EDUCATING INFORMATION PROFESSIONALS FOR THE 21st CENTURY

Robert D. Stueart

Simmons College
Boston, MA 02115

Keywords: Information technology; Information studies; Education for information services; Library education; Information science education; Curricular change

Abstract: Educating information professionals is the key link in the information chain which collects, organizes, retrieves and disseminates information. Discussion focuses on curricular needs to prepare information professionals to integrate new technologies and manage information access in an increasingly information rich society.


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.
 

REFERENCES

1. Peters, Tom. Thriving on Chaos. New York:Alfred A. Knopf, 1987. p. 3.

2. Arms, Caroline, ed. Campus Network Strategies. Bedford, MA: Digital Press, 1988. p. viii.

3. Shera, Jesse H. The Foundations of Education for Librarianship. New York: Becker & Hayes, Inc.,1972. p. l.

4. Haas, Warren J., "Information studies, librarianship, and professional leadership," Bulletin of the Medical Library Association 76 (1 ): 4 (January 1988).

5. Stueart, Robert D., "Libraries - A new role," in Books, Libraries and Electronics - Essays on the Future of Written Communication. White Plains, NY: Knowledge Industry Pubs Inc., 1982. pp. 114-115.

6. Haas, ibid. pp. 4-5.

7. Peters, ibid. pp. 3-4.

8. Robbins-Carter, Jane and Charles A. Seavey, "The Master's Degree: Basic preparation for professional practice," Library Trends 34 (4): 570 (Spring 1986).

9. Naisbitt, John. Megatrends. New York: Warner Books, 1981. pp. 22-23.