Role of Information Technology in MLS Programs
Across North America
Project Number Eleven – 1992
The Information Media Design Group at the School of Communication, Information and Library Studies, Rutgers University is currently engaged in a research project entitled The Role of Information Technology in MLS Programs Across North America. The overall goals of the study are: 1) to establish what information technology facilities are available for use by students in the fifty-six MLS programs across North America; and 2) to investigate the relationship of these facilities to the curricula of these programs. We are currently designing the initial survey, to be conducted via e-mail and telephone interviews in October. During this initial phase we will be collecting broad-based data on information technology facilities and curricula. Funding is currently being sought for more specific in-depth studies to be conducted over the next two years. The first report, entitled: Access to Information Technology: What Can the Student Enrolled in an MLS Program in North America Expect? will be ready in January.
The project was motivated by a “feeling” that MLS programs are not doing a particularly good job in preparing librarians of the future for the technology which will be essential to their profession. The Information Media Design Group believes that there will be a shift in technological emphasis in libraries in the next ten years from large stand-alone systems to dispersed networked information systems. Such a shift in the profession will necessitate a shift in the technological component of MLS curricula from the currently prevalent library automation and database searching courses to those which will emphasize telecommunications and network technology.
Funding for the initial survey is being provided by the School of Communication, Information and Library Studies, Rutgers University. An application has been made to ALISE for funding for an in-depth study of 5-10 MLS programs identified in the initial study.
The Role of Information Technology in MLS Programs Across North America is a project of the Information Media Design Group (IMDG), a research group affiliated with the Alexandria Library Project (ALP) at the School of Communication, Information and Library Studies, Rutgers University. Paul Kantor is the director of the Alexandria Library Project.
Principal researchers
Kathleen Burnett, Assistant Professor, School of Commmunication, Information and Library Studies, and Chair of the IMDG.
Ira Kleinberg, Ph.D. student, School of Communicaton, Information and Library Studies.