Library and Information Services

Group Members: Karen Drabenstott, Chair; Gail Beaver; Elaine Didier; Richard Dougherty; Joan Durrance; C. Olivia Frost; David Hessler; Maurita Holland; Lee Liming; Carolynn Miller; Victor Rosenberg; Thomas Slavens; Margaret Taylor; Amy Warner; Terry Weymouth; and Paul Lefrak (student representative)

Introduction: An Evolutionary Process We are using the current definition of library and information studies taken from the Standards for Accreditation of Master's Programs in Library & Information Studies (ALA, 1992):

Library and information studies encompasses information and knowledge creation, communication, identification, selection, acquisition, organization and description, storage and retrieval, preservation, analysis, interpretation, evaluation, synthesis, and management. (p. 2)
The University of Michigan School of Information (SI) already has a long tradition of excellence in these areas. The School has consistently been rated among the top three among faculty and administrators at peer institutions, and was most recently ranked as second in the nation in U. S. News & World Report. It has fostered a tradition of excellence among its faculty and has had many of its alumni go on to become major innovators and leaders in the field.

Under the leadership of Dean Daniel Atkins, the School acquired major funding from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in 1994 to expand, revise, and update its curriculum as part of a mandate to reinvent the information profession and as part of this, to mount initiatives that would have positive, tangible, grass-roots impacts within and outside the state of Michigan. The result was two years of hard work and intense activity among the faculty to modify existing structures and classes, and to begin new efforts. These spanned a wide range of initiatives, including expansions and modifications of existing courses; new courses taught by ongoing and new faculty; programs aimed at providing new educational experiences for students and faculty; and numerous projects designed to push the frontiers of cutting-edge knowledge and application in the field and to bring relevant services and technologies to real environments.

The innovativeness of these initiatives can best be described by relating them to several themes which are at the foundation of the Kellogg CRISTAL-ED initiative (Coalition on Reinventing Information Science, Technology, and Library Education). This really began with a revision of some of the existing core courses, in which major new efforts included the revision of course content to provide greater familiarity and experience with new technologies. The revision of Organization of Information (ILS 523) introduced students to principles and techniques applied to digital and multimedia formats, and more substantive hands-on experiences with network services and new software were incorporated into the Technologies for Information Management (ILS 526) class. Recognizing the need for more depth in technology, new courses were created (e.g., a course on object-oriented design and programming ) and an introductory workshop in basic technical skills was required of all incoming students.

Other initiatives included experimentation with new delivery mechanisms, in an experiment with distance-independent technology in the Sources of Information (ILS 529) class, taught jointly with the University of Illinois. Hands-on and project-based learning experiences became a major effort. Most SI courses now contain major, substantive, team-based projects, where students must grapple with the concepts, issues and techniques they learn in lectures and discussions in the context of real-world problems. Perhaps the crowning achievement in this category so far has been the revision of Implications and Impacts of Technology (ILS 726), in which students designed and built a now ongoing Internet Public Library. Other, equally noteworthy accomplishments with project-based learning have been the design of an Internet Encyclopedia in the new Library and Information Services Core (523/529/530) and the development of Internet Resource Guides in the Resource Discovery and Organization course.

A major program begun at SI, the Digital Information Associates Program (in 1998, called the Graduate Student Research Assistant program), features many of the experiences discussed above, but is also highly interdisciplinary. The program incorporates research, experiential learning, and a multidisclipinary focus, and students work on an ongoing project with an SI faculty member on a future-oriented research or teaching project. The program has an increased multidisciplinary focus, and requires a thesis project.

Finally, projects begun through CRISTAL-ED have begun to address real-world problems. The Kellogg Community Information Networking Initiative in Flint, which is building a community network in conjunction with the Flint Public Library, has as its goal to bring relevant information and services to the public. The CHICO project (Cultural Heritage Initiative for Community Outreach) has created partnerships with local museums, libraries, and schools to create pilot projects which demonstrate the potential of information and collaboration technology to broaden the reach of cultural heritage materials.

Many of these themes are very similar to the words which the ALA Committee on Accreditation used in revising its standards for LIS programs.

The most important issues at the time of the revision (1989-1992) were these: action orientation; definition of the field; discrimination; distance education; diversity; excellence; future focusing; globalization; innovation; interaction with other fields of study and other campus units; management; multiple degree programs; ongoing evaluation processes; philosophy, principles and ethics; research; specialization; technology; users. (p. 27)

In the spirit of continuing and extending the work already done, we still use the themes begun through CRISTAL-ED and articulated by ALA, in an even broader and bolder expansion of our program.

Model of the Field

We are adopting a model of the field of study and practice encompassed by our specialization which was proposed in the Professional Practice subgroup document, and is essentially an evolution of the models and ideas expressed by Daniel Atkins, Marcia Bates, and Joan Durrance. This model is depicted in Figure 1.

The model proposes that research and professional practice consists of the intersection of three elements -- information (broadly defined as any facts, data or knowledge, unrecorded or recorded in a variety of media); technology (stressing the use of relevant technology suited for both the task to be accomplished and the user's needs and expertise); and users (who come from a wide variety of social, cultural and intellectual backgrounds). At the intersection of these circles is the notion of "access," which is at the heart of professional practice -- that is, we merge knowledge of users, information, and relevant technology to provide the most effective access possible.

Surrounding these intersecting elements are three circular bands, reflecting, in the broadest sense possible, the various factors outside these basic activities and elements which are no less important and need to be known and taken into account to provide effective access. These are the need to manage resources and people effectively; the need to understand the information needs of users, both unexpressed and expressed, as part of the equation; and finally the need to understand the elements of the outside environment where access is to be provided and how this affects the entire process.

This model really grew in tandem with the evolving agreement over what the "content areas" of library and information services should be. Reports from each of these areas are found in the attached documents (1-6). The six areas will serve as the basis for the delineation of the curriculum to follow. One of the best ways to understand what each of these areas entails is to use the "backward chaining" method found in the creation document (see attached document 1).

In order to retrieve information, it is necessary to understand how it is organized and what users need. In order to organize information, it is necessary to understand what the possible systems of organization are and how users react to them. In order to build and develop collections of information for specific purposes or specific audiences, or to select or suggest specific information for specific purposes or audiences, it is necessary to evaluate that information. In order to evaluate that information, it is necessary to understand how it is created.

Added to this are the elements of managing resources and people, the need to employ relevant technology and other tools, and the need to develop practices and services which are based on explicit, sound professional ethics. This results in the following distinct, yet very interrelated, activities:

  1. Creation, evaluation and selection
  2. Organization and retrieval
  3. Access
  4. Management
  5. Tools (Technology and Research Methods)
  6. Ethics and values
A general framework for the proposed curriculum (as distinct from the model of the field presented earlier) is depicted in Figure 2. Although somewhat different from the model of the field, it retains the idea that there are distinct areas of study within the field (Creation, Evaluation and Selection; Organization and Retrieval; Access) and that there are important components which infuse these three areas, including management, tools (including research tools and technologies), and ethics and values. This curriculum model is at the heart of the curriculum proposals made in following sections for the Foundations core course and the Library and Information Services Specialization.

Overall Model for the School of Information Curriculum

The Library and Information Services Specialization is one among six proposed specializations envisioned for the new School of Information (SI). Since one of the foundations of SI will be the development of an intellectual space which is a combination and synthesis of these six elements, we gave serious thoughts to the role of our specialization in a possible larger curriculum model for the entire school.

What emerged is depicted in Figure 3. This diagram basically indicates that we envision three basic components of the School of Information curriculum. First will be the Foundations core course, which will be taken by all incoming SI students, followed by their decision to specialize in an area, such as library and information services, archives, etc. If a student wishes to further gain explicit instruction and practice in a given context or environment, s/he may select an applications area in which to concentrate.

The diagram further suggests that as the student moves through the program, there is a progression from general to specific, from theory and principles to concrete applications, and from more formal, traditional classroom experiences to more experiential, hands-on learning venues. We see the Integrated Core as a general course aimed at familiarizing students with basic concepts and principles that all SI students need to know, regardless of specialization. At the Specialization level, students would elect a still primarily principle-based core, but now specifically geared to that specialization, as well as a variety of electives stressing courses which are partly lecture and demonstration and which usually result in a semester project of some kind. Finally, students going into applications areas would be taking a few additional courses, but most of these would stress discussion of experiences in an ongoing, major project, which would be the primary focus in this phase of study. Note that what we are proposing here is not a set of discrete experience types, with lecture in only one portion and hands-on exclusively in another; it is a matter of emphasis and depends on where the student is in the curriculum. Our reasoning here is that students need more socializing and introduction to basic philosophies and principles in the beginning, with these being applied more and more independently in various projects as the course of study progresses.

Students

In the past, SI explicitly sought students who came from a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences, and who had widely varying areas of strength and expertise. In many ways, this logically follows from the values of our field, which stress equality of access. We applied this same philosophy to our admissions procedures, but perhaps for an explicitly different reason -- it was believed that our program would be strengthened by having students come from broad, diverse backgrounds, rather than narrower, more homogenous ones.

This has had a variety of effects, both positive and negative. On the positive side, it is our experience that having this breadth in the student body exposed students, and also faculty, to new ideas, philosophies, and knowledge, which often brought before-unthought-of ideas into the classroom. On the negative side, it has made it quite difficult to teach certain courses when the students electing them had such varied backgrounds; one of the most noteworthy examples of this is our basic technology course, in which student expertise ranges from the technological neophyte to the computer engineer.

We have a proposal (described below) to address some of these problems. But, in terms of types of backgrounds that students should have on entering the program, we continue to maintain that breadth and diversity are good things. We therefore make no requirement that students come from a particular field of study or possess a particular skill, although, of course, knowing relevant areas before entering the program will make it easier to have a deeper, more meaningful experience.

Our only requirement should be that we retain our rigorous admissions standards. We need to ensure that students continue to be of high intellectual calibre, but that they are also exceptional in various ways which are more difficult to measure, such as leadership potential, innovativeness, creativity, flexibility, interpersonal skills, etc.

Career possibilities for students in this specialization are illustrated below. This list is intended to be suggestive and illustrative, not exhaustive, of the options:

The enrollment in the current master's program was 248 in fall 1995. A general proposal might be to increase the enrollment by one-third within five years.

Assumptions

In thinking through and presenting a curriculum for the Library and Information Services Specialization, we made several assumptions:

  1. Grow from strength -- Building upon our long-standing traditions, and upon the major restructuring efforts which have taken place as a result of the CRISTAL-ED initiative, we have retained portions of the existing curriculum which have long-standing value, while continuing to modify and expand many existing courses, and continuing to make plans for bold change.
  2. Relevant outreach -- The proposal here continues and expands the clear direction we plotted under the CRISTAL-ED Initiative to provide a wide variety of opportunities for hands-on learning, projects, team-work, and work in real contexts.
  3. Interdisciplinary ties -- We believe that, as much as possible, students should be given opportunities to take courses in other SI specializations and elsewhere on the UM campus.
  4. Use appropriate technology and media -- We believe that this will be a hybrid world of information, with paper, digital and other media coexisting; we want to provide opportunities for students to thoroughly learn about a variety of media and technologies, in order to give them the tools and skills to use them effectively.
  5. Assume a two-year program -- We base our curriculum plan on an expansion of the existing credit requirements to two years, with a resulting 48 hour program.

The Foundations Core (for all incoming SI students)

We are proposing that this common experience for all incoming students should be one 4 credit-hour course. Additionally, we are proposing that topics be, as much as possible, things which everyone should know regardless of specialization, and we believe, in fact, that this intersection is fairly small. There is a distinction between core knowledge at the SI level and core knowledge at the level of a given specialization.

The explicit assumptions we put forth regarding the Foundations Core are as follows:

  1. It should be general to the School as a whole, rather than specific to specializations.
  2. It should be a "gateway course" designed to provide a common understanding of the various components of the School of Information and their interrelationships.
  3. It should emphasize general concepts, principles and theories rather than specific tools or techniques.
  4. It should be a 4 credit course and should be taken in the first term of enrollment.
  5. It should be required of all SI students.
  6. Faculty from each specialization should contribute to selected portions to the course, not only to share their expertise, but also to introduce themselves and their areas to new students.

Library and Information Services Contribution to Foundations Core (for all SI students)

The Library and Information Services Specialization contribution to the Foundations Core will consist of introduction of principles, theories, and concepts from creation, evaluation and selection; organization and retrieval; access; and technology.

Creation, Evaluation and Selection -- Emphasizing general principles and concepts, such as general, technical, subject, and format criteria for evaluation; user potential; intellectual freedom; copyright. (4 hours)

Organization and Retrieval -- Emphasizing general principles and concepts, such as how/what/why of document representation; basic types of logical organization; controlled vocabulary principles; metadata standards; basic search parameters and heuristics; retrieval models; IR performance measures. (4 hours) Access -- Emphasizing general principles and concepts, such as research in information needs and information seeking; organizational and interpersonal communication; barriers to access (physical, intellectual, economic, etc.); legal and ethical issues and policies; government regulations; privacy, security, etc.; professional codes of ethics.

Technology -- Emphasizing general principles and concepts, such as analog vs. digital; romantic vs. scientific quality; purposes and uses of headers and structures; appropriate standards; applications vs. component software.

We propose that introduction to these topics, at the general, "appreciation" level, might require four hours for each area; this would amount, in a four-credit course, to three weeks, with one week of two, two-hour sessions for each one. We are assuming that the basics of ethics will be covered in access. We are also assuming, based on discussion with faculty in this area of expertise, that management should be covered after students have achieved more depth and mastery of a given specialization, and therefore we are not explicitly representing it in our contribution to the integrated core.

The Library and Information Services Specialization (6-9 credits)

The Library and Information Services (LIS) Core

Extensive work has already been done on an LIS Core. This course was basically an integration of three areas -- organization and retrieval, sources of information, and online searching. The further expansion of this course should continue to stress the concepts, principles and techniques needed by future librarians and other information professionals, but with much more depth and specificity than in the Integrated Core. In its proposed revised form, it would complete the attention paid to the "Lifecycle of Knowledge," which was the integrating focus of the first version of the class.

We propose to use the course plan, which was offered for the first time in fall 1995 and was extremely well-received by the student enrolled, with the addition of the following topics: