Although there are some reports of research and activities related to professional development and continuing education for faculty in other fields, no such study has been conducted in the information field. Therefore a survey was conducted in the spring of 2010, for the purposes of (1) determining the professional development needs of faculty in schools of library and information studies in the U.S. and Canada, (2) determining whether support mechanisms and activities to meet these needs are available in the schools or the universities that employ these faculty, and (3) identifying other sources of professional development on which faculty rely. Data were obtained via an anonymous online survey of the full-time faculty members in the schools. Among the findings were that professional development needs and preferences are significantly different for faculty in traditional library schools compared to those faculty whose schools are members of the iSchool Caucus. In general, opportunities for development and training are much more prevalent at the university level than at the school level. Results of this study will inform enhancement of professional development activities by the schools, the host universities, and professional associations.
Beginning in 1996 and continuing today, an increasing number of students have taken advantage of online web-based distance learning programs to earn a master's degree in library and information science (LIS). The master's degree in LIS is a required qualification for work in the profession of librarianship, but to date, there has not been research to determine whether graduates of online programs have successful careers (are they finding jobs, staying in the field, are their careers advancing?) or if they are contributing to the LIS profession by active membership in professional organizations, publishing articles in professional journals, or Web-based professional communication (e.g., via listservs, online communities, blogs, and/or wikis). If graduates of online programs are not having careers as successful as those of graduates of on-campus programs, and/or if graduates of online programs are not contributing to the LIS profession as actively as graduates of on-campus programs, then schools of LIS need to consider how to adjust their online education programs to improve the success of their graduates and thereby help maintain the health of the LIS profession. Ten years ago, at the beginning of the large growth of web-based distance learning in LIS, predictions were made about its economic benefits and effects on curriculum (Besser & Bonn, 1996). Web-based distance learning was predicted by some to be a low-cost means to educate more students, while others predicted that web-based learning would require more resources -money, time, and people - to achieve satisfactory learning experiences and outcomes. In reality, both outcomes have been true (the latter greater than the former) but alternative economic models of education, such as multi-institutional consortia, have become more feasible. Faculty, administrators, students, and employers have all been concerned about learning. Would students learn what they needed to learn? How could learning be assessed online? Would students be able to secure jobs - and would their employers be pleased with the results? Recently published research and anecdotes from the field both indicate there is some resistance in the profession to hiring students with online degrees (Epperson & Wilde, 2005; Kim & Kusack, 2005). The graduates of online programs are confident in their abilities and articulate in explaining why, but their satisfaction has not yet been tested longitudinally (Glover, 2005). Finally, online learning has enabled LIS education to reach students - and thus libraries and communities - it has not been able to reach (Kazmer, 2005; Mellon & Kester, 2004). Even with the long and successful history of distance learning in LIS, more opportunity was found in the wired world. Not only can additional students be reached, but additional teacher/practitioners and other valuable types of adjunct instruction (including distant guest speakers) can be included in the educational environment. Potential issues which may emerge at the session include professional contributions and networking, the role of continuing education in connecting the profession to the academy, curriculum content and delivery, and comparing the economic reality with the predictions Graduate LIS programs are responsible (in part) for ensuring their graduates are well-prepared to have successful careers as individuals - no matter what each individual perceives to be his or her own success - and that some percentage of those graduates become leaders in the profession by becoming supervisors, managers, and directors. The graduates expect these outcomes; the profession expect them; and the ongoing health of each LIS program relies on them. As well, the health of the LIS profession as a whole, and in particular the professional organizations that promulgate the profession's role in society and the standards by which it operates (standards that range from ethics to metadata), relies on the contributions of professionals. Thinking about the modes of networking (some of which are highly local) and perceived potential lack of interaction among online students raises worries about those students career paths and professional contributions. How do the career tracks of distance graduates compare with those of on-campus graduates? How can we “best track employers” long-term satisfaction with our distance graduates? How can we ensure the health of the IS profession by making sure distance graduates are contributing through service and professional publication? One way that distance education is affecting curricula long term is through providing means of expansion that are not available in face-to-face settings. One example is the WISE consortium, which gives access to courses that a school cannot make available at the local level. Other examples are courses that are bilaterally shared, with students from two schools working together (although they may still be enrolled in a course offered in the home institution with a local faculty instructor). However, beyond that, distance education may have a long term effect on curricula by broadening the pool of human resources available to teach courses, particularly specialized topics courses for which a school does not have faculty and for which there may not be available adjuncts in the area. A distance course, depending on the technology used, means that faculty can be just as dispersed as the students are, as is clearly demonstrated in LEEP. In addition to tapping expertise in specialized areas from the practitioner pool, distance delivery also provides access to retired faculty who may want to continue some teaching, but do not want to stay in (for example) Norman, or Tuscaloosa, or Tallahassee. For example, at OU, the College of Arts and Sciences is aggressively recruiting faculty who have just retired to continue teaching in the distance learning program. Data related to the use of adjuncts for teaching distance education is available in the ALISE Statistical Report, but there are also issues and problems that dispersion of adjunct and retired faculty might raise. Of course, the potential for dispersed regular faculty is also increased by the use of distance delivery, and that raises other issues/concerns. How will curricula be shaped - including benefits and detriments - by the increased ability to use distributed adjunct instruction? How will curricula be shaped long-term by the ability to offer quality-assured courses across multiple institutions? What will be the effects on the experience of students being taught by a highly distributed faculty? The economics of online education in LIS has been changed by web-based online learning programs, and in particular by some structures enabled by web-based distance learning - e.g., consortiums like WISE. While distance education in a variety of modes has been around for decades, online education is at a point where the cost of delivery is low; at the same time, the software and hardware available to universities and students enable high quality delivery of education. The economics of online education enables consortiums like WISE to be successful; increasing the choices, quality, and opportunities for students and increasing the number of graduates. However, the economics of online education also enables programs like the University of Phoenix to provide education by reaching non-traditional students looking for education and reaching non-traditional faculty looking for the opportunity to teach. In this way, my comments articulate neatly with what June Lester will speak about. My comments will address what the changing economics means for traditional and online education over the next decade. How has the economics of online learning been different from initial predictions? How will additional models of cooperation - such as consortia - affect online and on-campus education over the next decade? What will the next ten years bring in terms of changing populations of students, graduates, and faculty of online and on-campus programs? In many cases LIS schools have been the leaders on their campuses in establishing and developing programs for online education. This presentation will report on a decade of experience with the LEEP online program at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science (GSLIS) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and discuss likely future directions for online LIS education. More than 500 MS students, from most of the 50 states and several foreign countries, have earned their degree through LEEP. They have been taught by both full-time GSLIS faculty and adjuncts from many different locations. Together with Syracuse University, Illinois is now taking a leadership role in the growth of the WISE (Web-based Information Science Education) consortium, an initiative that encompasses an infrastructure for course sharing, pedagogical training, and articulation of quality metrics for online LIS education. What is the scope of courses that can be taught online? Are there topics within curricula that still require face-to-face instruction? How are developments in technology changing the way we teach online? What types of students seek to study online? What career paths do they follow once they complete their degrees? In what ways are they helped or hindered by having pursued their degrees online? What are the challenges and benefits of different universities collaborating in online education? What are the possibilities for professional society and university collaboration in online education in support of professional development? How can research inform practice in online education?
Two different but related aspects of digital accessibility affect the concept of information value in organizations and how that value is impacted: the impact of digital accessibility on the organizational hierarchy and the resulting effect on information value; and the possible differentiation in information value resulting both from variations in the pace of infusion of information technology into the organization and from differing attitudes toward the positioning and extent of expenditures on information technology by the organization. Organizational structure is an information transfer system designed to service groups or individuals to permit the completion of the tasks and missions of the organization. Typically, until the advent of modern information technology, an organization's structure was a relatively inflexible hierarchical channel through which information flowed, or sometimes trickled, dependent upon one's position in the channel. The role of the individual or group within the organization fairly well dictated the level, quality and character of the information access available. The position of an individual in a specific location in the channel also tended to form the image or self-perception that the individual held of his or her role in the organization and even lent to the creation of an image of the organization itself. The combined images of self and organizational structures worked together to form the basis for the interactions of the individual with the organization: who could be directly approached for information and who had to be approached via a series of other individuals. Further, these combined images influenced the methods used in hierarchical communications. Speaking with one's immediate supervisor might be acceptable for addressing some issues; other issues required written communications. In either case, the individual's style of presentation and interaction was affected by the perceptions of both self role and the organizational structure. Concomitant to these perceptions of role and structure is the notion of organizational culture, which includes the history and environment that formed the existing communications pathways. The value ascribed to any communications up or down the channel can be impacted by any or all of these components. For example, an individual's position in the hierarchy attaches certain value to information regardless of the actual value. The structure, the layers of authority, the hierarchy of communication, the style and method or presentation, the players and their roles—all these contribute to the information system of an organization, and each component influences the valuing of the information communicated through that system. The information or communications system is the infrastructure base of the organization, is a major reason for having a formal structure, and is key to the decision-making functions of the organization. This system has been profoundly affected by the advent of information technology. According to D.A. Nadler, "Information technology has begun to revolutionize organizational design by providing alternatives to hierarchy as the primary means of coordination" and information transfer. Several variations on the traditional organization have emerged: self-managed teams; high performance work systems that emphasize the integration of advanced tools like expert systems with modified worker organizations; increased joint ventures between companies; greater collaboration inside and outside organizations; and outsourcing. Essentially, the evolution of computer technology, and especially networking systems, has impacted every aspect of the traditional organization. Electronic mail, electronic bulletin boards, shared iles and other similar systems allow information transfer without the typical channels of hierarchy, breaking down rigid organizational structures by circumventing that hierarchy and allowing information to flow through the electronic structure rather than the traditional one. This openness is what allows organizations to expand the personnel involved in projects and to network outside of themselves. Boundaries become blurred, both within the work groups and within the organization. Decision making becomes less centralized, more dispersed and, certainly at some levels, less institutional in nature. The composition of the organization changes. Over time even the "walls" of the organization change to encompass the customers within the evolving information net. As some organizations have experienced, the voice—or rather e-mail—of the customers can indeed cause them to appear to be interior to the organization. The potential for such close contact, whether among customers and organizations or workers within organizations, can have both positive and negative consequences. It may be assumed that despite the ability to do so, individuals will not rashly travel outside the bounds of the traditional structures, will not skip all the levels of the hierarchy to satisfy a desire to communicate directly with the ultimate boss, but there is actually little beyond common sense and organizational culture to prevent this. Though face-to-face encounters between the extremes of the hierarchy would be unlikely, or confined to very specific situational circumstances, electronic encounters are not so constrained. The newest technology, along with changing views of the criticality of the customer, seems to be opening more communication avenues to all levels of the organization. Customers can have near instant access to an organization via the Web or e-mail and what they cannot access they certainly can and do discuss. Failure to respond can be devastating: as an example, one computer producer able to handle only 4000 of the 10,000 calls a day being received was attacked on the Internet with messages of complaint and displeasure that cost the company a great deal of business. Significant growth in the use of the Internet, particularly the graphical side—the Web—to share and gather information with potential customers has occurred in the last three years. The advent of improved browsers and relatively easy HTML authoring tools has enhanced the ability of organizations to create sites and increased the pressure to have a presence on the Web. Incorporation of this information technology into the information transfer system is rapidly becoming ubiquitous as part of the organizational structure across all sectors, with significant impact on information flow and information value. In today's environment consumers are responsive and insistent, expecting feedback as quickly as they can type in requests. Repeat e-mail messages come less than 10 minutes apart, as senders expect a resolution of their issues immediately. Messages or postings appear that seem to assume everyone else in the world is attending to e-mail or bulletin boards at the same time. Organizations and individual employees are having to devise schemes to provide timely responses to even the most trivial electronic inquiry, because any message can be the start of a public display of anger that can cost consumer confidence or a frenzy of complaints from others who have felt slighted but who were not previously motivated to report. Electronic accessibility is inserting the consumer, the customer, or even just the casual, unrelated computer user into the structure of any organization that has assumed an electronic presence. The impact of this electronic information stream varies. Out of self-defense some administrators, high profile scientists, CEOs and the like make public announcements that they do not respond directly to e-mail. One obvious problem with the electronic system is the time one must invest to keep current with the messages, to keep one's message spaces uncluttered. Neither time nor space necessarily impact electronic communications, so long as the system is accessible. Several questions arise in reference to this changing scene, in which there is increased accessibility both from within the organization and from the outside to the decision-making levels of the organization: How does one manage the impact of this changed information system on the organization? What channels of communication need to be kept in place and which are obsolete, if indeed any are? What information value system will be in place, and how will it differ from the information value system of the hierarchical organization? If customers are to be internally involved in the organization, what are the boundaries, if there are any? Most organizations have changed, but despite the predictions of the 60s, 70s and 80s that information technology would decrease the levels of hierarchy and flatten the structure significantly, flattened is probably not the appropriate interpretation of what has occurred. Though organizations have decreased the layers of hierarchy by one or two levels, this has not positioned everyone on the same stairs of the hierarchy. Decision making may be more distributed due to improved technology, but it is not horizontal. Methods of communication and channels for control of communication have changed not only in relation to the increased technology, but also in relation to changes in the larger social environment. Information technology allows anyone with access to communicate with anyone else in the network. However, the organizational culture and common sense can serve to control these communications relatively well. Agreed upon standards and procedures for the use of electronic mail as well as other communications systems channels can limit inappropriate use. Just as there are rules to govern use of phones in the work place, or appropriate procedures for filing a complaint, similar rules and procedures can be delineated related to the use of information technology. Although enhanced digital accessibility may have the potential of providing total elimination of hierarchical information flow, removal of all the channels for control of communication could cause chaos. Whatever minimal control channels are necessary to provide organizational structure need to be maintained, but with enough flexibility to allow communications advantageous to the organization. The issue of valuing the information that is to be communicated through the electronic systems has to be confronted at various levels. From without, customer input can help identify new markets or point out repairable shortcomings. From within, members of the organization may see things that others miss that could lead to new opportunities. As always, determining what information is valuable is dependent on factors far beyond the control of the sender and often not fully understood by the recipient. So long as no information is discarded without examination, there is at least some chance that items of value will not be lost. The task of examining all incoming information can overwhelm, undermining the ability to recognize valuable information. The increase in customer information that results from the juncture of digital accessibility, increased responsiveness to customer needs and enhanced customer orientation as the focus of the organization poses significant challenges in managing information flow and in assessing information value. Streamlining information is more easily achieved in managing employee input, limiting communication and reports to what is determined to be critical, but it is not possible to completely streamline customer input. The use of online surveys helps to delineate some of the customer input, but none of it can be overlooked. As mentioned before, ignoring customer input can be a costly error. The issue of boundaries for customers involved internally in the organization is a very difficult one. The consumer public can sow havoc when dissatisfied. Between the phone and the computer, there are few limits to the contacts the public can make, and using a global medium like the Internet can certainly lend volume to one's words. Being able to e-mail the CEO or the president grants a sense of democratic power, but such power is not always responsibly exercised. How to cope with what might be serious charges or just angry misinterpretations is a challenge. Each organization will make decisions about these challenges based on its customer base, its receptivity to customer input, its ability to divine the real from the unreal. The bottom line is that the customer cannot be ignored, must never be insulted and should always be listened to. The wise organization will have some means to analyze and evaluate the various situations rising from customer intervention in information flow. The boundaries will have to be set by the organization, but without a doubt those boundaries will be challenged. In addition to the increased accessibility provided by electronic systems and the resulting change in information flow and value within an organization, another significant factor influencing changes in information flow has been the practice of not providing every member of the organization with access to the information technology necessary to participate in the new communication systems, often with cost as a justification for this selective dissemination approach. Transitional organizational states, where information technology is not fully installed or implemented, can have negative effects on the organization at both macro and micro levels. At the macro level, because there has been global growth in the implementation of information technology (IT) as a resource expanding tool, organizations ignoring IT or not fully utilizing it risk losing markets, limiting growth potential and failing to recognize and exploit opportunities. On the micro level, individuals without information technology access are limited in job growth, job security, future employment potential and critical information. Diminished workers, not keeping current, ultimately cost organizations in a variety of arenas. Individuals without information resources cannot contribute to the organization at the same level as other workers. Workers without the technology are relegated to the traditional hierarchy, whereas those with technology access have access tothe changing style of decision making. Within the organization, information technology access is not just possession of the machines; it also involves having or acquiring appropriate technical skills. Training and currency with information technology is considered critical by workers for job satisfaction and likewise critical by employers seeking to maintain a stable, functional information systems work force. An artificial hierarchy based on possession of and skill with technology is created, and such an artificial-structure impedes an organization's—or a society's—growth through negative impacts related to the differential valuing of information technology in comparison with other factors. Undeserved stature may be accorded to information that is transferred using the new technology, while information that is transmitted by traditional means or through the traditional hierarchy may be falsely devalued. The possession of technical skills may give individuals additional rank and authority, while diminishing the rank and authority of less technically skilled workers, regardless of other career-related criteria. Sometimes the trade-off is the loss of years of organizational knowledge and culture, as in the early retirement of key workers who for a variety of reasons are not given access to the technology or are not provided with training. While such retirements are often viewed positively, the changing organization structure may not be as well positioned as some may think. The information lost with those types of retirements cannot be replaced or recouped by technology. The insight that a long-time employee might have into the current and future activities of an organization based upon the time in place and experiential knowledge is lost, and the value of this lost information may be unrecognized potential diversification or markets. IT staff are not necessarily in possession of enough information to appropriately outfit the entire organization, and the devaluing of non-technologically generated information may have long-term consequences. The unreasonable expectation that the IT staff should be able to understand every individual task of the organization may have led to the unmet expectations of the early IT years. More realistically, successful organizations are encouraging the involvement of non-IT staff in IT acquisitions, design and implementation. This two-fold strategy empowers the employee while investing him or her in the job and recognizes a diversity of information values. Determining, with help from the IT staff, what hardware and software will best help perform the job causes the employee to take responsibility and also commits her or him to the organization. Revamping, upgrading or expanding organizations are spending large sums of money on information technology initiatives. Eli Lilly is spending $75 million on a four-year redesign/reengineering effort thatwill enable the company to reach clinics directly and physicians and pharmacists in their offices. The world's largest discount brokerage, Charles Schwab Corp., is converting its information system to client/server technology over a seven-year time frame. According to various estimates, the 1994 per employee expenditure for information technology by the top 100 users worldwide ranged from a low of $10,000 to a high of $27,000. Though one might suppose that this pattern of expenditure on technology would engender enormous information systems staff, creating yet another layer of management and a modern sub-hierarchy in all companies, two different surveys conducted by Computerworld magazine suggest that is not necessarily so. In fact, the surveys found several large multinational organizations with huge numbers of information system employees and others with relatively small staffs supporting revenue bases of almost the same size. The differential patterns of expenditure suggest possible differential valuing of information among the organizations. Reaching such a conclusion on the premise that the valuing of information by the organization is positively correlated with the amount of money spent and the number of employees dedicated to management of information flow would be dangerous—and probably incorrect. One must ask the question, however, why the differing patterns exist and what the patterns indicate about the value of information to the organization. It seems reasonable to assume that information technology should be integrated throughout the organization, regardless of any centralized information technology group, since the role and advantage of IT are having it permeate the organization to maximize the flow of information and the exchange of ideas. Though the supposition that IT would flatten the hierarchy has been shown to be questionable, it is not debatable that IT affects the structure, viathe technology, via the skilled personnel it demands and via the skills that the typical worker can now acquire to implement IT (because the technology has improved even if the quality of the employee has not). Small organizations wishing to survive must keep as current as possible without negatively impacting their economic positions. This can best be achieved by flexibility and resolute attention to the mission of the organization and sensitivity to the customer base. Not to be overlooked is attention to the information itself, not just the technology. What the organization needs to know, what creative activities are ongoing, what each sector contributes and how economically viable each contribution is means as much to the survival of the organization as does investment in technology. Sometimes too much information, or too much technology, can decrease efficiency. Understanding the value to the organization of the information that flows through the channels that are enabled by the technology is critical to managing that technology to the advantage of the organization. That value of information is linked to its usefulness to the organization, and information value is primarily determined by the user. If information is inaccessible simply because there is too much of it, it has no value and may actually be a wasted cost due to the cost of collection, which suggests that organizations of all sizes need to evaluate the cost and benefit of information gathering. Just because it is possible to collect enormous bodies of information does not mean that it is profitable. There are no quick and easy answers to any of the issues discussed here. Digital accessibility is impacting organizational structure and the ways in which organizations gather, use and value information in ways that are not yet fully understood. In the present climate of rapid change in the extent and means of accessibility, determining both the nature of the changes and their impact is a challenge. The differing approaches to infusion of information technology provide a fertile field for examination of how information value changes in relation to differing structures and the extent to which those structures are a result of changes in digital accessibility. Research needs to be undertaken to determine how much flattening of the organizational hierarchy has occurred and how much of it has to do with IT versus just changes in the social structure. Continued review and evaluation of the impact of information technology in organizations and in all aspects of society need to be conducted. Management structures are changing in response to the digital revolution, but so is society. The challenge is to cope with the changes in ways that will optimize the value of information to the organization, to society as a whole and to the individuals that comprise both. Melanie J. (Jay) Norton is assistant professor, School of Library and Information Science, University of Southern Mississippi. June Lester is director and professor in the School of Library and Information Studies, University of Oklahoma at Norman.
The digital revolution has had a major impact on management communications and structures. How is information value affected by these new hierarchies? How do some of these structures affect the provision of resources? The authors look at many of the challenges that existing institutions face in light of the new technologies, as well as economic concerns of the digital age. In the field of education, short-term information trends reflected in curriculum development are viewed as an example of issues and problems inherent to the digital revolution. And in the business arena, new information economics theory is needed to assess the value and marketability of information in a digital world
Lester and Koehler have vastly revised and expanded this brand new edition of the first textbook geared towards undergraduate information studies to approach the field from a multidisciplinary perspective. book's fourteen chapters begin with The Impact of in Society and Fundamental Concepts of Information; look at The Professions and The Impact of Cultures and Societies; and conclude with Information Ethics and Information Futures. Appropriate emphasis is placed throughout on the history and development of information technology. Every chapter has been thoroughly updated and revised. Expansions include two whole new chapters, one on user behavior and the second on information, power, and society; five other chapters have been substantially expanded. In addition, the authors have added two new features: A Learning Guide precedes each chapter and an Information Idea draws attention to the application of the chapter's concepts in the real world.
Library and Information Science (LIS) master's programs exist in a milieu of educational change that over the last decade has increasingly emphasized the student's role in and responsibility for learning. A student-centered philosophy of education affects all elements of the teaching and learning process, including the assessment of learning outcomes. One student-centered assessment technique is that of portfolio development, and LIS schools have begun to incorporate portfolio assessment into master's programs. The following paper addresses the inclusion of portfolio development within the school library media certification program at the University of Oklahoma and the ways that portfolio development could be applied to all specializations within LIS programs. Valid approaches to portfolio development shift assessment directly into students' learning experiences, emphasize educational goals and standards, and ensure the LIS school's accountability to the university as well as to state and national accreditation agencies.
