Marshall McLuhan, as early as the 1950's, with his "the medium is the message" sermon, alerted the world to the shift from a print-oriented to a machine oriented audio-visual culture, which in a short intervening time has become a full-blown electronic culture. This new wave has brought with it greater reliance on the expertise of information professionals whose responsibility is to guide society through a complex ever changing information maze. What type of educational program best prepares those who serve as intermediaries and guides, and specifically those information profes-sionals who are working in such a changing information ladened environment, is a vital question to address.

One constantly hears reference to "the" information profession or information professional, with little concerted thought being given to the meaning of those terms, which are all too frequently inappropriately used because they are so broad, covering so many categories of professionals in so many experiences, that they might be considered meaningless. By definition, "information profes-sional" has become an umbrella term, used to describe an array of individuals trained to handle information and the technology to process and deliver it. Most importantly, that professional, as compared to a technician, possesses knowledge in the discipline of information services, with a set of guiding principles and a liberal education to enable an understanding of the dynamics of society and culture. The information professional is required to think conceptually and reason logically. This distinction is being emphasized here in the beginning, because it is a vital point which will be expounded upon later.

2. INFORMATION PROFESSIONALS

When one considers the potential of a total educational market, there is no doubt that the human resources market for information professionals is increasing. However, schools of library and information studies are not alone in establishing a role in the "information society," nor are they the only ones preparing information professionals. Many professional groups are wrestling with the problem of defining the information professional marketplace, and in identifying the education of various professionals in that continuum. Several ways of defining what information work have emerged from those discussions, including it being defined by the: 1). context or employing insti-tutions; 2) function or activities performed; 3) occupational title; 4) terms of the professional skills and competencies required; and/or 5) placements patterns exhibited by the graduates of library, information science, information studies and/or information management programs.

When one closely examines the changing curicula foci of programs of library and information studies, it is obvious that the goals of those programs and the curicula which support them are changing to address and encompass the needs of a much wider market. Library service is one, albeit important, part of a host of retrieval based information services which have their grounding in what can now be labelled interdisciplinary curicula in schools of library and information studies.

In trying to encompass information systems, policies, and resource management, information studies has become the more acceptable term. Even the new Standards for Accreditation, developed by the American Library Association with input from other professional associations, including the American Society for Information Science, use the term "library and information studies." (American Library Association, 1992) This definition is important since it determines how schools address information studies in their curicula (Sineath, 1992). The concept is a restatement of what we librarians and information managers have always studied, but new techniques, new technologies, and new thrusts have provided a new dimension for learning and doing. The traditional library market is still the core of what is being taught in schools of library and information studies, but wider market options are attracting many graduates who are finding positions with such titles as: on-line search specialist, abstractor, systems analyst, systems designer, production designer and editor, technical writer, programmer, media information specialist, market researcher, information specialist, archivist, computer programmer, marketing information specialist, records manager, and database development consultant, to mention just a few.

It is useful to examine one chart (Figure 1) from a relatively recent study which delineates the various information professions, and provides some parameters to the discussion of education for those information professionals, who have been grouped, by researchers, into nine basic groups:

3. SCHOOLS OF INFORMATION STUDIES

In such a diverse, dynamic, changing environment it is almost impossible to construct curicula in schools of library and information studies to meet the needs of everyone preparing to enter the infor-mation professions. Not only is it difficult, but it is also not even desirable or necessary. The pri-mary focus in schools of library and information studies, then, needs to be on constructing programs which are relevant, timely, and meet the educational needs of a specific, identified segment of the information profession's market. It requires identifying that particular "nitch" which schools should target in preparing professionals for the accelerating changes taking place in the external and internal environments of organizations called libraries and other information centers.

A logical question then becomes whether it is possible to modify, adapt, or further revise existing programs to address that changing market, or if it would be better to just start over, or, alternatively, forge stronger alliances with logical cognate disciplines to provide, more focused and relevant infor-mation based programs. In many ways, we are our own worst critics, believing it is not possible to adjust, or being reluctant to commit to loosing an autonomy which has always been treasured. Some information professionals already believe that other academic programs, including those for compu-ter scientists and management information system experts in schools of business administration and management, and those for artificial intelligence workers and expert systems personnel in knowledge engineering programs, are already better attuned to marketing needs and therefore are meeting needs which schools of library and information science seem to have, at worst, ignored or, at best, neglected.

In that educational process, "management schools are educating people in information literacy and the role that information plays in the modern organization; communication schools are preparing people in information utilities; and computer scientists are ready to capture the market for knowledge workers in how to prepare expert systems which can answer people's questions. With such richness of activities, one might ask if anything is left. The answer is the most important concept of all, the service orientation.

Schools of library and information studies have the educational advantage because they are pro-viding a broader understanding of the information environment, and have historically been best at information management. The orientation has traditionally been, and remains, toward service. But those schools do not have the tactical advantage, and therein lies part of the current problem. One fact is obvious in this complex technological environment, a passive educational role no longer serves information services well and things can no longer be done the way they were done or even marketed a few short years ago. There are many more players with vested interests in the new information marketplace, and that factor influences the recruitment and education of many informa-tion professionals. Schools must be more articulate and assertive in spreading the word on who is being educated and how those graduates are then prepared to perform.

Sharper focused objectives for library and information service education are demanded now, more than ever before, and in fact are necessary for the survival of current programs as viable educational entities. During the last decade there has been some initial, tentative shifts in focus to accommodate that need. For instance, just ten years ago fifty three percent of the then accredited graduate programs in North America contained "information" in their title, now over 88 percent have the term in their names. In most cases these are more than just cosmetic changes. An examination of the statements of goals and objectives and curricular changes indicate that schools are attempting to meet the needs of a greater range of markets, employers, and operational contexts for information professionals. A similar development and focus is now taking place in Thailand as professional programs move to the graduate level, and as more information theory is introduced with those curicula.

If schools of library and information studies are to continue to attract persons interested in that specific segment of the information profession, then the focus must be on preparing individuals interested in developing information systems, with an added commitment to providing access to the information needed. The access orientation is paramount, because, no matter how impressive new technologies are; or their rate of acceptance; or their eventual impact on society, the charge to infor-mational intermediaries will continue to be one of providing the right information, to the right person, at the right time, and in the right format. Access is the key, and even though unrestricted access is still in the future, it does raise many important educational issues relating to the elements of: legal access, physical access, affordable access, intellectual access, and organized access. Those economic and ethical considerations are topics of concentration in educational programs of information studies and must be further addressed in a systematic fashion before that day arrives.

Several schools in North America have developed reputations for concentrating on a series of specializations in their curicula, while leaving the generalist approach to others. Still other schools, with an appropriate critical mass of faculty and an array of specialized courses ranging from archives, and records management to expert systems and desk-top publishing, remain generalist oriented by identifying "core" courses and then guiding students into a number of different career paths, depending upon the students professional goals, and in recent times, with a consideration of the marketplace.

Another issue relates to whether schools are actually educating information professionals or simply training information workers. One writer recently observed: "we even hear of 'fifth genera-tion computers' that will be able to see, hear, talk, recognize human faces, learn from mistakes, and think; in short, that we shall soon be sharing the planet with intelligence equal to, if not greater than, our own. One of the deeper effects of this technological change has been to make us think about the differences between training and education... Education, in the sense of inculcating an appreciation of the use and limitations of information technology, is not (training). Education connotes some-thing of value; something permanent; a framework of readiness that can adapt yet still retain its identity (McGarry, 1988).

Some of what occurs under the guise of education is actually training, but that is not necessarily all bad. However, the point to remember is that a conceptual understanding is the foremost consi-deration for education, not those skills and techniques which easily become obsolete and which can, and perhaps should be best, learned on-the-job. But there is a place for both education and a small amount of training in the curriculum. In fact, some training is necessary, as long as it is placed within the proper educational perspective. For instance, learning to conduct database searches is a training technique which is tied to the more philosophical issue of "what" and "why." With the continuing development of technology, it is likely that additional training, perhaps in prerequisite non-credit technology modules within academic programs, will become more prevalent.

For instance, Simmons has recently introduced a technology skills competency non-credit module which must be taken by all students before they matriculate in their first course, with the thought this prepares all students to enter their first class with a common base, and some confidence and competence in negotiating technological problems which they would be expected to address throughout their academic program. The week-long workshop includes demonstration of skills in text processing, using spreadsheets, electronic mail, database management, etc. This is supported by the Technology Laboratory within the school which is equipped with a wide range of technolo-gical hardware and software, where the documentation is fully accessible and where teaching assistants are available to work with individual students. This intense, primary emphasis on technological competence then allows for developing a more integrated and, indeed, pervasive intellectual discussion of information theory and technology throughout the curriculum.

Schools which are best able to meet those challenges are those with interdisciplinary programs and faculty expertise and often with cross-curricular offerings which take advantage of the richness of courses on information needs and access as reflected in the curicula of the core program and cognate fields in educational institutions. Specific cognate examples can be cited: "from law, such topics as intellectual property, copyright, the effects of regulation of information flow within and across national 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." (Haas. 1988). The list could go on.

There remains the difficulty of balancing educational responsibilities between promoting the social mission of good and free based services to clients who need information with, on the other hand, the recognition that technology has been absorbed into work habits and that it may not always be possible to provide everything to everyone at no cost. The issue of information rich and information poor, in that dichotomy, is an important educational issue.

4. CURICULAR DEVELOPMENTS

The curriculum "is the major academic device educators have for confronting society's challenge." (Asheim, 1977) The curriculum provides for the study of theory, principles, practice and values necessary for the provision of information services in all types of agencies and organi-zations. Content areas of the curriculum can be thought of in three broad categories: knowledge, skills and tools. The knowledge areas relate to philosophy, i.e., the foundations of information in society, environmental and contextual knowledge, and management knowledge; the three areas of skills requirements relate to communication, interpersonal and technological skills i.e., program-ming, online searching, database management skills; and the tools required are both quantitative and analytical, e.g., systems analysis, research methods, descriptive statistics, logic, and bibliographic or organizational, i.e., bibliographic control, abstracting and indexing, data structures, and collection development (Daniels, 1987).

The role of information science in the curicula of schools has gone through major revisions in recent years. One of the current pressing issues relates to emphasizing that "information" is not synonymous with information technology. The technology component, however, has received a great amount of recent curicula attention and can be said to characterize curriculum revision during the last decade. When one steps back from the technology and views the philosophy imbeded in the information science concept, the definition that is important to curricular development in schools of library and information studies is that it is "the science that investigates the properties and behavior of information, the forces governing the flow of information, and the means of processing information for optimum accessibility and usability... The field is derived from or related to mathematics, logic, linguistics, psychology, computer technology, operations research, the graphic arts communications, library science, management, and... other fields." (Taylor, 1977)

Originally, as it began to impact curicula in the 1950's, information science was an add on to the curriculum and courses were devoted to the application of data processing to library operations and the automation of internal library functions. Computer related skills and theory, if they were offered at all, were confined to separate courses, and the majority of faculty were not required to become directly involved in the teaching of the automation of various activities they covered in their courses. They could simply note that such an activity could be automated, but that in-depth discussion of the topic was to be covered in separate "automation" courses. Later the concept was accepted and broadened, as there was a shift away from the focus on institutions, since technological access to information is no longer institution bound, to that of an attention to the client and his or her informa-tion needs. It has been pointed out that "in a metaphorical sense we are moving from a Ptolemaic world with the library at the center to a Copernican world with information at the center and the library as one of its planets." (Taylor, 1977) An integrated approach no longer allows the luxury of separate courses and curicula, nor is it educationally sound.

All faculty now must be in a position of making valid judgements about when an automation perspective is appropriate and then developing an expertise in those selected aspects. Now instruction in computer-based systems is dispersed throughout the curicula. For example, some components that started out as a separate course in online database searching, are now most legitimately integrated into reference and type of literatures courses.

However, there remains some worldwide disagreement about whether library science and information science are sufficiently different or enough alike to warrant being integrated into one concept and one program. There are philosophical discussions taking place on that subject in China and Russia, as well as the United States and Thailand. Most programs are attempting 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. Taken as a whole, it is the study of the characteristics and organization of information; the process by which information is generated, distributed and used; the relationship between informa-tion systems and their users; and the study of the functions of organizations and institutions which are charged with providing the information systems and services required by individuals and society.

The core of such a curriculum conveys a body of knowledge regarding the fundamental aspects of the discipline. As such, an identified core serves as a context and foundation upon which the rest of the curriculum is built. The new curicula in most programs reflect the electronic revolution - both in the form of new courses dealing with current developments and in revisions of traditional courses which now encompass the application of new technology, where appropriate. North American schools have reached a point where no student can emerge from a professional school today without having worked with computer-based catalogs and cataloging, searching and database construction, bibliographic and numeric networks, and other such adaptations of technology to library and infor-mation operations and services. This is also changing internationally as well, because programs are being upgraded through local initiatives and because international students, who have studied in North America, are returning to faculty positions in their home countries.

This trans-border flow of education is most evident when one considers that almost ten percent of all FTE in North American programs are now international students, accounting for about 760 students in graduate programs of library and information studies. Interestingly, the largest enrol-lments are from Asian countries. One discussion point, schools must be mindful of educational programs. In that regard, then, is whether or not technology is culture bound, being tied to the culture that originated it, and further, whether attitudes toward information access vary according to the cultural climate. If the answer to those questions is positive, then schools have a very delicate balancing act in the education of international information professionals.

Recently there has been so much activity in the technology arena that it is difficult to keep up, and some even have a feeling of loss of control. Years ago, Jesse Shera, a sage in our profession, cau-tioned that "the great danger with which information science threatens librarianship is the loss of control of the library profession to other, and less competent, hands. The basic purpose of librarian-ship is not encompassed in the machine, and there is much more to librarianship than is envisaged in information science. If we permit ourselves to be mesmerized by the gadget, if we accept the flicking image of data on a fluorescent screen as knowledge, we will soon become like those mythical people of many centuries ago who mistook for reality the passing shadows reflected on the walls of caves." (Shera, 1983)
 
 

5. OVERCOMING TECHNOPHOBIA

This caution must be tempered with a recognition that libraries and librarianship need to adapt, change, grow, and further diversify. Those actions will help incorporate new expertise and technology into the strong philosophy of information service. The acceleration of change in international relations, in communications, in technological development, in information access, has meant a swifter arrival of the future in a vastly different form than was expected even yesterday. That fact is changing the preparation of information specialist-librarians who must be educated to become: negotiators - identifying needs; facilitators - providing effective search strategies; educators - familiar with the literature in all of its formats; and information intermediaries - providing current awareness services for populations we serve (Stueart, 1982). Educators are in a key position to effect that change, to act as change agents, to initiate curicula and design programs to meet future needs of information professionals, and to

build a commitment to change.

Further, it is obvious that there must be better articulation among researchers, educators and practitioners, particularly as technology now seems to dictate approaches for all three. "If indeed we are a knowledge-producing and knowledge-disseminating system, we need to insure the strength and integrity of the research-education-practice relationship." (Eisenbeis, 1990) That requires an awareness of and commitment to change.

As society evolves away from formal communications patterns, almost exclusively on printed paper, to a smoother interactive information flow, the technology removes geographic barriers in a global setting. The ability to communicate instantaneously has created an information marketplace not limited to a single country or continent. This, too, has shaped an international curriculum, sensitive to the trans-border flow of information and attracted a student body committed to those concepts.

Schools strive to make students technologically literate, so they can independently judge the capabilities and limitations of new technologies; and to teach them the principles of planning and management, so they can employ the products of the new information handling technologies to deliver better services (Malinconico, 1992). Internet and the fax machine are examples of initial steps at global communication with which students are acquainted. Online database management and CD-ROM technologies are as familiar as printed indexes.

But it is not always easy for faculty to remain on the cutting edge of technological developments, nor for schools to always afford the costs of new equipment and software or to justify requests which may become obsolete overnight. Nor is it easy to define the sensitive human-machine interaction without becoming somewhat skeptical, and without placing some of the blame for not seriously addressing the problem on the shoulders of both practitioners and educators. The technology itself continues to become more sophisticated and powerful, but at the same time requires that intervention of human cooperation and vision to maximize its potential in enhancing library and information services. Therein lies the greatest resistance, the weakest link, and the greatest challenge for educators charged with educating both those currently in programs, and professionals who are seeking an updated continuing education component. More than ever before this also requires a continuing education, or in some cases a re-education, of faculty.

How to effectively implement educational programs which prepare new professionals and at the same time develop continuing education programs for those needing them are the most important, but not the easiest questions, to answer, because change of attitude demands the acceptance of new ideas and concept, learning new skills and techniques, breaking old habits, and altering well-established behavioral patterns of learners and teachers. For the first time in our profession's history, that technology outpaces our human endeavors to envision and develop sophisticated information systems. Educational requirements of the technological revolution are redefining the competencies and processes required for thought and communication in those schools. This use brings with it a recognition of the changes in human interactions and social structures which must be communicated in the curriculum context. Educators are charged with performing a miracle by preparing the next generation of information professionals. One only hopes that faculty have been able to instill a sense of confidence among students in their technological abilities, while primarily focusing on concern for people and their information needs, because however impressive the new technologies, however accelerated the rate of their acceptance, however revolutionary their long-range consequences for our society, we cannot ignore the impact of evolutionary change on human behavior (Squire, 1987), and we cannot ignore the need to instill a humane awareness among graduates.

An added genuine concern is that greater attention is being paid to computers and their use, at the expense of a respect for humanistic knowledge and cultural heritage. We cannot allow that to happen, but we shouldn't view this as a dichotomy; computers do not necessarily separate us, because technology can be an integrative influence as well as one of fragmentation. It depends on how the technology is introduced, and subsequently used.

With all of this technological activity, how do faculty, students and professionals react? The term technostress has been applied to feelings of burn out among information professionals even as early as their days in professional education programs. The major source of technostress is inadequate training for both hardware and software, and this causes anger, frustration, and sometimes physical illness. It has been defined as "a modern disease of adaptation caused by an inability to cope with the new computer technologies in a healthy manner. It manifests itself in two distinct but related ways, first, in the struggle to accept computer technology, and, secondly, in the more specialized form of over-identification with computer technology." (Brod, 1984) Both of those profiles fit the field of librarianship and information services. Hopefully, technostress is being reduced as schools are able to more effectively integrate technology with the curicula.

An emerging and somewhat related and by no means an insignificant issue is one of being able to analyze the ethics of information and the awesome capabilities of future information technology. The assumption of instilling ethical responsibility, making rational distinction between means and ends, is becoming a major concern and focus in educational programs. Schools have an obligation to instill that ethical standard.
 
 

6. CONCLUSION

Schools rightfully can be viewed as a key factor in an evolutionary technology-based process because:

• They maintain a continuous link between the profession and the expert resources of the faculty which, after all, is the most important leadership component in the development and maintenance of quality curicula, the faculty and it's expertise is the curriculum.

• They replenish the profession by recruiting, educating, and socializing successive generations of new professionals; and

• They generate much of the applied research which constitutes the expert knowledge and further development of the profession.

There is nothing fundamentally new about those identified issues. The major difference is in the speed and capacity for information transfer, and in the continuing development of the complexity of needs, which require immediate response with a human touch. An attitude of service to all segments of the population is the most important factor that the curriculum can impart. Then schools can truly maintain that they are "educating" professionals rather than simply "training" technicians.
 
 

REFERENCES

Lester Asheim, "Education for Future Academic Librarians," Academic Libraries of the Year 2000 . New York: R. R. Bowker, 1977, p. 128.

Craig Brod, Technostress: The Human Cost of the Computer Revolution. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1984, p. 16.

Evelyn H. Daniels, "New Curriculum Areas," in Education of Library and Information Professionals, ed. by R.K. Gardner. Littleton, CO: Libraries Unlimited, Inc., 1987, p. 56.)

Anthony Debons, et. al., The Information Professional, New York: Marcel Dekker, Inc., 1987, pp. 5-6.

Kathleen Eisenbeis, "An Examination of the Profession and Discipline, Information Science; The Interdisciplinary Context, ed. by J.M. Pemberton and A.E. Prentice. New York: Neal-Schuman Pub., Inc., 1990, p. 168.

Warren J. Haas, "Information Studies, Librarianship, and Professional Leadership," Bulletin of the Medical Library Association, 76 (1): 5-6 (January 1988).

J.M Griffith and D.W. King, New Directions in Library and Information Science Education. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1986, p. 163.

S. Michael Malinconico, "What Librarians need to know to survive in an Age of Technology," Journal of Education for Library and Information Science, 33 (3): 227 (Summer 1992).

Kevin J. McGarry, "The Influence of Technology on Professional Curicula," ASLIB Proceedings, 35 (2):103 (February 1983).

Jesse H. Shera, "Librarianship and Information Science," in The Study of Information ed. by F. Machlup and U. Mansfield. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1983, pp. 387-88.

Timothy W. Sineath, "Information Science in the Curriculum," Journal of Library Administration, 16 (1/2): 56 (1992).

James R. Squire, "The Human Side of the Technological Revolution," in Books in Our Future, ed, by J. Y. Cole. Wash., D.C.: Library of Congress, 1987, p. 205.

Standards for Accreditation of Master's Programs in Library and Information Studies. Chicago, IL: American Library Association, 1992.

Robert D. Stueart, "Libraries: A New Role," in Books, Libraries and Electronics: Essays on the Future of Written Communication. White Plains, N.Y.: Knowledge Industry Pub., Inc., 1982, pp. 114-15.

Robert Taylor, "Professional Aspects of Information Science and Technology," Annual Review of Information Science and Technology, 1 (1966):19.

Robert Taylor, "Preface," Libraries in Post-Industrial Society, Phoenix, AZ: Oryx Press., 1977, p. xix.