Libraries at University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Abstract
Purpose – Information schools (iSchools) emerged because of the fast technological developments and the urgent need of information in the contemporary society. Despite many advantages, the iSchool movement confronted several challenges. The current study is aimed to address one of the key challenges, where did librarianship go in the teaching curricula of iSchools.
Design/methodology/approach – This research adopted a desktop-based survey of the North American and the European iSchools websites. Also, a comprehensive literature was reviewed to get insight on the phenomenon under discussion.
Findings – Literature based findings disclosed that iSchool movement is evolving, 19 members in 2005 and currently it is made up of 119 members representing five continents envisioned to improve the relationships between information, people and technology, the core philosophy of the movement. The findings, based on desktop survey of the iSchools websites, clearly demonstrated that the focus of the iSchools intended to offer the academic programmes focusing technology-based curricula related to interdisciplinary fields of information by marginalizing librarianship which may create hurdles to progress the information field with true spirit. This trend is quite visible in the North American iSchools compared to the European iSchools.
Originality/value –
Specifically, this research would provide insights to the iSchools curriculum developers and the information related disciplines in general.