Our rapidly growing, data-driven culture is motivating curriculum change in nearly every discipline, not the least of which is information science. This article explores this change specifically within the iSchool community, in which information science is a major unifying discipline. A cross-institutional analysis of data-related curricula was conducted across 65 iSchools. Results show that a majority of iSchools examined (37 out of 65, 56.9%) currently offer some form of data-related education, particularly at the master’s level, and that approximately 15% of their formal degree offerings have a data focus. Overall, iSchools have a greater emphasis on data science and big data analytics, with only a few programmes providing focused curricula in the area of digital curation. Recommendations are made for iSchools to leverage the interdisciplinary nature of information science, publish curricula and track graduate success so that iSchools may excel in educating information professionals in the data area. Future data education in iSchools may benefit from further interdisciplinary data education, including data curation curricula.
Purpose-The importance of online public access catalogues (OPACs) has changed in recent years, mainly due to the large number of electronic resources now available. The aim of this study is to learn about and evaluate the use made by researchers of the OPAC of the library network of the Spanish Council for Scientific Research, the largest research institution in Spain. Design/methodology/approach-To this end a questionnaire was drafted with questions pertaining both to the system and to the users themselves. The information gathered was supplemented by data obtained from the transaction logs. Findings-The results have revealed the use made of the OPAC and the characteristics of the searches performed. Users are still confronted by classic problems of information seeking: information overload, errors in subject searching, and the predominant use of the system's simpler options. The results show that the OPAC is broadly used by end-users not only for obtaining printed material, but also for connecting to the electronic resources subscribed to by the library. Originality/value-The OPAC should continue to occupy an important position in the library's overall information environment, interacting with other information systems.
ResumenSe analiza la evolución y situación actual de los estudios de biblioteconomía y documentación en España. Se toman como referencia los datos aportados por las universidades miembros de la Red de Centros y Departamentos de Información y Documentación (RUID) y por fuentes oficiales como el Instituto Nacional de Estadística y el Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deportes. Se describe la situación actual de las enseñanzas en extinción, el grado, los masters y los doctorados. Entre otros aspectos, se observa un retroceso en la demanda del grado y cierto aumento en la de los masters y doctorados. Se aportan finalmente algunas reflexiones sobre los retos a los que se enfrentan actualmente estas enseñanzas, así como posibles estrategias que puedan seguirse para fortalecer la disciplina y la profesión en su conjunto.
Palabras claveInformación y documentación, Biblioteconomía y documentación, Grados universitarios, Masters, Educación universitaria, Oferta formativa, España, Red de Centros y Departamentos de Información y Documentación (RUID), Estadísticas.
Spanish universities are changing in the face of their full integration, in 2010, into the European Higher Education Area. The library, considered a key factor in this transformation, also needs to make a transition to a new model, called a Learning and Research Resources Centre (LRRC), responding to the new educational needs based in the Bologna reforms. This paper aims to analyze the strategic plans of Spanish universities and to establish whether they consider the library a key element for change and, therefore, a priority. Also, we study whether the emerging library conforms to a traditional model or aims to become a LRRC as proposed and fostered by the Spanish university libraries' network, REBIUN. The analysis is mostly based on the 74 Spanish universities' strategic plans. Each one of them was thoroughly analyzed, creating relevant groups, based on what information they deal with. Libraries, judging by their thin presence in strategic plans, do not exist as agents of change in most Spanish universities. This is an indication that, even nowadays, they do not have the necessary institutional support to become an information system that is basic and necessary in the Bologna reform. Libraries also need to make a transition to a new model, called a Learning and Research Resources Centre (LRRC), responding to the new educational needs.
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