We now turn to our new topic on "Undergraduate Education" hosted by Gene Sherron who is a professor of information studies at the School of Library & Information Studies (SLIS) at Florida State University (FSU). For the past several years, he has devoted much of his time to developing the new bachelor's degree program in information studies at FSU. The program was approved in July 1996 and began its charter class in August. Prior to joining SLIS, Gene spent seven years as the "CIO" at FSU and, prior to that, eight years in a similar position at the University of Maryland.
Please join us for a discussion of "Undergraduate education."
FSU decided to develop its new bachelor's program to fill a need for undergraduate students who want to graduate with a knowledge of information, technology and information users. Time and again, prospective students asked for a program that was not narrowly focused on business as is MIS or steeped so heavily in math as computer science. Even though many employers have not been able to express it... clearly what they want are "information studies" graduates -- employees who can interface information technology and users.
The pioneers focus their programs on producing systems analysts and/or information systems people. The FSU approach has been to keep the program broad based, interdisciplinary, and service oriented.
To provoke some discussion, we might consider:
I do not disagree with the notion of offering an undergraduate degree in either library studies or information technologies, though I have questions about the utility and purpose. My background apropos this issue includes several years as an "adjunct professor" teaching LTA courses at a local junior college.
The core problem is that the MLS, itself, is a technical degree. Always has been. The assumption is that it builds on a core of general knowledge obtained as an undergraduate.
I believe that this assumption is demonstrably no longer true (if it ever was), and that this consideration has an indirect bearing on the topic due to the necessarily technical nature of undergraduate programs in information sciences.
The broad question posed seems to be: "Is there a market (due to intellectual fashion or required job skills) for an undergraduate degree in the various information sciences?" The answer, I think, is yes -- and much for the same reason that there is a market for the LTA program. Which is that there are many information related functions in our society which do not require the MLS degree. The LTA certificate, of course, is "library centered." An undergraduate degree need not necessarily be.
(One might add that as more and more "technical services" processes [such as original cataloging] become centralized due to automation there may be less demand for MLS holders and more demand for those who simply know how to identify and download bibliographic records.)
As "technical services" becomes more and more the care-and-feeding of automation systems there is a greater need for people who know how to work these systems. This is doubly true as far as such "end-users" as businesses are concerned.
But -- and a big but -- we have to remember that the long standing difficulty implicit in the MLS (reliance on a broad undergraduate education) is an even greater difficulty for those who are missing a broad education in the pursuit of an undergraduate degree in "information sciences." It is one thing to be able to access the 'net and to be fluent in HTML, it is another to get results that depend upon an understanding of subjects outside information studies.
At bottom, searching skills do not readily transfer from one subject to another (see: Keith J. Holyoak, "Problem Solving," in Thinking: An Invitation to Cognitive Science, Vol. 3 (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1990 or, John H. Holland, et al., Induction: Processes of Inference, Learning, and Discovery (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1986).
Which means, I think, that undergraduates in information science degrees have a place in the library and information services infrastructure (in a role analogous to traditional technical services) or by corporate end-users who need convenient access and who aren't particularly fussy about the amount of general knowledge this person possesses.
These needs are probably great enough to support several undergraduate programs.
As your host, I must observe that the response to the Undergraduate Education topic has been memorably underwhelming!
So, I am supposed to incite you to interact, which I might observe is like herding cats. But, you might like to talk about curriculum. Suppose we start by taking a look at the list of courses in our curriculum. Remember, we leaned heavily on what Drexel, Pitt, and Syracuse offer. Thus, it is probable that you would find about half of the courses in any of these programs "overlapping" with one another. (The course titles may not tell you the whole story, but it is a good starting point.) Anyhow, just to provoke discussion, here is the FSU list:
Core Courses:
In the computer science field, the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) has long exercised a role in curriculum design/development among computing professionals. From time to time, a committee of the ACM gets cranked up and studies curricula issues and then publishes revised "model" curriculum for undergraduate education. The same is true with the management information systems departments who look to Data Processing Management Association (DPMA) MIS curricula. Can you see where this question is going? Should some "members of the profession" type organization be looking at "information science/systems/studies" and assuming a similar type role in curriculum development for undergrad education?
What think ye?
Would this also be an opportunity to incorporate what I will call a bridge program into the Master of Library Science degree? This would be for students who have received undergraduate degrees in very specialized programs and are in need of more content related courses in the liberal arts.
The courses also look like what is now being taught at the graduate level. I am old enough to also remember that some of the community college library technician programs also looked like the graduate curriculum.
I would like to hear more about what the graduates are doing, where they are working, what post-baccalaureate education they are now pursuing, and why?
First, I believe that every librarian needs to have some understanding of cataloging. It is very helpful to non-cataloging people to have at least some understanding of how choice of entry is determined, how form of entry is constructed, how a call number is constructed and how to analyze the item to ascertain subject matter. In fact, if I were in charge of a library, every new graduate M.L.S. (or variation thereof) would spend the first six months in cataloging! This should be of great assistance to them in understanding the use of the library catalog. I see no reason why this should not also be included in undergraduate education.
Second, with the current fad for outsourcing and using non-professionals to do the work of professionals, it sends a highly questionable message for our own (supposedly) professional association to de-emphasize the professionalism of any area of the library. There seems to be an effort on the part of some to de-professionalize areas of the library (especially those which don't affect them) and to denigrate the importance of other librarians' work. How can catalogers and other technical service people expect to maintain their professionalism when even our professional association fails to support them?
I noticed that in the courses listed, none were specified as cataloging. Perhaps it is being called something else, but I would have expected that at least basic cataloging and courses in using DDC and LC classification would be offered. In the rush to reinvent ourselves as Information Managers, we need to remember that someone has to organize and classify all that information or it will rapidly become inaccessible and therefore unusable. Even in a school library, the materials need to be cataloged and classified for access. The undergraduate students need basic courses in cataloging and classification as much as a graduate student.
Because Gene issued the challenge, I connected to his Web site. The FSU SLIS Web site lists few prerequisites for graduate courses. I could find no graduate LIS courses with prerequisites outside the School of Library and Information Sciences. This is consistent with admission requirements that mention neither specific tools nor working experience.
I must ask: Why shouldn't an undergraduate be allowed to complete MLS course work as part of a bachelor's degree? This appears to be feasible and consistent with the evolution of other professional degrees. Most professions use certification or licensing exams with continuing education requirements to help assure competency. I have witnessed to the benefits of both in an earlier CRISTAL-ED session.
Best wishes for lively discussion.
I think that this ties into the curriculum question that Gene raises as follows: is the assumption that the student will follow his or her own bent into the public or private sphere and that the curriculum is designed only to give the necessary skill-set to be employed in any information environment? I think this is appropriate at the graduate level, in our MLS and IRM programs, but I'm not sure that the same holds true at the undergraduate level. The question I'm raising is: how do other schools offering undergraduate programs ensure that their students are exposed to possibilities beyond the corporate employer? Or do they consider it important at all, as long as their graduates are attractive to those potential employers? The Syracuse program has a liberal arts requirement, and we do offer an elective called "Critique of the Information Society"... but is that enough? Also, do other schools offer courses in "information ethics" at the undergraduate level?
I realize that this is somewhat far afield from the type of "ACM committee" question that Gene would really prefer to be discussing, but it seems to me that if we are "prototyping" the ideal "knowledge worker" in this discussion, perhaps we should add a dash of liberal arts to the computer science or engineering undergraduate programs we are using as our model.
As a practicing public library director, I have been approached many times by people who are interested in working in libraries and other information science positions. When I talk to these potential students about the mainly graduate education nature of information science, many of them are disappointed, especially those who have not finished or even begun their undergraduate education. Some of these people do not want to be managers or researchers -- they want to work in libraries. Many are restricted in their ability to be able to go to graduate schools because of money, distance, family or a combination of those factors.
As a potential employer, I see a great need for paraprofessionals who have at least some information science education in their undergraduate training. Many smaller libraries like ours cannot afford to hire an entire staff of master's level professionals. In my experience, we end up hiring people who have bachelor's degrees in an unrelated field and have to provide the basic library training ourselves.
Also, if information science undergraduate education was available as a minor we would see many more people choosing to be involved in our field. I believe that we would see a fair number of people choosing an IS minor combined with their major field of study, just as we already see students choose to add K-12 education classes to their majors. These people could be very valuable to employers both in the students' major fields and in IS.
I believe that IS schools must recognize the need for quality undergraduate IS education (at associates and bachelors levels), combined with extension and/or distance learning opportunities.
The new wave (can we call it that?) of undergraduate INFORMATION programs bring a broader-than-library-institution perspective to the field and try to identify new or emerging career niches for information professionals. And those information professionals will need the library education canon to varying degrees, and even where standard "library" topics are needed, such as online searching, we may have to take a different perspective on it (such as competitive intelligence, rather than reference service).
To Bob Watson (the first respondent!) -- I really don't see much to answer other than we are not intending the degree to be an LTA or library centered. But, you knew that!
To Ben Speller -- We too wonder about the career objectives of this program. It is intended to produce a well rounded, info tech type of person who can serve as the interface between the information and the user. Beyond that, the program is designed to be broad enough to allow the person to work in a wide variety of fields. So, it is concept-specific versus content (workplace) specific.
The State of Florida has once again watered-down its liberal studies requirements from 49 semester hours that included communications, history, social sciences, humanities, natural sciences, and fine and performing arts, to 36 hours. But, the general thrust is to give students a broad liberal arts foundation.
This degree is not intended to build a bridge to the MLS, however, it could have that fallout. We have a very small "n" in our program so far. But, I have one history major who is hurrying to switch over to our BSIS program for her last 36 hours and then apply for the master's program -- her lifelong goal.
Because FSU have been revising its master's program over the past 3-4 years and building up its library studies and information studies "programs," we feel quite comfortable that there is a distinct difference between the grad and undergrad courses. Yet, we'd be the first to recognize that several courses will be cross-listed because the "lecture" is comparable. What our University Curriculum Committee requires is for us to submit distinctly different syllabi, in such cases, to show that they are pitched at two different levels and at two different audiences. When we do this, we actually have grad and ug students meeting at different times once a week or so to be sure we meet the needs of both sets of students.
As to how the graduates are doing, we hope to revisit them in a few years and provide this feedback.
To Shirley Richardson -- Right on, Catalogers! I am sure you realize we do not propose to produce catalogers at the bachelor's level. Noting the courses, like "Info Sources and Services," "Information Science," and "Information Representation," we expose students to some of the fundamentals of organizing information, without using the "c" word. Again, our approach is not to make junior librarians but rather to develop information specialists who are able to work in a broad range of jobs.
To David Drummond -- I think I touched on some of David's points earlier. And, there is no reason why a bachelor's student could not take a few master's-level courses while finishing up the BS. The State of Florida allow this, as approved by the respective schools. So, it could be done in modest amounts by "graduating seniors."
Being focused on getting the MLS degree and getting a job, only a handful of our students take courses outside the School during a given semester. But, some smart one's do.
To Betsy Van -- I didn't see any other universities responding to you, sorry. Bear in mind that our program is at its least, 36 semester hours of info studies out of 120. So, Florida students have a great deal of freedom to take "other" courses and minors.
To Jim Curtis -- Thank you for your encouraging words. Again, our goal is not to produce undergrads to work in libraries. However, depending on the technology needs of libraries, these grads might just fill their respective niches.
To Kathleen Koontz -- I've answered most of the cataloging issue, but agree that we can and will touch on some of the cataloging "science" in that portion of the courses that deal with database management.
To Tony Debons -- Thanks for your comments. Did you request syllabi?
To Elizabeth Hewins -- Yes, among a list of reasons for establishing an undergraduate program in a graduate school has to be that it offers an opportunity for doctoral students to teach and work with undergrads. We are already able to exercise this, as does Pitt, Syracuse, and Drexel. It is also clear that we can not turn them loose, but it requires mentoring.
Finally, to Tom Childers (thanks for joining us) -- Amen! to your remarks.
To all of you, thanks for reading and sharing.
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