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In the United States, the occupation of law librarianship has existed longer than the American Library Association, and law librarians have their own professional organization that is now more than 100 years old. Throughout this history, however, the related issues of degree requirements and education standards for law librarians have been repeatedly discussed, but never resolved. While some of this inertia may arise from each organization hoping that the other would settle the issue, the largest challenges appear to stem from a lack of communication between law librarians and other parts of the field and a near-complete neglect of the education of law librarians--along with law libraries as an entity--in overall library pedagogical and research discourse. This article explores the roots of the long-running concerns about the educational preparation of and the professional standards for law librarians in the United States and offers ways in which library and information science educators can contribute to addressing these concerns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As technology continues to advance at a rapid rate, it is increasingly important to consider how information policies are formulated and the impact that they have on both the public's access to information and the roles of information professionals. As such, current and future information professionals must be adequately prepared through education to work with information policies and their ramifications. The breadth of information policy, as it acts as a meta-policy for other policy areas, and the depth of specific information policies that arise from communication, economic, and political issues, inform this discussion of the challenges and opportunities involved with teaching information policy to library and information science students, as well as to other audiences. Drawing from both past research efforts and extensive teaching experience, this article introduces a conceptual understanding of information policy; uses examples of how the library and information studies community has responded to information policies in the past to further this understanding; and finally, provides a discussion of different ways in which to teach this complicated, but critical topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While LIS continues to struggle with representation of populations traditionally considered as core to diversity, socio-economic and technological changes have significantly increased the range of populations that are disadvantaged, underrepresented, and excluded in terms of information. Drawing from studies of diversity in LIS education and professions, as well as national demographic data, this article: (1) examines understandings of diversity within the field; (2) analyzes the implications of diversity in education, recruiting, and scholarship; and (3) explores models for inclusive diversity education. This paper argues that the field needs to embrace a broader, more inclusive understanding of diversity to remain culturally relevant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the iSchool movement has begun to bring together education and research from library and information science and other related disciplines, there is a need to evaluate the best ways to prepare doctoral students to succeed in this interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary environment. In May 2009, the University of Maryland hosted the first Workshop on the Future of iSchool Doctoral Education in order to foster discourse and collaboration. This article reports on the objectives and approaches of the Workshop, the key topic areas and themes explored, and the potential strengths of and challenges for School doctoral education based on the Workshop discussions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the field of information studies has matured into a broad interdisciplinary and multi-disciplinary field of study, the expectations for and range of students seeking doctoral education have evolved significantly. The majority of information studies pedagogical literature, however, continues to focus on the master's level. Building on efforts of the College of Information Studies at the University of Maryland to develop a new doctoral program, this paper presents a modular approach to doctoral education. We argue for the value of designing doctoral education models that embrace the unique interdisciplinary and multi-disciplinary nature of information studies, highlighting a combination of conceptual lenses and content modules as a way to conceive new approaches to doctoral education that foster students' ability to conduct research in their areas of interest while simultaneously learning about the array of topics that can be explored in information studies. While the Maryland experience is presented as a case study, the potential relevance of this approach to doctoral education in other information studies programs is discussed in detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The provision of e-government in public libraries has created significant new responsibilities and expectations for libraries. Drawing from a range of data collection sources, this article explores the efforts in and issues raised by public libraries providing e-government education to patrons. To date, this area lacks sufficient attention, yet e-government education requires librarians to help patrons navigate major life issues and to have knowledge about information, technology, and government structure. As a result, e-government education is an important new service role of public libraries. This article examines the efforts of and issues faced by public libraries, as well as professional, educational, and research endeavors that could help libraries better meet this important new service role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The provision of e-government access, services, and training is an area of rapidly growing significance within the profession of public librarianship, yet education in library and information science (LIS) has so far paid scant attention to preparing future public librarians to fulfill the e-government expectations of individual patrons, communities, and government agencies. A significant portion of the United States population relies on the access provided by and trusts the assistance available in public libraries to use e-government Web sites. Many federal, state, and local government agencies now direct citizens to the nearest public library for access and help in filing taxes, welfare requests, immigration documents, and numerous other essential government functions. E-government is a very significant area of service for public libraries that will continue to grow in importance; as such, LIS programs must begin to put more emphasis on e-government in their educational programs and research projects. This article explores the intersections of public libraries and e-government, the educational opportunities and challenges raised for US education, an example program that has been developed in this area, and the implications for LIS research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]