Plenary session wednesday

University of Cape Town

Library and Information Studies Centre

15th LIASA Annual Conference: libraries in dialogue for transformation and innovation, Cape Town International

Convention Centre, Cape Town, 8-11 October 2013

Bridging the theory-practice gap in LIS education: a UCT experiment

Jaya Raju & Gwenda Thomas

A school of choice in Africa for Library and Information Studies

Overview

• Introduction

• Purpose of the paper

• Methodological approach

• Conceptual framework: theory and practice in higher education

• Bridging the theory-practice gap in LIS education: UCT Libraries

• Bridging the theory-practice gap in LIS education: LIS School at UCT

• Lessons, the way forward and conclusion

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Introduction• Recurrent tension between theory and practice in

LIS – well documented (Chu 2010; Lynch 2008)

• “Inclusive” rather than a dichotomous conceptualisation of relationship between theory and practice is a “holistic necessity for professional development” (Stigmar 2010)

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Introduction• LIS graduates entering a world of work (higher

education) - transformed by “the revolution in scholarly communication”

• These changes have dramatically affected all aspects of academic library operations (Davis & Moran 2005)

• Do LIS schools “really understand the increasingly complex … academic libraries … in the digital environment…? (Barthhorpe 2012)

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Purpose of the paper• Universities globally restructuring themselves for

efficiency purposes in a highly competitive higher education environment (Raju 2013)

• UCT LIS School: organisational locus within the university libraries; academic home in the Humanities Faculty

• Paper uses a conceptual framework to mount a critical evaluation of the implementation of this model

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Methodological approach

• Evaluative approach• Evaluation as a research tool aims to assess the

“impact of social interventions” within a particular “social context” (Babbie 2013)

• ‘Evaluation indicators’ drawn from the experiences of Executive Director of UCT Libraries and the Head of the LIS School at UCT - qualitative element

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Theoretical framework: theory and practice in higher education

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Theory and practice: from segregation to integration (Source: Stigmar 2010)

theory

practice

theory and practice


Bridging the theory-practice

gap in LIS education: UCT Libraries

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LIS education at UCT: past & present

• UCT School of Librarianship established in 1939• University Librarian was head of the Library and the

Library school until the mid-1970s• Senate decision to close the school in 2011• LIS education re-established in 2012 as the Library and

Information Studies Centre (LISC) with a three year window of opportunity

• LIS School located organisationally in the UCT Libraries & offers its qualifications through the Humanities Faculty

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Re-establishing the partnership

• The organisational model facilitated the way for a close relationship between academic project and practice

• Vision developed over two years to grow the next generation of librarians able to enter the workplace with a sound understanding of scholarly communication systems, associated specialisations and contemporary issues

• Resulted in some tough exchanges and debates to recognise and respect what was expected of both the Libraries and the LIS school – the social intervention and social context of the partnership

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UCT Libraries & the Library School: challenges of a new social context

• Quality of the graduates needs to improve to meet the workplace requirements as determined by the practitioners

• The student cohort would need to grow over the next 3 years and attract a different calibre of student if the LIS school is to be sustainable

• Student, academic and practitioner research productivity would need to increase

• National imperative to produce the next generation of academic librarians

• Urgent need to address the theory-practice gap in LIS education

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Academic libraries are located in a new ‘social context’

• Academic Libraries are framed in & defined by all the cross-cutting influences of the knowledge economy & globalization;

• They have become “unhinged” from their traditional frame of reference based on functions (user services, acquisitions, cataloguing);

• Academic libraries find themselves between two missions:-an old traditional order focused on functions-a new transformational order shaped by

globalisation, the knowledge economy, user expectations and institutional priorities

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Towards a transformational mission for librarians

• R. David Lankes in “The Atlas of New Librarianship” (2011) advances that the new mission of librarians is:

“to improve society by facilitating knowledge creation in their user communities.”

• Shift from an old traditional order where library missions were function-based to a new mission shaped by 3 drivers of transformation:

- knowledge creation - people and skills - using knowledge & skills to improve society to the benefit of all communities

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The “three pillars” of transformation are shaping the mission of academic libraries

• LIS schools to LIS departments

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PILLARS CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS PILLAR 1: KNOWLEDGE & INNOVATIONFacilitate knowledge creation

ACADEMIC LIBRARIES Academic library as a “commons” within the user community where knowledge is produced/created

PILLAR 2: PEOPLE People & skills development

USER COMMUNITIES Foremost, libraries are communities of users, physical or virtual

ACADEMIC LIBRARIANSLibrarians as facilitator, liaison, connector & disseminator of universal body of knowledge

PILLAR 3: SOCIAL GOODImprove society

NATION & CITIZENSBody of Knowledge disseminated & used to bring benefit to all in society


Scholarly communication system: core to the academic enterprise

• Scholarly communication is more than scholarly publishing• It is sustained by both formal and informal networks• Scholars develop ideas, exchange information, build and

mine data, cite and give credit, certify research, publish findings, disseminate results and preserve outputs

• It is a vast and changing system • Central to the academic enterprise and therefore, • Central to the work of academic librarians∼ACRL 2012∽

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Towards scholarly communication librarianship: a new social context

• Journal of scholarly communication & librarianship launched in 2012 • Recognises increasingly prominent role of librarians in shaping

future of scholarly communication• Scholarly communication librarianship is becoming a core service

area for academic librarians• Important that there is an institutional and intellectual home that

becomes the centre for policy, direction and procedure to bring stakeholders together – librarians, academics, technologists, publishers and research funders

• Scholarly communication librarianship is the “new librarianship” in a new social context

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A school of choice in Africa for Library and Information Studies 18


Through the transformation lens: a reality check

Transforming academic libraries in the global context

SA academic libraries in a context of cross-cutting influencesGlobal impact of new mission for academic libraries

National imperatives to transform South African society Institutional strategic priorities and outcomes

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Higher Education within the context of a transforming South African society and economy


Strategic priorities Critical success factors

Pillar 1: People & skills Produce next generation of academics for SA & the rest of the continent

• Graduate & train next generation of academics for SA, the continent & beyond• Grow number of academics with PG qualifications

Pillar 2: Knowledge creation Establish HEIs as leading, globally competitive, research-led institutions but with a competitive edge rooted in the African continent

• Strengthen research & make SA globally competitive•Grow the body of African knowledge• Grow faculty research productivity• Increase research oriented degrees• Grow research intensive teaching-learning• Successful student education & graduation

Pillar 3: Improving society Transformation in broader society to improve the quality of life for all communities across South Africa, & beyond

• Diverse & talented workforce within an inclusive & nurturing institution • Deliver on high level knowledge & skills requirements of marketplace• Graduates who are critical thinkers & leaders & confident users of information

HEIs Strategic outcomes: advancing transformation of South African society


UCT Libraries: the challenge of the new social context

• Transformational mission has placed Libraries & LISC at intersection of new librarianship and national imperatives for South African higher education

• LIS School required to frame its curricula to embrace and advance scholarly communication librarianship

• Libraries are confronted with the demands and complexities of technologies, digital environment and scholarly communication system

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Role of the educator in scholarly communication librarianship

• New graduates have to be equipped for jobs in academic libraries

• Educators need to understand the complexities of:• - technologies• - digital environment • - scholarly communication system• Curricula should include more content about IPR,

publishing, data management to produce graduates who offer relevant services, lead discussions and conduct useful research

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UCT Libraries: the challenge of the transformational mission

• Advance research and scholarship by:- develop the research workforce- partnering & engaging with

researchers & scholars in the production, dissemination & presentation of knowledge

- provide support at all stages of the research cycle from idea generation to research process & publication

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Roles and skills required to advance research & scholarship

• Building new research information infrastructure • Optimising researcher access to resources • Developing digitisation strategy as integral part of

supporting unique and distinctive collections (large scale digitisation as well as physical preservation)

• Being a responsible steward of unique and local collections

• Playing an integral role in integrating special collections in curricula

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Roles and skills required to advance research & scholarship

• Investing in institutional repository development & open access hosting

• Developing digitisation strategy to sustain local and unique collections

• Providing leadership in research data management services• Providing leadership in metadata creation and

management • Develop specialist skills in financial management, statistics,

web design, spatial planning and project management

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Bridging the theory-practice gap: the LIS School at UCT

• 2012 - radical review of teaching and research programmes

• Firmly located within a strategic framework • Curriculum renewal informed by trends re-defining

the LIS sector • progamme enriched by dove-tailing

epistemological grounding with application input from specialist practitioners from UCT Libraries

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• Seamless access to expertise from Library specialists without any budgetary implications for the School

• Positively influenced qualification outcomes and quality of entry-level graduates being produced

• Curriculum designers - a close-up view of knowledge, skills and competencies required of practising professionals in a digital age information environment

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• School’s research too benefitted from its inclusive relationship with UCT Libraries

• Proximity of the School to a practising environment transformed by technology - has impacted on the School’s research agenda

• Steadily increasing registrations for research degrees focusing on new areas in scholarly communication in the digital environment

• Cohort and team research projects

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• Champion to recognise the work and contribution of the LIS School

• Not just ‘a bed of roses’ - challenges• Two different worlds informed by different priorities

and with philosophical differences in our approaches• Respect for each other’s space, expertise and working

cultures• Inclusive working relationship between the two

domains

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• LIS School - significant strides • Student registrations and throughput rates • Exceeded projections in the School’s business plan

on which its budget allocation is based• Robust marketing and branding• Attracting young graduates who have just

completed bachelor degrees• Budget and other support from UCT Libraries

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Lessons, the way forward and conclusion

• Inherent tension between LIS practitioners and educators/theory and practice - likely to continue

• But “LIS educators and practitioners working together can ensure that tomorrow’s professionals will be well prepared to enter the field” (Davis and Moran 2005)

• Evaluative accounts - drawn qualitatively from respective ‘head’ roles - does, despite inherent challenges, point to a positive trajectory

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Lessons, the way forward and conclusion

• Lesson from this unique experiment:theory and practice, in any professional discipline, are best

conceptualised ‘inclusively’ rather than ‘dichotomously’ • Whatever our prevailing ‘social contexts” in the

institutions we find ourselvesLIS educators and practitioners should make a tangible effort to

bridge the theory-practice divide• “Theory and practice vitally interact, and one renews the

other” – theory and practice are “tied inseparably to each other” (Boyer 1990)

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Thank you!Jaya Raju & Gwenda Thomas

Library and Information Studies Centre/UCT LibrariesUniversity of Cape Town

[email protected]/[email protected]

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