This is a juried paper presentation (of 24 slides) in Session 6.4, Reports of Current Research (Juried Papers) on Thursday, Jan. 13 at the 2005 ALISE Conference. Graduate library and information science (LIS) programs continue to evaluate their curriculums, goals and objectives, as trends in education shift toward a global environment focused on information science, technology, and distance learning. For the past four years, the School of Library and Information Sciences at the University of North Texas (SLIS) conducted an End of Program Questionnaire of graduating masterâ s students. This study focuses on student evaluation and satisfaction with the SLIS masterâ s program and the ways of preparing them for the changing paradigm of the global library and information science profession. Student satisfaction is measured in five key areas: 1) Program background information, 2) Masterâ s program goals and objectives, 3) Curriculum, 4) Physical resources and facilities, and 5) Faculty and advising. The studentsâ comments and answers reflect high satisfaction and confirm the schoolâ s effort to meet the objectives and goals of the program. Interesting and positive results in studentsâ answers along with discrepancies among studentsâ comments are carefully analyzed and discussed by the school faculty and staff. The results are compared to issues identified in the global environment and appropriate suggestions are made for meeting flexible curricula evaluations.

This study replicated Leif Kajberg’s Survey of Internationalization Activities in European Library and Information Science Schools with regards to Library and Information Science Education in Southeast Asia and the Pacific. Kajberg wrote that internationalization activities in European LIS Schools reflect different national traditions, institutional histories and missions. The purpose of this survey was to discover the different paths toward internationalisation that institutions of Higher Education have taken in LIS Schools in Australia, Bangladesh, China, India, Japan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, and Thailand using the same types of variables which Kajberg used. Findings would assist in developing a theoretical understanding and a knowledge base regarding the forces of international co-operation relevant for higher education institutions at 70 universities concentrating on the LIS discipline. The following issues are examined: (1) Do international issues and priorities have a place on the educational and research agenda of the schools? (2) To what extent are international LIS issues reflected in the schools’ curricula? (3) What is the number of international-degree students enrolled? (4) Do schools have persons with an international background on their academic staff? (5) Are cross-country links developed with partner institutions abroad? These questions were considered representative of internationalization activities. As with Kajberg’s survey, the questionnaire designed for the study included a mix of close-ended questions (yesno model) and questions of the semi-open and open-ended type. The close-ended questions were formulated to elicit general information on LIS schools’ actual involvement in the various types of internationalisation processes and activities and gauge the level of cooperation. Permission to conduct the study was granted by the Institutional Review Board, Human Subjects Committee of the University of Southern Mississippi. Responses were held confidential.

This is a presentation (of 11 slides) on Tuesday January 11, 2005 in the session sponsored by the Curriculum SIG titled "Preparing Students for the International Information Society: Studying the Global Context in LIS" at the 2005 ALISE Conference, Boston, MA. The curricula of two courses offered at the School of Information Sciences, University of Tennessee are discussed: 1) The Information Society and 2) International Information Policy. The silence on issues of internationalism and "others" as evidenced by an informal content analysis of the Proceedings of the 67th Annual Meeting of the Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIST 2004 Conference) is also briefly explored.

This article is an expansion of another research of the author that was published one year ago in Library Quarterly. It explores new statistical methods to predict whether or not a school would be ranked. By "ranking", the author refers to having a top-quality master's program or having faculty who contribute significantly to the advancement of the professional.

Library classification in the Croatian library school at the Department of Information Sciences, University of Zagreb has an important place in the department's curriculum. This is due to the fact that classification is the most important indexing language in Croatian libraries, documentation centres and services and its role has not been undermined by library automation is the case elsewhere. The course Classification and Classification Systems has undergone many changes since the school was established in 1976. One of the most important objectives of the course, besides introducing classification as a tool, is to teach about content analysis and classification as a process. Another important goal of the course is to teach students how to adapt and use classification for different purposes and in different environments. The current syllabus embraces the use of classification in information organisation and presentation in different kinds of collection from book and non-book materials to information resources on the Internet and even more importantly, the course covers the application of classification in information retrieval and discovery. It is the intention of the course to contribute to the education of librarians and will enable their skills to be applied in the wider area of the information profession.

This article summarizes the differences between teaching adults and teaching children. It evaluates the concept of andragogy â a term that describes the teaching of children â in order to conclude the major characteristics of adult learning. It also makes some suggestions for the development of curricula of graduate programs.

The competitive intelligence topic is not only a popular and contemporary term; similarly as knowledge management, but also an important future concept of information positions development in labour markets. Competitive intelligence is also an analytical process of information on competition and markets via open sources; including by electronic sources and databases, vendors, and digital libraries. We can Also interpret that â intelligence is knowledge in actionâ . Information professionals have good and right information for forming of competitive intelligence professional status, which is so near positions of chief information officer or chief knowledge officer (CIO and CKO). To introduce LIS students with a content of CI is demanded, and why not to use new dimensions of information profession.

This is a longer version of the paper published in the conference proceedings. / Librarians of the 21st century have to prepare themselves for working in a networked environment and should acquire necessary skills such as leadership, exploiting information handling, communication, crisis management, team building and decision making, and so on. So, library professionals are in dire need to acquire relevant skills and expertise to track the world of information and become competent enough to serve in a digital culture. An attempt is made to project issues related to the LIS education in India and suggests some proposals in this respect based on routine features and experiences. The study proposes core elements of a curriculum and a vision of LIS education in India for the coming decade. The paper also stresses the need for revised course contents and allied challenges for readiness of Indian LIS education in the digital era.

Poster paper / The fast changing environment fueled by technology has caused a paradigm shift in the library and information science profession. While the traditional roles of the library and information professional in providing access to information continues to be important, the responsibilities of this group have extended beyond providing just access to helping in utilizing info in the right context at the right time. 'Knowledge' is considered to be the most valuable resource in organizations today. This implies not just access to info contained in documents but also implicit knowledge gained through human experience. Information professionals need to view themselves as performance support professionals.

This is a Plenary Session 3 presentation (of 34 slides) on Friday, January 14 at the ALISE 2005 Conference. John King argues that the LIS "anxiety discourse" has parallels in other disciplines and is in reality a crisis of opportunity. Strategies for making the best of the opportunity are presented. Editor's note: Some of the slides (in the presentation) need a TIFF decompressor to see the pictures embedded in them. The URL on the final slide for the essay version of the talk does not work; instead, the essay is attached as a Microsoft Word file (18 pages) and can also be downloaded from the alternative location below.