Library and information science education for Yugoslavia: an external view of needs and problems

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Saunders, Wilfred L.^{; 1}

Affiliations: 12 Whiteley Wood Road, Sheffield S11 7FE, UK. (Formally: Department of Information Studies, University of Sheffield)

Note: [1] Amended version of a paper presented at the International Conference on Technology and Education in Library and Information Science, Dubrovnik, May 1984, the Proceedings of which have been edited by Ivan Mihel and Neva Tudor-Šilović and published in Informatologia Yugoslavica Separat Speciale 6 (1984) 41–45.

Abstract: If library and information services are to make the maximum contribution to national development a strong and adequate cadre of professionally educated staff of high calibre is essential. They set, maintain and safeguard standards of service and provision and they create a sense of professional identity. In Yugoslavia they can make a special contribution in helping bring about the coordination of the library and information resources of the nation and the republics into an integrated, mutually supportive whole. Manpower planning is essential if Yugoslavia's present very small number of professionally qualified library/information personnel is to be rapidly increased. The major problems involved in creating adequate and appropriate professional education provision for Yugoslavia are considered. These include the choice between undergraduate and postgraduate provision; the number and location of the programmes to be offered; the leadership and coordination of postgraduate programmes which must draw staff from different faculties and departments; the part-time character of postgraduate courses; the lack of suitably qualified teaching staff; the consequent need for overseas training and interim use of expatriates; the language of instruction; the availability of professional literature; the need to establish academic respectability and to engage in research; course content. [French, German, and Spanish translations of this abstract can be found at the end of this issue.]

DOI: 10.3233/EFI-1985-3402

Journal: Education for Information, vol. 3, no. 4, pp. 275-282, 1985