Exploring Education for Digital Librarians

Sue Myburgh is currently Program Director of two postgraduate programs – in Knowledge Management and Internet Communication Strategies - at the University of South Australia. She has been involved in many aspects of the theory and practice of Information Management internationally over the last two decades. Amongst various honours received, she was a Fulbright Scholar and has been awarded the Britt Literary Award by the Association of Records Managers and Administrators International. Anna Maria Tammaro is currently Professor at the University of Parma, Italy. She is also Local Co-ordinator of the International Master’s in Digital Library Learning (DILL), Chair of IFLA Division IV, and an IFLA Governing Board member. Anna Maria has extensive experience in academic librarianship, having been the Librarian at the University of Florence and the University of Bologna, Italy.

• DedicationList of figures and tablesList of abbreviationsPrefaceAbout the authorsAcknowledgementsChapter 1: Regeneration of the second oldest professionAbstract:IntroductionFrom books to ideasDLs as socio-technical systemsEducation for the information professionsWhat digital libraries can beWhat digital librarians could doInterpersonal activityDecoders and interventionistsDigital knowledge creation and critical thinkingInterdisciplinarityConclusionsChapter 2: The influence of the current contextAbstract:ContextAbbott and the professional contextWhat is a ‘profession’?Context 1: the information societyContext 2: context of professionsContext 3: ICTsExplaining ideologiesConclusionsChapter 3: Previous research on education for DLsAbstract:The perplexed state of education for information workTechnology and educationDL courses currently offeredDL programmes in LIS and CSConclusionsChapter 4: First things fourthAbstract:Unravelling long-standing ambiguitiesWhat do librarians do?Technical tasksPurpose and processesHegemonySelectionAccessOrganisation of information resourcesThe social role of librarians and abstruse hegemonyChapter 5: Purposeful digital librariansAbstract:The activities of the digital librarianLIS education and ideologiesChapter 6: No theory, no discipline = no professionAbstract:Notes towards solving these dilemmasTheory and praxisDistinction between theory and praxisDisciplinesNeutrality of scienceThe information metacommunityMultidisciplinary metacommunities and their metatheoriesDigital library research and education is particularly inter- and multidisciplinaryFacilitating interdisciplinary workChapter 7: Constructing a theoretical frameworkAbstract:The purpose of a theoretical frameworkSteps of theory constructionStep 1: clarification of the axiological position of the researcher(s)Step 2: nomos, or ‘existing situation’Step 3: existing theories examined and tested teleologicallyStep 4: lexical register and conceptual identificationStep 5: development of alternative conceptual models in an ontologyStep 6: taxonomy of information professionsStep 7: model tested against purpose/teleological assumptionsConclusionsChapter 8: Designing curriculaAbstract:Changes in LIS educationDidacticsEpistemological approaches to curriculum designCreative industriesCultural institutionsInterdisciplinarityChapter 9: Aims and outcomesAbstract:Curriculum aimsProfessional philosophy and phronesisResults and effects of the curriculumCompetencies and skillsGraduate qualitiesInternational equivalencesInternationalisationChapter 10: Pedagogies and teaching methodsAbstract:Teaching and learningUse of ICTs in educationSocial responsibilities of higher educationEpistemological frameworks for learningSocial constructivismSocial constructionismConnectivismThree common modes of teaching/learningCritical pedagogy as heutagogicalThe Socratic methodOnline learning and heutagogyEducation, culture and internationalisationDigital and critical literacy, critical thinkingChapter 11: Content and structureAbstract:Substance and speculationTheoretical frameworkHuman information behaviourKnowledge creationRepresentation of information: language and linguisticsEvaluation of information: interpretation, meaning and critical information literacyEvaluating information economicallyTechnology and other ‘stuff’Level of programmeStructureMetacommunityCoreChapter 12: A bright futureAbstract:The past and the futureLibraries and freedom of thoughtDemocracy and social roleMetacommunity and agreementChanged service modelEvaluation of the social role of librariansNew profileResearch for the futureReferencesIndex

"The authors position librarians as information workers in the first few chapters and introduce the concept of ‘digital libraries’ and ‘digital librarians’ as change agents (in the context of knowledge creation and knowledge sharing, rather than simply knowledge capture and containment)."--The Australian Library Journal, Vol. 63, No. 1, 2014