Purpose: The purpose of this study was to bring library practitioners and researchers together to develop two co-designed tools for helping library practitioners gain a more holistic understanding of families in underserved groups and identify their values with the goal of developing more relevant learning experiences for them. The co-designed…

To understand the effect of library science coursework on student perceptions of issues related to intellectual freedom, researchers surveyed students at the start and end of their enrollment in a Master of Library Science program. When the results were compared, the percentage of graduating students who indicated that they might rethink…

This article builds on a 2018 study and reports on a survey conducted in 2022 to examine the value of advanced subject degrees in addition to the Master of Library Science for academic librarians. This study explores the impact of advanced subject degrees on scholarly contributions, compensation, teaching roles, and tenure status in academic…

We may not always like the speed of today's world, but we still need to prepare students for working in a fast-paced environment. In the library and information science (LIS) professions today, deadlines are becoming ever shorter, yet research into the effects of time pressure in LIS is scarce. This pilot project aims to develop and test a…

This article is an exploratory study of graduate-level instruction on research designs and methods for pre-service school librarians (PSSLs). Using a focus group of one cohort of PSSLs, we examine students' perceptions of understanding research methods, course content and delivery, and self-reported application of new knowledge from a sequence of…

Reflective practice is increasingly viewed in the LIS professions as a valuable means of improving workplace performance and encouraging creative problem-solving, while also empowering individual practitioners with a greater sense of professional identity, confidence and self-efficacy. However, the question of how to inculcate critical engagement…

This paper discusses the planning and implementation of Open Badges in library and information science education at Tallinn University in order to foster and personalise student learning. The first part of the paper gives an overview of the concept and nature of Open Badges through a review of literature, the second describes the use of Open…

Online searching is a skill that all professional programs educating librarians consider an essential part of their curricula. However, investigations of online searching behavior have centered almost exclusively on end users, and there have been no recent formal studies that explore the online searching behaviors of MLIS students. In this study,…

In the face of a changing landscape of youth services, LIS education can push the field of librarianship forward by adopting research-based frameworks that are directly applicable to the profession. We combined the Connected Learning framework with Radical Change theory and Outcome-Based Planning and Evaluation (OBPE) to establish the structure…

The authors examined abstracts written by graduate students for their research proposals as a requirement for a course in research methods in a distance learning MLIS program. The students learned under three instructional conditions that involved varying levels of access to worked examples created from abstracts representing research in the LIS…

This research highlights the status of the information technology (IT) skills and competencies being taught at LIS schools in the United States. Results list specific IT topics that the library schools are teaching and the ones that are missing from the curriculum. Based on a literature review these skills are then juxtaposed with the expectations…

There is a lack of information in the literature about the sources used for research by modern Master of Library and Information Science students in the United States, and so the objective of this project is to understand the use of periodical articles by these students. Specifically: do articles play a major role in student research, how current…

This study explores how factors relating to fully online Master of Library and Information Studies (MLIS) students' connectedness with peers and faculty may impact their professional identity development as library and information studies professionals. Participants include students enrolled in a fully online MLIS degree program in the…

Positive aspects and drawbacks of extending master of library science programs to two years are discussed by the library school deans at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the University of South Carolina. Curriculum, specialization, internship programs, apprenticeships in teaching and research, and student and faculty viewpoints are…

Describes the University of Illinois' independent study approach for presenting fundamental concepts of librarianship to entering master's program students. The advantages and disadvantages of this approach are contrasted as it evolved from four formal courses and an intermediate team-taught approach. (RAA)