Educating Information Professionals for the Next Century - The Asia - Pacific RIM Perspective

It is, indeed, an honor for me to be asked to introduce this program exchanging views relating to library and information service education, particularly as it relates to Southeast Asia. Some of you may be wondering what my qualifications for doing this are. I have lived and worked in Thailand for much of the time in the past ten years. I have had the privilege of lecturing in library and information science programs all over the Asia Pacific region, including Australia, China, Korea, New Guinea, and New Zealand. Lately, I have served as the outside examiner for the University of Technology, MARA in Malaysia and have recently had a major grant funded to work with colleagues in Vietnam in improving library and information science education. Other lecturing/consulting assignments for me have included Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Singapore. I have also worked with professionals in Cambodia and Laos. One of my most recent assignments was at the Asian Institute of Technology in Bangkok from 1994 through 1997 and again in the Fall of 1998, when I not only directed the library and information centers but also held a professorship in the School of Advanced Technologies, where I was instrumental in introducing both master and PhD programs in information management. In April and May, I was a Fulbright Senior Scholar at KKU in Thailand, helping to develop the first PhD program in Information Studies in the country. With that background in mind, and with apologies to all library and information studies educators and their institutions to which I do injustice by generalizing, let me begin. As I talk, I remind myself and you that to cross a national frontier is to move from one context to another—to a different economy, to a different political system, to a different educational system, to a different technological infrastructure, and, in particular, to a different culture. I am aware of the context as we begin to explore issues and trends that are now facing the profession. Even though much of the basic theory that is embedded in my remarks is international, its interpretation may not be. I have no intention of forcing a Western view, but I do believe some, if not all, of the points I will make can be discussed on an applicable scale. A well-known futurist reminds us that society is now in a “time of parenthesis,” almost as if bracketed off from both the known past and the unknown future. This time of parenthesis is a time of change and questioning for us because society is now dealing more with conceptual space connected by electronics rather than physical space connected, in our profession’s terms, by “the library.” If librarianship and archival studies are to remain relevant elements in the total information system chain, forming a link through which society is held together and a culture is created and maintained, then our approach to educating future generations requires continuous analysis. If we don’t take deliberate, calculated steps to remain relevant, our programs may, indeed, become endangered. One article I read recently points out that Library and Information Science Education has been compared to the giant panda—it is struggling for survival against business and technology studies, just as the giant panda is struggling for survival in nature. The reason the panda is nearly extinct, they argue, is that the panda never adapted to any diet other than bamboo, which is disappearing from the ecological world system. The information world is moving so rapidly that users of information will not depend upon a profession that is, metaphorically, still eating bamboo. A nation’s political, economic, social, and technological development depends upon access to information that can be converted into knowledge and understanding by information seekers and users at all levels. The implementation of a nation’s information policy requires the provision of electronic services, use of information technology, and access to Internet resources, and has great significance for library and information services and particularly for information services educators. That is, of course, because an information infrastructure enabling that process to occur requires knowledgeable educators who are responsible for preparing the new generation of information professionals who must develop those services and systems needed to successfully accomplish the goal of a knowledge society. New information technologies are now beginning to offer an opportunity for the emerging and fast-developing countries of Southeast Asia to use as a force in changing the way people communicate, learn, find, and use information. There is beginning to grow awareness in this region among educators, politicians, and the private sector that information is key to this development. It is a dramatic change in attitude. Consequently, it is being recognized that effective management of information requires professionals who understand information—how it is created, organized, sought, and used by people in both their work lives and their personal lives—and that this requires a core of qualified information professionals. In order to accomplish this at a national level, it is important to develop standards against which each program can be measured. Not until fairly recently has education for librarianship and information work in Southeast Asia focused upon recordable information knowledge and the services and technologies to facilitate that media’s management and use. Even now, in some of these countries, access to the Internet is limited or nonexistent. Now, international information policies and global economic and technological development on the one hand and societal demands on the other require professionals who know why, who, what, where, and how to access information in all of its formats. Professionals are required who can think conceptually and reason logically, using both that knowledge and advanced technologies to deliver information services needed by society. Programs of library science, information studies, or whatever the term might be of a specific program or country in the region are now scrambling to enhance curricula, recruit qualified faculty, change degree designations, and attract a wider pool of potential information professionals. Educators here, just as in other areas of the world, have recognized their responsibility to act as change agents, to initiate curricula and design programs to meet future needs of information professionals, and to build a commitment to change that is constant. We all know that an educated, informed teaching staff is the most important single element in a program since the faculty and its expertise is the curriculum. Educators are responsible not only for the transmission of knowledge but also for the creation of knowledge. The quality of a program is reflected in the consulting, writing, speaking, research, and other professional activities undertaken by a highly educated faculty. As we enter the 21st century, there is no greater evidence of change than is apparent here in Southeast Asia. These societies have rapidly developed three main characteristics: first, information is now being used as an economic resource; secondly, there is a greater use of information among A real contribution to the emerging information societies throughout the region. 2. There currently is a range of education and training institutions, many of which are poorly equipped, offering programs that appear to conform, in the main, to a core curriculum that was designed twenty or thirty years ago when conditions were different. Requirements for Librarians Information is the key: 1. The nature of information 2. How it is used and managed 3. Systems, mechanisms, institutions, and tools to facilitate that use 4. All those factors and facets placed in the larger social, economic, political, and technological context of society are necessary to include. There are four complementary groups of information professionals: 1. Those components can be placed into the context of required courses that address: • Knowledge: Areas relating to philosophy, such as the foundation of information in society, environmental and contextual knowledge, and management knowledge. • Skills: Those components relating to communications, interpersonal skills, and technological skills, such as programming, online searching, and database management. • Tools: Those units relating to both quantitative and analytical measures (systems analysis, research methods, descriptive statistics, logic) and bibliographical or organizational ones (bibliographic control, abstracting and indexing, data structure, and collection development). 2. Creators – Those who can develop and produce information products and services. They must understand technology and exploit its potential. They must make information systems work, and to make them work in the easiest possible way. Switching from one information system to another must be made easy by their work. 3. Collectors – Those who can build collections of information for users to consult. This is a traditional role of librarians, archivists, and records managers. They will try to continue to anticipate future use needs and try to satisfy current needs of users, but also must try to forecast the needs that will develop in the future and collect the materials needed to satisfy that future demand. Most importantly, they must understand the needs of users. They must be aware of the aim and objectives of the organization they serve. These professionals need to be aware of the full range of materials and aware that needs change over time; therefore, revision and maintenance are important. 4. Communicators – Information comes best when wrapped in a person, and those who claim that all information needs will be met through the networks misunderstand the nature of information needs and information-seeking behavior. As information use becomes more sophisticated, users will need recourse to information specialists who can help find answers by tailoring the information to particular circumstances. This requires a high degree of interpersonal skills and must be adaptable to the needs of those with whom they communicate. Analyzing requirements, distinguishing between actual and expressed needs. They, of course, must retrieve the required information quickly and efficiently. Some will need a high level of subject knowledge. 5. Consolidators – These professionals make sense of the world for managers and act as filters and researchers, working as part of management teams. Few managers have enough time to spend gathering information and therefore depend on others to make sense of the information so that decisions can be made. This requires skills in collecting information, searching databases, and other secondary sources. Knowledge management begins to play an important role here. This calls for a high skill in analysis and synthesis of information, and just as importantly, interpreting the information and presenting it both verbally and in writing as the need arises. The Future How can one accurately predict the future? I have tried to identify some of the issues and trends that affect the changing role of educating information professionals. Our current challenge is exacerbated by the simultaneous change in both technology and society, demonstrated through the changes in computing and telecommunication, and the increasing strategic importance of information and knowledge. We are being challenged to maintain the best of our profession, particularly the service attitude, while we create an ecological convergence between the traditional profession of librarianship and other information professions and their educational programs. Even now, with so much information available, the concept of “access” is giving way to “selectivity” in our focus, with the realities of legal, physical, affordable, and organized access challenging us constantly. The three areas of greatest movement in education and employment of future information professionals are technology, knowledge management, and a focus from the client-centered perspective.