This article proposes that understanding information literacy as a social practice is a threshold concept for academic information literacy librarians. While the social nature of information literacy has been theorized for more than 25 years, the noted theory-to-practice gap in this area suggests a new question to be raised. This study explores…

The practice of reference and information service (RIS) should be based on an understanding of how users seek information to fill information needs and of what they do with that information once they have found it. RIS professional education, therefore, should provide students with a strong grounding in information behavior. This study explores if…

Dissertation work is traditionally a solo, perhaps isolating, endeavor. In qualitative content analysis in the social sciences, the student applies a codebook, whether of their own creation or an adaptation of an existing theory or framework, which is appropriate to their research context and method without collaborating with others. The theory of…

Founded in 1934, the Vatican School of Librarianship, in its early days, aimed at forming both secular and religious librarians following the North American library tradition. Later on, teaching has been largely based on international standards. A brief outline of the initial setting of the School is provided. Presently, the School includes eight…

Most professions experience at least some real or perceived divide among practitioners who engage in the work of the profession daily and those who train practitioners. As a result, practitioners question the value of this training. The goal of the current study was to learn more about this divide in Library and Information Science (LIS) and…

Dr. Elfreda Chatman was a professor of library and information science at the University of North Carolina and Florida State University in the 1990s and early 2000s until her passing in 2002. Her research incorporated the disciplines of education, sociology, and LIS, covering topics at the nexus of these fields, from which she worked to develop a…

In this article, we assess the state of museum studies, with special attention to programs in the United States. After briefly reviewing the historical trajectory of museum studies, we define this field of study and determine that it should more accurately be called museology. To investigate the most critical issues in current museological…

The rising demand for digital information resources and services in the LAM sector has sparked many innovations by educators in recent years, as we seek to prepare students for careers in an environment that has continued to witness rapid and hard-to-predict changes. Granting agencies such as IMLS have played an important role in driving…

Education for ethics is a topic that is appearing frequently in journals and conferences, but there is little or no agreement on a theory of ethics education and action. This paper proposes non-naturalistic moral realism as a theoretical framework that can fit disciplinary and professional ethics. Alternatives to this framework are detailed, but…

This article reports on an experience where arts-informed pedagogy was combined with the traditional lecture-style teaching in a course on information and communication theories delivered at the Masters level in the School of Journalism and Communication Sciences (EJCAM) at Aix-Marseille University in France. After the course content had been…

In this article the author discusses the evolution of the profession of librarianship and the compromise of educating librarians in schools instead of by apprenticeship. He poses a series of questions, some more rhetorical than others: (1) Is Technical Services an intellectual concept or an administrative device?; (2) Can the routines and rules of…

In this article, the author gives an overview of Dunkin's article on education in the library profession. He believes it is clear that Dunkin thought too much attention was focused on practice, and not enough on theory--though there was room, and need, for both. Dunkin poses a series of questions, some more rhetorical than others: (1) Is Technical…

Examines five instructional design theories and two emerging theoretical trends that are valuable to library and information science education. Describes the basic components of these theories and trends and discusses their applications in designing and implementing instruction in library and information science education and practice. (JMV)

Discussion of the teaching of management in library education, focuses on curriculum aimed at raising awareness and developing positive attitudes, management as a permeating principle rather than a discrete subject, and the involvement of practitioners in curriculum design. A number of specific strategies for achieving these goals are proposed.…

Discusses the need to prepare library school graduates for bibliographic instruction responsibilities, and describes the background, development, implementation, and evaluation of a course offered at the University of Illinois which combined bibliographic instruction theory and practice. Recommendations for future education in bibliographic…