifelong) after completion the program (SM).
Well, most of the time things, projects and so on start with the intention or purpose to do
something locally. However, it is always good to have in mind the internationalisation
concept so that later you can apply that local knowledge and experience to the broader
world. (SP).
But, nevertheless what we understand as internationalisation can some times be interpreted
as « American way » or « European way », for developing countries especially, as they have
different cultural histories and perspectives and to do internationalisation means to leave
their identity.

INTERNATIONAL CONTENT

One of the objectives of DILL was that of balancing library and technology competencies. A
wider definition of the competencies of digital librarians included services using new
technologies, which included information retrieval, accessibility and usability issues, and
information architecture, all with a focus on the application and use of technologies in
information lifecycle management. What are the perceptions of the DILL students ?
I have learnt the whole aspect and concept of digital libraries are even more complex than I
thought before and that there are lots of possibilities (subject I).
I’ve learned that Librarianship spans boundaries, no matter which country that one comes
from, we share common fundamental principles as information professionals (namely our
role as information mediator). I’ve also learned that it’s nice and all to have flashy technology
but without the infrastructure to support it (e.g. from the basics such as reliable electricity to
things like administrative or government support), there is not a good chance that it will be
successfully realized (subject L).
The master’s programme in DILL is really an interesting programme and it has been an
exciting experience for me. I have learnt quite a number of things. They include :
(a) I have learnt new technologies that can be adopted in a library for example the use of
topic maps in knowledge organisation and the use of Greenstone in arranging / organising
collections.
(b) I have learnt the human resource approach to a digital library. How to be a manager or
rather issues to do with human resource management as a librarian and more so in a digital
library.
(c) I have learnt about knowledge management which I never knew before how we can
apply the skills in managing knowledge in an organization. How we can encourage the
employees in organisation to contribute to the knowledge repository which is actually the
asset of the organization.
(d) Also I have learnt that users are very important in any library. We have learnt how to take
user needs into account by doing usability studies and doing evaluations to determine
whether the services being offered are meeting their needs and also the evaluation of the
services, technology, etc. This has been quite exciting (subject N)
All topics should be applied to my home country situation. However, I found that the most
urgent one is the users and usage study because our libraries are not much in use from our
population. I think that more researches should be more considered on the users’ point of
view so that we will know why the users don’t pay attention to the libraries ; and how to
convince them to see the important of the libraries for their learning (lifelong learning)
(subject C).
The topics about all the different kinds of digital documents and how they can be utilized in a
digital library. I have learnt about the semantic web and how information architecture works,
Web 2.0 and the social side of the web have been very relevant to me, especially as it was
new to me. In my specific situation, however, I think the information / topics about
interoperability and how to think about what a digital library really is and how it can work was
important. Knowledge management also will play an important part when I am back home
(subject I).
Knowledge economy, for me, is the recognition of « knowledge » as an indispensable part of
an individual’s, organisation’s and even country’s well-being and development and as a
result the required investment is done to best utilize and harness this knowledge – for the
good of society. This, I believe, calls for a dramatic shift in our curriculum (education),
organizational set-up, composition of workforce, resource allocation (management) etc.
As an information worker, the knowledge economy will affect me in many ways. Knowledge
is dynamic. I got to change. I should learn and unlearn – new and old ways. I should value
my colleagues’ knowledge. I should recognise contributions / active participation of my users
/ customers (subject K).

LEARNING AND TEACHING

Learning and teaching in international courses should be linked to research : this would
include the research done by teachers, the research done by students and the mastering of
research methods on the part of the students. As an immediate consequence of this
approach to learning and teaching, we have to ask ourselves : can this teaching innovation
resolve the age-old dichotomy of theory and practice ? It’s also a question of definition :
What is theory ? What is practice ? Theory is often understood as history, or as the
consolidated opinion of authoritative sources, but not based on facts and evidence. Practice
is understood as the daily activity of the individuals, not guided by theory.
DILL students should understand the process of research (which is connected to the
creation of knowledge mentioned above), and should be able to evaluate and critique how
knowledge is created and communicated. Students are encouraged to engage in a research
project of some kind, so that they are more critical consumers of research. Students also
undertake an internship in which they are able to apply theory to practice. An important DILL
objective is to develop a reflective practitioner, combining research methods and achieving a
balance between theory and practice.
It can be said that a « student-centred » didactic approach implies the acquisition of a set of
skills comprised in reflective practice and research methods ; research methods and
reflective practice must be included in international LIS courses. The various contexts
feature different problems in the application of research methods. In a student-centred
didactic approach, the personal characteristics of the students acquire greater importance in
relation to the results to be achieved. In particular, at an international level, certain skills
ought to be stressed since they are more important than others, such as multiculturalism,
international vision, and language skills.
Among other things, the three most important things I’ve learnt in this programme are :
(1) Sharing and efficient communication / presentation ;
(2) Leading and being led in the group ;
(3) Networking and cultural exchanging.
All these I have learnt through the activities, travels, accidentally and /or deliberately from
my lecturers, colleagues and other people who are not even part of the programme or were
indirectly associated with this programme (subject D).
It affects our career in the sense that we need to be very critical and not to become naively
part of those infrastructures, giving more importance to critical thinking, to promote services
in our communities that help them to understand that global economy. But we need to
assume ourselves as part of the society’s thought, knowing as much as possible which are
the driving forces or motivations for being an information worker in the present context and if
it is possible to do something to improve or lessen a little bit its bad consequences (subject
H).

OUTCOMES

The DILL programme assumed the position that the education of a librarian should be
designed to produce an active agent of change, and therefore it set out to equip students
with skills such as reflective practice and the ability to apply research methods to his or her
own work context. Learning outcomes have been represented as a paradigm shift from the
traditional modes of measuring and expressing learning, characterised as input approaches
(with emphasis on the number of teaching hours and the sum of resources), to be
considered as output focused techniques using learning outcomes and competencies. The
learning outcomes approach focuses attention on explicit and detailed statements of what
students learn : the skills, understanding and abilities the course seeks to develop and then
test. Ambiguities are not lacking for the learning outcomes approach as a whole, however. In
practice it is not always clear what the learning outcomes subject to evaluation are, and
hence it is not easy to decide how they can be measured. What competencies we would like
our students have ? At the end of the DILL course students ought to possess :
– An international view ;
– The capacity for critical thinking ;
– Self-management ;
– A professional overview ;
– Familiarity with the body of knowledge of the discipline ;
– An understanding of the social role of the profession.
The DILL programme wishes its graduates to have some knowledge of the theoretical
framework of the field, but we also wish to work with the students’ preferences, as they often
know what kind of work they will prefer doing upon graduation. One area in which these two
competing approaches to learning outcomes are particularly evident is the learning of
technologies in the DILL courses.

TECHNOLOGICAL BACKGROUND

What outcomes should be pursued in LIS education to adapt the disciplinary background to
the changes wrought by new technologies ? The technological knowledge considered
necessary for the librarian is an example of how the two approaches can lead to different
results in terms of learning outcomes. If the aim of university education is to train someone
who is capable of applying new technologies to traditional library procedures, the result will
be a library technician. If instead the aim is to train a librarian capable of understanding
which problems of the profession can best be resolved through the application of
technologies then the result will be an educated librarian. Some of our students commented
as follows :
Slightly disagree. The challenges for librarians in the future not centre purely about
technology moreover, in my opinion, it is about how librarians can adjust with the
progressivity of society in terms of culture and social interaction, the question will be, « Can
the library still exist as a social institution ? » Global information infrastructures involve
political, economy, security and most important « Trust ». Technology is just one of main
variables (subject B).
I agree that technology is a significant obstacle for librarians. However, I don’t think that the
librarians are not aware of the importance of technology. On the other hand, I think that
some of them are very enthusiastic to get involved with technology. Nevertheless, the
librarians have many roles to play ; and the technology is only a tool to make the librarians’
tasks more convenient. The librarians’ main responsibilities are more likely coping with users
and content. They should and have to learn how to use technology to ease them in working
process, but they do not have to be expertise in technology. I support the ideas of having
some basic knowledge of technology for the librarians so that they are able to make mutual
understanding when working with the technicians (subject C).
Digital library as organisation in terms of structure and position among other institution.
Other subject what important for me is Human-Computer-Interaction (HCI). I think DLL
student need to have at least a slight piece of understand of how users interact with digital
library interface. The modules that already have now was not covered it (subject B).
From the technological point of view, we didn’t study digitization practices. We didn’t study
Open Access concepts and practices, and this is quite relevant to our contexts.
More on Information Architecture (even from a critical point of view) is needed. This was
touched, but not enough (subject H).
Reference courses I think is quite relevant as much of references services now is being
done using technology or better saying the reference materials today have been digitized or
born digital. Collection development is also a big issue, which has been covered now and
then but not sufficiently. One interesting course would also be a pedagogical one, so to
prepare future library educators and not intending to « produce » only librarians to fill a
position at a workplace in a library. This would ennoble the world of library profession to
have trained library educators (subject P).
Of course marketing in DL. We had just one guest speaker (subject F).
We had one lecture on copyright, but I think we should know more about copyright issue,
digital right management and the process how to ask for permission when we want to
digitize copyrighted work (subject O).
The main think what I really want is to be helpful for the society where I live, to be helpful
with my knowledge, experience. I will try to apply what I have learned what I will learn in the
place where I will work. This time is really challenging in my country, I really want to be
involved in the processes going on for the developing new digital resources (subject M).

THE AGENT ROLE OF THE FUTURE LIBRARIANS

The social responsibility of the librarians seems to be very well understood by DILL
students :
I feel the role of librarians will be more important given the knowledge economy we are
experiencing nowadays. The world economies are becoming more and more knowledge
based and consequently the role of people responsible for structuring and organising such
knowledge and ensuring its usage by the end users will become more vital.
The knowledge workers will also be responsible for facilitating knowledge sharing among
users as can be seen for case of web 2.0 technologies. They will have to innovate additional
services to accompany the emerging web 2.0 tools that will attract and facilitate the sharing
of knowledge among users (subject A).
The Knowledge worker (Librarian) will use the web more for marketing services offered by
the digital libraries for example using social networking sites and this therefore means they
will be working hand in hand with web giants like Google with the common aim of letting
easy access to the knowledge and information there is both on the web and in the digital
libraries (subject B).
Librarians in the future will act as mentors and guidance for the user as GPS for the drivers.
They try to bring clients from where they are at the point to where they want to be. Assisting
not only to locate and identify the need of their information, but providing the fastest and
accessible route for the client (subject C).
Considering the multimedia nature of the next generation of digital libraries requires global
digital librarians to be essentially a type of specialist librarian who has to manage and
organize the digital library, handle the specialized tasks of massive digitization, storage,
access, digital knowledge mining, digital reference services, electronic information services,
search co-ordination, and manage the archive and its access. Thus, the global digital
librarian will act as guardian of the information superhighway / the universal digital library or
the global digital library and acts as universal information guru (subject D).

CONCLUSIONS
The traditional skills of Librarianship will either be transformed and / or supplemented. There
is an almost magical quality associated with the « Information Revolution », as complex,
distributed social and economic processes have resulted in far faster dissemination and
more profound application of the technology than anyone expected. Traditional duties of
librarians have already changed significantly as a result of the wide use of ICTs. For
example, current duties include those of database interface designer and consultant,
electronic and virtual materials publisher, reviewer and monitor of the quality and integrity of
online resources, metadata specialist, software consultant, and intellectual property and
copyright advisor. The process has been compared to a viral process, teleonomic rather
than teleologic, in improving primary education and reducing illiteracy22.
Teleonomy is the quality of apparent purposefulness and goal-directedness of structures and
functions in living organisms that derive from their evolutionary history and adaptation for
reproductive success. Teleology (greek τελος = end, purpose) is the philosophical study of
design, purpose, directive principle, or finality in nature or humans. Current duties include
those of database interface designer and consultant, electronic and virtual materials
publisher, reviewer and monitor of the quality and integrity of online resources, metadata
specialist, software consultant, and intellectual property and copyright advisor.
Computer science programs are concerned with the application of algorithms to digital data.
Computer scientists may become knowledgeable about application areas and may
collaborate with specialists in other fields, but computer science is fundamentally not
interdisciplinary. Information systems programs, of the type commonly found in schools of
business administration, are largely concerned with the application of computer science to a
single organization’s digital records. Information systems programs are somewhat broader
than computer science programs because they are concerned with the management of
technology, the supervision of staff, and the need to perform within an organizational
context.
Library, information and documentation studies differ significantly and importantly from both
computer science and from information systems programs. First, they are concerned with all
forms and genres of documents, obviously including but not limited, as the other two are, to
digital bits. Second, they are, or should be, concerned with what people know, need to know,
want to know and how they know. Third, because this field is defined by the problem area
that it addresses, rather than by a method, it cannot and should not attempt to become a
discipline in the narrow traditional sense. It is not mono-disciplinary, like computer science,
but draws, as needed, on a very wide range of sciences (e.g. statistics), engineering (e.g.
computer science), humanities (e.g. linguistics) and social sciences (e.g. anthropology and
economics). Some people like to say that it is an interdisciplinary field.
Technology is important, but it is not possible to leave the entire matter of digitisation to the
technologists and computer scientists, because of two major differences : they do not share
the same knowledge domain as librarians (information professionals ?) and they do not have
the same professional obligations – in other words, our social role.
It is widely considered that new technologies open up new possibilities, both for better and
for worse, as cultural, political, economic, social, and institutional processes determine which
opportunities are accepted, and the degree to which they are utilized. The World Summit on
the Information Society (WSIS), a series of conferences held in the early 2000s, believed
that Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) could be achieved through the application of
ICTs to development, as well as to changing how education was delivered, and thus would
effect concomitant changes in educational policies. Indeed, an explicit objective of the WSIS
is to promote the application of ICTs to achieving the MDGs. Yet the vision of the Information
Society in the public mind goes well beyond the MDGs (which focus largely on the
eradication of poverty and its effects), moving toward a post-industrial society with higher
standards of living for all.
However, we are of the belief that it is not the technology itself that will create such social
change and advancement : it is the information, or ideas, whose distribution the technology
facilitates, that will make such changes. Naturally, the two are closely linked, but there
should be recognition that in some circumstances, communication technologies such as
books may be more appropriate or useful than the internet, because of poor infrastructure,
low literacy levels, and the like. And those professionals who are most closely involved with
the dissemination of information and ideas that can be used to solve problems and inform
decisions are librarians. In the digitised world, we can do this through the use of digital
libraries of all types.
In conclusion, education for information professionals must be directed towards producing
professionals who play a key role in managing and controlling information flows in society,
and whose objective it is to deal with society’s information (not technological) problems. We
suggest that there is room for new directions in research which is both unique to the field
and which demands a multidisciplinary approach. For example, there is little or no research
which examines the uses that people make of information once it is accessed, or the multiple
roles libraries play in their diverse communities, whether analogue or digital, over time.
Perhaps if this kind of work is undertaken, the social responsibilities of librarians will become
clearer and more meaningful to others, and will provide quite different opportunities for
information professionals.
1. INTRODUCTION

Librarianship and information services is experiencing a radical redefinition of the task and nature of
both the profession and preparation for entering it. Overwhelmed by new waves of technology and
an information explosion, the profession is almost drowning in the sea of change. Peter's advice to
organizations on how to cope, applies equally well to our profession, "today, loving change, tumult,
even chaos, is a prerequisite for survival, let alone success."1 It is impossible to predict the nature of
changes that will cast us into the 21st Century, much less to develop concrete educational strategies
to deal with those radical changes which affect libraries and information service. Yet systematic,
deliberate planning for such a transition is necessary. Such a cautious approach is necessary because
the future is no longer a simple extension of the past. It is likely that applying traditional procedures
and techniques which resolved crises of the past, will not work in this technological world and might
even aggravate the situation.

One fact is obvious, a passive educational role no longer serves information services well and things
can no longer be done the way they were done even ten years ago. There are many more players
with vested interests in the new information marketplace, and they influence the recruitment and
education of professionals. Sharper focused objectives for library and information science education
are more necessary now than ever before and in fact are prerequisites for the survival of current
programs as viable educational entities. A primary question is whether schools are educating
librarians, or special librarians, or archives managers, or records managers, or information managers.
Are those terms mutually exclusive, or is there a generic curriculum which meets the educational
needs for all.

Professional education programs usually feel the first shock waves of every new jolt. That is true in
library and information service. For instance, the cumbersome and complicated information
dissemination process which, until recently, was predominantly print oriented is now challenged by
an electronic technology which is changing the reliance of print on paper, is shattering many
previously held assumptions about that medium and is challenging traditional approaches of both
providing information and educating information providers. Creative faculty in innovative education
programs have been on the cutting-edge of research and development of technology which has
been integrated into the curriculum. Such challenges continue and are being further enhanced. The
president of EDUCOM, a higher education consortium in North America, says that "one of the grand
challenges for technology in the coming decade is to create an electronic network linking every
scholar in the world to every other scholar and to establish a knowledge- management system on
this world ... network. The network will ... enhance productivity by reducing the time needed to
obtain and exchange information."2 An added quote, "Every library," should be inserted in that
equation. This would mean that libraries would be charged with making database resources,
including those of vendors like Dialogue and OCLC, available through an international network and
libraries would be involved in developing a search-and-retrieval interface for those systems
designed. The time is fast approaching when an individual scholar, student or ordinary citizen has
access to a larger storehouse of information still produced and organized, by libraries and other
information centers, but disseminated into homes and offices, as well as through those libraries and
other information centers. Implication of such development are immeasurable for education
programs preparing information professionals.

2. THE CHALLENGE TO EDUCATION

Librarianship, as one element in that total information access chain, remains an important link
though which "society is held together and a culture is created and maintained."3 But that is only
one aspect of our institutions, and one charge to the profession. If one further considers a model in
which the flow of knowledge and access to information in society is conceptualized as a complex
social system in which the individual, groups, and organizations are linked together in overlapping
and interrelated communications activities, roles and networks, then one can envision the
challenges to the profession's educational programs in meeting the needs of an expanding and
evolutionary environment. If one further accepts the premise that information access, made more
convenient and speedier through technology, is "indispensable to the development of human
potential, the advancement of civilization and the continuance of enlightened self-government" then
it is obvious that the implications for continued curriculum review and revision are significant and
ongoing.

Even the term "librarianship" is being challenged as a stereotypical concept not inclusive enough for
the basis of the educational programs nor the type of functions graduates are performing. Library
service is only one part of a host of retrieval based information services which have their grounding
in interdisciplinary curricula now developing in programs of library and information science.
"Information studies", not a new concept, is being reluctantly accepted as a more accurate term
reflecting the foundation of our profession. This is not an abandonment of our profession, but a
recognition that the term "library" and "librarianship" limits both the profession's view and that of
the publics being served. If the commitment of professionals, who are graduating from schools of
library and information science, is information to the people, then the study of information is the
basis of what must be taught. It is a cohesive consolidation of several components, drawn from
several disciplines, which is synthesized into a program which is now more broadly defined than
"library science" and "information science" pulled together. It is, in fact, the study of the
characteristics and organization of information; it is the process by which information is generated,
distributed and used; it is the relationship between information systems and users; and finally, it is
the study of the functions of organizations and institutions - like libraries - which are charged with
providing the information systems and services required by individuals and society.4

In the very broadest sense, linking the needs of users and potential users of all types of library and
information centers, either in-house or remotely through electronic networks, with the information
which can be converted by the individual into knowledge, and hopefully wisdom, will enable
individuals to function in a post-industrial society, both as a private citizen and as individuals working
in groups in organizations. That concept is at the heart of library service and therefore educational
programs for information service.

The purpose of education for the information profession has not changed greatly over the years, but
its content and techniques certainly have. That purpose is to define a set of criteria which individuals
entering the profession should meet and to screen out those who do not measure up. Learning how
to find information efficiently and effectively when the time comes is the goal. But the greatest
debate among practitioners and educators continues to be in the orientation of programs. Whether
schools should have a practical orientation without theoretical considerations, and be training
oriented rather than one of acculturation, is an argument which continues to be less than
productive. A conceptual understanding is the foremost consideration, not those skills and
techniques which easily become obsolete and which can, and perhaps should be, learned best on-
the-job. There first must be an intellectual orientation to skills and methods, both technical and
behavioral, before there can be an effective application of those skills. Without that a person is
simply performing a set or routines, not functioning as a professional.

Possessing that educational background the professional is an information intermediary between

the needs of users and the larger world of information. He or she acts in a multi-role of negotiator,
identifying needs; facilitator, providing effective search strategies; educator, familiar with the
literature in all of its various formats; and information broker, providing current awareness services
for the population to be served.5

In that light, library and information science education must very simply always be in a proactive
position of identifying needed change and then act as a change agent by providing the intellectual
environment and stimulus for the analysis of that change and the applications which will occur.
Educational programs establish a strong continuous link to the profession through faculties from
many disciplines whose expertise is reflected in consulting, writing, speaking, research, and other
professional activities and whose creative efforts are reflected in their role of mentor and change
agents.

It is also reflected in the calibre and commitment of students who are recruited and admitted into
programs. The ultimate success of this educational process is measured by its congruence with the
aims of a profession which is expanding its scope.
Faculty activities and interests must reflect the cutting edge of research through the development
and exploration of new knowledge. This emphasis, then, naturally flows into and is reflected in
curricula. In addition to library and information science, faculty are recruited from public
administration, computer science, economics, law, organizational science, psychology, sociology,
artificial intelligence, information theory and the list goes on. What is offered is an aggregate of
specialties connected by a common goal of providing the right information to the right person at the
right time and in the right format, with students becoming information literate.

Curricula must reflect the impact of this electronic revolution in the form of both new courses
dealing with current developments and in revisions of traditional courses to encompass the
application of new technologies and theories. In such a setting, access to information, both in its
literal aspect and in the broadest philosophical sense, impacts every part of the curriculum and
many specialties are represented. For instance, "from law, such topics as intellectual property,
copyright, the effects of regulation of information flow within and across borders; from economics,
methods for assessing values and costs of information, links between information and productivity,
the economics of the information industry; from sociology, the influence of information technology
on social structures and processes and the characteristics of "information societies" need to be
understood; from public administration matters of the effect of national information practices on
third-world development".6 These are but examples of the interdisciplinary nature of the
curriculum. A major issue confronting educational programs is how to squeeze all of this into a
reasonable time frame which is educationally viable. Meeting uncertainty by emphasizing a set of
new basics and enhancing responsiveness through greatly increased flexibility, and continuous, short
cycle innovation7 must be the operating mode for schools of information studies.

The "core" of library and information science education remains the single binding force to the
concept of service access to information. This "core" includes some understanding of the reference
interview; how information is generated and distributed through institutional providers; what the
information requirements and needs of individuals are; patterns of information gathering and use;
an understanding of the theories of collecting, building, and organizing materials for use in many
formats; and basic bibliographic methods and search techniques including online searching and
fundamental reference sources and services.

Beyond that, understanding management techniques, including the appreciation of research

applications, is considered highly desirable. The ability to analyze and evaluate performance of
individuals and systems, in terms of cost effectiveness and responsiveness is paramount. With that
core of knowledge, graduates are prepared to function as professionals in a variety of information
settings.

Over the years, two approaches to library and information science curricular development have
emerged: first, an attempt at delineation between information science and library science; and
secondly, a concerted attempt to maintain an integrated program. The latter is by far the more
typical and legitimate because, the integrative concept of information studies provides the
theoretical and intellectual base for the profession. On a practical level, "other fields such as
computer science and management have been more adept at clearly defining the nature of
competence for the information professions" than have programs of library and information
service.8 This is a point to ponder because the service orientation is one to which we are committed
but other programs lack.

In that regard, recent discussions and expressed opinions of librarians and information scientists,
many of them leaders within the profession, about the future of library and information science
education, reveal that content objectives for the first professional degree, should emphasize
educating librarians who have a sense of themselves as professionals, a broad understanding of the
aims and goals of the profession as a whole, and a sense of the responsibility toward the public that
being a professional implies.

There seems to be general agreement on the desire for increased emphasis on human
communication theories; processes and practices; on the social environment within which a
professional functions; on the needs and resources of the communities; and more concentration on
a total information system. If the term library is used it should be in quotes because ours is a
profession whose services are performed both inside and outside of buildings known as the library
or the information center, and it makes little difference to the information seeker whether the
access point is over the reference desk, via telephone, CD- ROM, local area network, satellite, or
laser beam; and whether the final output is book, microform, videotape, cassette, disc, cable
television, hypermedia, computer printout or screen vision. The librarian is being educated to access
information in all of those formats. But obsolescence is one of the most serious problems facing all
professionals, both recently graduated and those with more experience the individual. The need to
constantly update knowledge and skills to effectively perform a role in this lifelong learning process
is one for educators and practitioners to address together. Strategies must be developed to deliver
such programs in a timely fashion.

3. CONCLUSIONS

The future of curriculum development in schools of library and information science rests upon being
able to balance that core curriculum and other components which are desirable to address access to
information which meets the needs of all citizens, whether a preschool child exploring the new
world, or sophisticated medical researcher needing instantaneous information to save lives; whether
senior citizen needing information to cope with daily problems or a college student requiring help
with the writings of Confucius; whether business executive requiring detailed market information to
make important decisions, or lawyer seeking briefs on previous court decisions to defend a client
effectively; whether recent immigrant wanting to learn a new language, or an adult struggling to
become literate for the fist time. An attitude of service to all segments of the population is reflected
in the curricula.
Naisbitt says that we are living in the "time of parenthesis", almost as if we have been bracketed off
from both the known past and the unknown future. The time of the parenthesis is a time of change
and questioning.9 This is certainly true in the library and information science education.

We need well educated generalists who can cope with moral issues, who know something about
technology, and know that the essence of librarianship and information service is not just handling
materials but rather serving people in an increasingly complex environment. We must continue to
recruit that potential professional into schools which must continue to emphasize the philosophical
concept of access to information. Only then can we truly maintain that we are "educating"
professionals rather than "training" technicians.

Some thoughts based on my recent presentation to the INFODAYS14 conference held at Charles
University, Prague, Czech Republic 5-7th November 2014.

The future of library and information science (LIS), is inextricably linked to the future of the
document. Leaving aside for the moment, the question of exactly “what is a document?” this comes
as no surprise to those of us working in this area, as we know that civilization owes its existence to
recorded knowledge. For the time being also, let us allow ourselves to consider knowledge and
information to be interchangeable terms, and within our LIS discipline, we will assume that for the
purposes of communication, such knowledge or information must be instantiated as a document of
some kind.

We can further understand that documents contain, and therefore allow access to, ‘formal’
information – i.e. something that is published, and therefore subject to the processes of the
information communication chain, [Popper’s World III, instantiated in World I, physical objects]. This
is in contrast to ‘informal’ information, which remains inside someone’s head – although
developments in telepathic communication are starting to enter the research literature, we are still
some way away from being able to intercept and understanding the thought processes of another
being, [Popper’s World II].

I am often called on to comment on the nature of library and information science. To reiterate, here
at City University London, we consider the discipline of library and information science to be the
study of documents, on their journey through the information communication chain.

The realm of library and information science then, is the realm of the document. We, as researchers
and practitioners within this field, are concerned with the activities surrounding the creation,
dissemination, management, organisation and retrieval, and use of documents. We study these
processes of documentation through the lens of Hjørland’s concept of domain analysis, invoking
study and praxis within facets such as knowledge organisation, information retrieval, document
preservation, historical studies, and research into information behaviour.
The changes in this chain of events, are driven largely by technology, although factors such as
economics, politics and social tastes are all able to impact on the business of recorded knowledge.

Let us take a look at some of the developments that can be seen to be influencing the nature and
definition of documents, as 2014 draws to a close.

Information Theory

A quick scan of the literature on the definition of information, reveals the troubled history of the
concept central to our discipline. To-date, there is no single, satisfactory explanation of what
information actually is. There are many attempts at definition, and indeed theories, both within the
field of LIS and within other, seemingly unrelated disciplines. Resurgence in interest in information
communications theory, can be seen to have heralded interest in information physics, philosophy of
information and information biology. To some, the concept of information in these fields remains
unconnected to the social discipline of library and information science, but to others, there is an
interest in looking for connections and a possible theory of unification. See Bawden and Robinson
papers below, for further reading in this latter area.

Data Science

The jump to prominence of data science and related areas (big data, data analytics, data
visualisation) can be seen in the number of recent university courses being introduced (we have
introduced one this year at City University), and reflected in the required skills listed in many job
advertisements. One of the top skills sets required by employers across the sectors is the ability to
collect, analyse and interpret data. Data handling and communication are now sitting alongside the
more traditional ‘verbal and written communication skills’ that professional level work demands.
These skills are becoming essential to practitioners within library and information science as e-
science and the digital humanities pour more and more data sets into our sphere of influence. These
digital data files are one example of the new forms of document that require the attention and
understanding of members of our discipline. The move to open data, and the expectation that data
will be published alongside findings are changing the way library and information professionals
support scholarly communication. Indeed the move towards digital scholarship heralds a new era for
partnerships between librarians and researchers.

Digital Humanities

The mass digitization of literature, poetry, art and music has led to an increase in materials and
methods available for humanities based studies. There is a movement towards situating digital
humanities research within the library and information environment, which seems to many, to be its
natural home. Again, as with e-science, the availability of large data sets and multi-media files is
fuelling new growth areas for understanding patterns and trends (text mining), and for facilitating
the final convergence of the GLAM sector, where digital renderings of text, image, sounds or even
objects bring the previously separate collection disciplines into a melting pot of new services and
interpretations. We are witnessing new roles redefining library and information science as a
producer of new content, understanding and insight, supporter of new forms of scholarship, and a
leader in scholarly communications.

Publishing

Library and information science has always had an intimate relationship with the processes of
publishing and dissemination. Changes in both scholarly and trade publishing are well documented,
driven by the open access movement and the demand for new models of consumption respectively.
The rapid growth of mobile devices and social media has revolutionised what it means to be an
author and what it means to be a disseminator or a reader. It is probably fair to say that anyone with
access to technology (not everyone) can be both an author and a publisher. New mechanisms for
content creation (image/media capture devices, writing for transmedia) allow new forms of
documents (interactive narratives) to flourish, and we are seeing a move towards content marketing,
an increase in the use of images or video over text, and in data mashups. New tools to help us
understand the reach and potential impact of new publishing formats, referred to as altmetrics, are
entering the armoury of library and information science alongside existing bibliometric and
informetric analyses. What it means to publish is changing alongside the development of the
document.

Computer Science/Technology

Technological advances undoubtedly drive the most significant changes in the form and nature of
documents.

I have written previously in this blog, that developments in pervasive computing, multisensory
network technologies and participatory human computer interfaces will allow new forms of
documents to emerge, specifically ‘immersive’ documents, where unreality can be perceived as
reality. News of current developments in virtual reality headsets and roomscape projection abounds,
and consumer versions of games, narratives and training scenarios appear to be just around the
corner timewise, rather than siting themselves somewhere in the mid to long term future. Before we
arrive at the availability of completely immersive documents, we will see a range of lesser,
participatory experiences, such as the interactive, transmedia narratives mentioned in the previous
section. In these narratives, the story reaches out beyond the imaginary world, into the reality of the
reader, with texts, phone calls and connections, seemingly coming from characters within the plot.
The way the narrative plays out can be influenced by the reader, as can the ending.
The blurring of boundaries between a game, a learning experience or pure fiction with this type of
document is evident. There will also be ethical implications with regard to how these documents are
used.

Implications for Library and Information Science

As documents evolve, so then will the scope and processes of what we understand as library and
information science. New forms of document will require extensions and adaptations to our current
tools for knowledge organisation, new information architectures and new understandings of human
information behaviours. Most interestingly perhaps, for the LIS profession, will be the need to
engage with and promote ‘immersive literacy’, possibly in a similar way to which Gilster suggested
for digital literacy less than two decades ago