Abstract |
The Library and Information Science Education Guidelines play an important role in outlining the criteria for evaluating higher education in Taiwan. This study focuses on the development of those Guidelines. Having first assessed the relevant research in this area, we collected library and information science education standards and guidelines currently used in the U.K. and the U.S.A. The content analysis method was then used to draft the Preliminary Guidelines for Library and Information Science Educational Programs in Taiwan. Four focus group interviews were conducted to obtain a consensus on the key elements and content of the Guidelines. Participants of these interviews came from four target groups of Guidelines, namely, teachers in library and information science departments, directors of library and information science departments, librarians, and graduate students from library and information science graduate institutes. The final Guidelines covered seven categories: the definition and scope of the discipline of library and information science, the task and objectives of the discipline, curriculum, faculty, students, administration, teaching resources and facilities. Under the seven categories were 27 items and 40 indexes. Approved by the 2008 Annual Conference of the Chinese Association of Library and Information Science Education, these Guidelines are applicable to universities, graduate institutes, degree programs, and continuing education departments in Taiwan.
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