What an Environmental Scan and Content Analysis tells us about the Current and Future Direction of Library and Information Studies Education (Invited Presentation)

This paper presents the result of an environmental scan/content analysis study that examines the current and future state of library and information studies (LIS) education in the United States. The paper discusses content and delivery of curricula, demographics of students and faculty, technology trends, and issues of higher education as they impact LIS educational programs, including accreditation. Three recognized patterns provide the framework for the analysis. The first pattern is that of user self-service and how users desire to parse out information as it is needed, when it is needed. The second pattern is that of disaggregating or distilling of information where users rely on the smallest publishable unit of information. The third pattern is that of collaboration that happens simply because it is more effective to do things when people connect, when technologies connect, and when economies connect.