Preface

This book brings together a range of chapters about the trends in educationand research in the field of library and information science (LIS) in the Asia-Oceania region of the world. Why a book about LIS in the Asia-Oceaniaregion? One key reason for a book on the topic is the huge growth of thefield in terms of students and schools particularly in Asia. Compared to thegrowth in Asia, the Oceania region that includes Australia and New Zealandhas been fairly stable with some declines being experienced in Australia.

The aim of the book is to draw out and examine the trends and directions inLIS education and research in the vast Asia-Oceania region. Informationbehaviour and libraries and information services are often embedded within anindividual’s everyday social and life processes. Information is an important partof the human condition and critical to the development of the Asia-Oceaniaregion. LIS education and research has developed differently across manydifferent countries. Asian countries, such as China and India, are experiencinghuge growth in the LIS field in terms of students and schools. Other Asiancountries such as Indonesia,VietnamandThailand are also growing andofferingmore education programs. Singapore, Taiwan, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Japanand Korea are also growing in LIS research prominence.

This book provides a timely look at LIS education and research trends inAsia-Oceania as the region continues to grow and develop. This book does notprovide a comprehensive history of the LIS field inAsia-Oceania, but includespapers that represent interesting insights into the expansion of the field in sucha growing region. In particular, this book includes chapters written by authorsfrom a broad array of countries in Asia-Oceania, including academics andinformation professionals. In this book, we focused on collecting chapters toprovide a broad and also deep perspective on LIS in Asia-Oceania.

This book represents a major intellectual endeavour for the editors. Thefirst editor (Spink) is a professor of information science who has workedwith, taught and has researched various dimensions of information sciencesince 1990. The second editor (Singh) is an associate professor ofinformation science who has worked with, taught and researched in variousareas of LIS research for many years.

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This book is organized into three sections.Section I provides a brief introduction to the LIS education and research

trends in Asia-Oceania.Section II includes chapters that focus on exploring trends in LIS

teaching and education.Section III includes chapters that focus on exploring trends in LIS

research.Each section contains many chapters relating to the broader area of the

section. Although each chapter is unique and comprehensive within itsparticular framework, and with its own reference list, the chapters are cross-referenced where appropriate to illustrate how the different topics meshtogether to form a broader expanse of LIS education and research in Asia-Oceania.

This book is intended as a resource for library and informationresearchers, and information professionals, and students. This book is alsoan appropriate text for courses in LIS. Librarians, information professionalsand others who provide information services will find this book useful forinsights into trends and the international nature of the field. In addition,anyone who is interested in understanding the field in Asia-Oceania willsurely find this book a fascinating and enlightening read.

We greatly thank the chapter authors for their stimulating and interestingcontributions. Many chapters also represent the work of collaborationsbetween researchers and students.

Amanda SpinkDiljit Singh