A Comparative Study of LIS Accreditation Frameworks in Australia, New Zealand, United States, and Canada

Abstract

As Library and Information Science (LIS) educators, we teach our students about the changing and evolving role of the information professional in the twenty-first century. For many educators around the world, accreditation of LIS programs also shapes and legitimizes curriculum. This comparative study of the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand seeks to identify similarities and differences in accreditation frameworks. This research shows that similarities and differences exist in programs, course designs, delivery methods, accreditation models, program specializations, and engagement with information science as a discipline. In conclusion we ask five critical questions about Australian LIS education and propose three areas for future research, including evaluating the purpose of accreditation.

Comparison of library studies programs in Croatia and the USA

“…Further, Lor (2019: 77) cautions that “comprehensive comparative” studies of all facets of librarianship across two nations or more are largely “too ambitious for successful realization.” LIS education is an ongoing and lively topic in comparative librarianship. Examples of recent comparative studies on LIS programs include “Challenges in LIS education in China and the United States” (Xue et al, 2019) and “A comparative study of LIS accreditation frameworks in Australia, New Zealand, United States, and Canada” (Gibbons and White, 2019). As to the importance of this work, once again Dane (1976: 25) has an optimistic but compelling answer: “[p]robably the greatest benefit of comparative librarianship concerns the exchange of ideas which would result from such a study.…”