Charting a New Course: The Future of Information Work
Jinfo Blog

By Martin De Saulles

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Over the last 12 months at the University of Brighton we have been setting up some new postgraduate awards in information management to complement our existing range of library and information courses. For the last several years we, like most information professionals, have been aware that the sector is undergoing significant changes and that the drivers of change are coming from a number of fronts. In early 2006 we had a close look at the courses we were delivering in the light of these changes and decided that a new course was needed to address some of the emerging demands being placed upon library and information professionals.

In assessing the continuing professional development (CPD) needs of information professionals, we invited feedback from potential applicants via the FreePint Bar and the CILIP Gazette. Both of these generated significant feedback that was hugely valuable. The course development team that I led was very impressed with the willingness of people to contribute their views. I am sure it is the same in most universities, but we were not given a budget for market research and so relied on the goodwill of interested parties to provide us information about what professionals in the field want from a postgraduate CPD course.

Web 2.0 expertise important

One of the key themes that emerged from the feedback was an interest in how some of the new Web 2.0 or Enterprise 2.0 services could be used within the context of information management. Anybody who reads the library and information trade press, attends conferences and exhibitions, or subscribes to specialist blogs knows that there is something going on out there beyond the usual hype that accompanies new technologies.

I am not the first person to say this, but it reminds me of 1995 when people were starting to become aware of this new 'Internet thing' and could see the potential for transforming communication and information distribution. Those of us with spam-filled and overflowing inboxes may wonder how much progress has been made on the communication side of things, but the Web has certainly transformed the way most of us consume and share information.

Some of the feedback I received expressed a desire to better understand how to make sense of some of the new technologies and services such as RSS, wikis, blogs and how they might better use them in their work. I hope that several of the modules we have created for our new MSc in Information Management will tackle these technology- related issues. Our aim is to provide a practical course that shows students how to use new information management technologies effectively but also to understand them within the context of broader and more long-term developments in library and information management.

Emphasis on training and distance learning

Respondents also expressed an enthusiasm for a course that would help them with the job of end-user training. This seems to be an increasingly important role for information professionals, as patrons of library and information services are using many information services themselves but often do not have the expertise to get the most from them. Being able to draw on the expertise of the University of Brighton's Centre of Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT) has been a great help to us in thinking about how to structure a module that would 'train the trainers'.

A third theme coming out of the responses I received was enthusiasm for distance learning as a delivery method. This reflects the needs for information professionals to balance their work, personal and CPD needs. In the end, we have decided to stick with our blended approach to course delivery, where students undertake a significant portion of the work at home and attend the university in short, intensive blocks lasting three to five consecutive days. We have found this works well because it allows students to get to know each other and the teaching staff, and is less intrusive on their work lives. Next year we will be exploring the use of technology to deliver one or two modules on a completely remote basis.

I believe the interest in distance learning is part of a broader trend in education and professional development amongst library and information professionals. This stems from rapid technological changes requiring new skills to both use these technologies and understand their role within information-intensive organisations. Organisations themselves are facing pressures to adapt to globalisation, increasing competition and raised expectations from their user base. These factors place dual pressures on information workers to adapt to technological and organisational change. Spending time out of the office or library to attend college becomes increasingly difficult, so options for home study are particularly attractive.

Ironically, some of the technologies that are forcing information professionals to update their skills are also those that make distance learning more practical. Cheap personal computers, pervasive and fast broadband, and collaborative Web tools such as blogs, wikis, instant messaging and video conferencing allow a degree of interaction between students and tutors that would not have been possible even five years ago.

Human interaction still has its advantages

However, there is a danger for educators in becoming carried away with technology and forget that teaching and learning is more than sitting in front of a computer. In my experience, some of the most useful sessions with students have been where a classroom discussion has spontaneously developed around a lecture topic. While this is not impossible to replicate using technology, there is something special about all the participants physically being in a room together.

The challenge posed by all these changes for established educational establishments, including my own, are enormous. The move to mass higher education in the UK, the increasing demands from employers for students to be taught skills relevant to the workplace and the emphasis by policy makers on lifelong learning for all citizens may not always be best served by the traditional approach of lectures and tutorials taking place within university buildings.

The innovative approach to training librarians in how to use new technologies by Meredith Farkas and her associates in the US has shown the potential for people outside the educational system to teach others. Their '5 Weeks to a Social Library' programme which ran earlier this year used a range of Web tools to help librarians better understand how new social media can help with the delivery of library and information services. Although the online programme was limited to 40 participants, the teaching materials are all still freely available on their website <http://www.sociallibraries.com/course/>.

Making such materials freely available for others to use and redistribute on a non-commercial basis runs counter to the philosophy of many educational establishments, where educational materials are kept locked behind firewalls and offered only to fee-paying students. A notable exception to this is the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US which has put lecture notes, presentations and supporting videos for over 1,700 courses on their website for free public access. That one of the world's leading universities feels confident enough to make such information freely available shows that education is more than just reading and listening. It is the interaction with tutors and fellow students on top of the reading, listening and thinking that facilitates true learning.

Looking ahead

Coming back to the University of Brighton and our new postgraduate information management courses, I hope that we have developed some courses which combine the best elements of distance learning with classroom interaction and discussion. Following our consultation process and internal discussions we created two new MSc awards: MSc Information Management and MSc Information Management (Health), which both started at the end of September 2007.

Both these courses are aimed at librarians and information professionals with at least several years' professional experience in this area. As I write this, our new students are now enrolled and I look forward to teaching them over the coming months. We have been able to offer some funding towards tuition fees for new students and hope to be able to do this again for entry to these courses in September 2008. Overall, the informal consultation process worked well and has, I hope, resulted in courses that meet the needs of today's library and information professionals. A key task for my colleagues and I will be to continue this dialogue and make sure the courses remain relevant. I welcome any feedback or questions about our courses and my contact details are in my biography.

Related FreePint links:

• "Evolution or revolution: the future of scholarly publishing" By Paul Harwood <http://www.freepint.com/issues/210302.htm#feature>
  
  
• "Becoming a Librarian...where do I start?" from the FreePint Bar <http://www.freepint.com/go/b29548>
  
  
• Information on University of Brighton courses and teaching staff: <http://www.informationmatters.net>
  
  
• "Teach Beyond Your Reach" book review on the FreePint Bookshelf: <http://www.freepint.com/bookshelf/tbyr.htm>
  
  

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