Harry Bruce & Joseph Meloche
School of Information Studies
University of Technology, Sydney
Lindfield, NSW 2070, Australia
E-mail: hbruce@kgi.uts.edu.au
jmeloche@kgi.uts.edu.au
Abstract: This paper explains the shift away from educating the expert towards teach-ing the teacher that has occurred in instruction for information and document retrieval in the School of Information Studies at the University of Technology, Sydney. It identifies the model of professional information practice and the theoretical under-pinning of the graduate and undergraduate programs offered by this School. It also explores the changing context of information retrieval as we move away from remote online database retrieval towards retrieval via local CD-ROM databases.
The paper concludes with a look toward future directions and what their implications are for instruction and for the profession.
The School of Information Studies at the University of Technology, Sydney offers under-graduate and postgraduate programs which qualify students for work in the information profes-sions. All programs are accredited by the Australian Library and Information Association. The balance between theory and practice for each program is governed by the theoretical orientation and the model of professional practice that prescribe the approach to course design that has been adopted by the School of Information Studies. This theoretical underpinning has forced a shift in focus for units which deal with information and document retrieval in both the undergraduate and graduate courses. The principle aim of these units is no longer to educate the expert but rather to teach the teacher.
2. THEORETICAL UNDERPINNING
Units in information and document retrieval that are offered by the School of Information Studies acknowledge two key intellectual orientations that emerged from the literature base of the discipline of information science during the 1980s. These are the user oriented paradigm (Dervin and Nilan, 1986) and the cognitive paradigm (Ellis, 1992). The user oriented paradigm provides the model of professional information practice upon which the bachelors degree and Graduate Diplomas offered by the School are based. The cognitive paradigm provides the framework used for introducing students to the conceptual, empirical and system design developments that are occurring in information and document retrieval as a field of study.
The user oriented paradigm was described as "alternative" by Dervin and Nilan (1986) in their review of the literature on information needs and uses. It was considered alternative to the "traditional" or system oriented paradigm because it does not regard information products and services as "stable solutions" but rather as having unique and variable impact upon those who use them (Yerbury and Kirk, 1990, p. 981). In this way the focus is transferred from the system to the user. The user orientation therefore draws on the work of writers and researchers like McGarry (1981), Pratt (1982) and Brookes (1980). Its principles are also expressed in Hanks and Schmidt's (1975) "open system" and Donohew and Springer's (1980) "receiver-oriented model". More recently, however, it has become mainstream as a research orientation (Hewins, 1990) and has been examined to determine the extent of its
The notion that information processing is influenced by the variable characteristics of the information user is not, however, unique to the user oriented paradigm. It is also the premise upon which the cognitive viewpoint in information science is based (De Mey, 1982). This viewpoint represents the intellectual orientation of several key studies in information system design (Belkin et. al, 1982, 1983, 1987; Borgman et. al., 1989), searching (Ingwersen, 1982; Fidel, 1985; Kuhl-tau, 1991), users and problems (Wersig, 1979; MacMullin and Taylor, 1984; Saracevic, 1988). It has also become mainstream as an orientation for examining the key variables in the information retrieval process (Hewins, 1990). It is therefore a credible conceptual framework for introducing undergraduate and graduate students to the development of information retrieval as a field of study.
3. DISCIPLINARY PARADIGMS INFORM COURSE DESIGN
The user-oriented paradigm and the cognitive paradigm are therefore complimentary. Syn-thesized as a theoretical l underpinning for the design and delivery of courses in information and document retrieval, the two approaches can be summarized by the term "'user centered'".
The School of Information Studies at the University of Technology, Sydney was among the first to recognize the need to incorporate this "user centered" approach into undergraduate and graduate courses for information professionals. This was achieved by a process that began in 1985 when the School established a review of its undergraduate degree. A revised undergraduate degree was subsequently offered by the School in 1986 and this was followed be revision to the Graduate diploma programs in 1989. In 1992, the undergraduate degree was once again revised and a new program offered in 1993.
The broad aim of both the undergraduate and graduate programs is to educate information professionals who will be engaged in the provision of information required for use by others. This is achieved by juxtaposing the common roles performed by information professionals with a model of professional practice that will facilitate these functions. The roles common to informa-tion professionals are described as:
These common functions are drawn together by a model of professional practice that pro-vides the unifying conceptual framework for the programs offered by the School. This model acknowledges that in order to provide information which will meet the needs of a user, an infor-mation professional must assemble knowledge about the "situationally" of the (Dervin and Nilan, 1986). The first step in acquiring this knowledge is a process of market segmentation as described by Kotler (1989) and Condous (1983). This process identifies a target group that can be clearly defined and justified according to its measurability, sustainability, responsiveness and accessi-bility. Market segmentation is then followed by a detailed analysis of the information behavior of users who belong to the segmented group. This analysis is based on a synthesis of the findings taken from empirical studies of the target group and is designed to obtain answers to focus ques-tions which are considered relevant to the provision of information. Questions such as:
• Identification of information need• Information search design
• Retrieval of information
• Evaluation of information
• Analysis of information
• Synthesis of information
• Packaging of information
• Repackaging of information
• Dissemination of information
• Design and provision of information
• What financial and other resources are available?
• What are the potential costs of providing particular products and services?
• What aims and objectives are achievable in relation to the provision of products and services?
• What strategies can be used to reach the desired objectives?
• How good are the products and services?
• What are the most effective methods of developing awareness of products and services among potential users?
• What methods of delivery of products and services are appropriate?
• What impact does the product or service have? (Stage II/III Bachelor of Applied Science (Information) Vol 1, 1985:32)
4. INFORMATION RETRIEVAL: AN AUSTRALIAN PERSPECTIVE
When studying information retrieval, students in the School of Information Studies are introduced to theories which underpin the principles on which information retrieval systems are based. Particular emphasis is placed upon and the cognitive processes that are involved in the interaction between end-users, intermediaries and systems. To stress this the information retrieval process is examined as a set of interactions and is referred to as "the information retrieval inter-action" (Belkin and Vickery, 1985). On this basis, the field of study is broadly defined by five content areas:
2. Human variables in the information retrieval interaction.
3. Models of the information retrieval interaction
4. Information searching and the information retrieval interaction
5. Approaches to the evaluation of the information retrieval interaction.
5. INFORMATION RETRIEVAL: TEACHING THE TEACHER
For the undergraduate and graduate student, the development of the learning program is organized to follow the information retrieval interaction very closely. Thus it begins with an examination of user behavior and works through the information need, the expressed problem, the development of an appropriate search strategy and towards the actual retrieval of information.
This is still a skill based process. The critical difference between this and earlier strategies for instruction in information retrieval is that it is a "user centered" approach rather than a system centered approach. Thus the "skills" taught are those that reflect the cognitive make up of the user and the users problem state.
Instruction is conducted so that the students are placed in the role of the user. Their "pro-blem state" or "information gap" becomes their desire to master the skills of information retrieval. In this way the students experience the "state" of an information user. Their learning experiences trace the information retrieval process to its conclusion; the provision of the information. The students are thus required to use the techniques taught to answer their own information needs. This facilitates an understanding of the process from a users view and allows the learner to adjust to the changing needs that a user experiences.
In practical terms, the assessment activities set for the students require an understanding of the information retrieval process. In the first assignment, the students demonstrate their under-standing of the information retrieval interaction by developing a model which summarizes their view of the relationship between the fundamental concepts and the key variables which affect the outcomes of the process. In the second assignment the students are required to identify a specific group of users and the range of resources that will satisfy the designated needs of that group. The resources selected must reflect the capacity of the group to use those resources. In other words, they must have the ability to use them, the ability to access them and, of course, the resources must have the scope and range of information available to fulfill the user's needs.
As the students become more acquainted with the variety of information resources available, they are encouraged to use these resources to meet the needs of their assessment work. They are also required to evaluate services they use and to do an assessment of how well their needs as users are met. In this way, they begin to understand the difficulties of the information retrieval interaction from a user's perspective whilst at the same time developing the critical knowledge of a professional. It is considered essential that the students continue to evaluate resources from a user's perspective as increasingly the majority of information agencies are seeking the larger end-user market. This evaluation from a user's perspective is maintained and encouraged because it places the demand on the systems/sources/services to accommodate the user. Thus instead of teaching students to become "masters" of esoteric systems that would be incomprehensible to an infrequent user, the emphasis is instead placed upon evaluating systems to determine those that are most accessible to the ultimate end-users of the service.
The access that the students have to information sources, is either to the actual resources, i.e. AARNet, CD-ROM services or CD-ROMs that simulate on line sources. Instruction in on line information retrieval is also provided by computer programs that provide self-paced learning.
As this method of instruction seeks to posit the student in the environmental setting of the user, each phase of the learning involves hands on use of information access technology. This includes not only the resources of the school itself but the resources of other information agencies as appropriate.
The resources used include manual sources, on line systems, local and networked CD-ROM resources and network resources, such as, campus wide information services (CWIS).
The students are not expected to master the use of these services but rather to evaluate there usefulness for defined groups of users. Thus the accessibility and ease and control of use plays as important a role as do the scope and currentness of the resource. The perspective that is always reinforced is that information is useful only if it is accessible and ultimately meaningful to the user. This again places the emphasis on the education of users in their use of information retrieval resources/services.
The information professional is posited as a facilitator of the information retrieval interac-tion. The instruction seeks to equip the student with a conceptual understanding of features of the information retrieval interaction that allow the information professional to best perform in this role.
6. CONCLUSION
Recent changes and advances in information technology support the instructional programs detailed above. The recent developments in end-user access technology, such as, CD-ROM data-bases, LANs and expert systems, have confirmed that the information industry is moving towards increased end-user access. This has altered the information professional's role. It is no longer conceivable, if in fact it ever was, to characterize the information practitioner as an expert interme-diary between the user and the world of information resources. The information professional can more accurately be described as an educator who assists, leads, facilitates the end-user's quest for information. Education for information and document retrieval must therefore aim to teach the teacher rather than educate the expert.
This role is much more complex than the role of intermediary.
Our future as a profession depends upon us achieving the move from that
of educating the expert to teaching the teacher.
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