This paper reviews a paradigm shift in library science education in the 1950s and advocates another change in the future. This potential change is a response to the advances of information technologies and will be reflected in the curricula of LIS programs. According to the author, such paradigm shifts should happen at different levels, i.e., at the levels of undergraduate degrees, the Masterâ s degree, the PhD, and continuing professional education.

The author began working by asking a question: how well are library schools preparing students for future participation in the library profession? She thought that one year is not long enough for students to gain what they need to become a library and information science professional. She suggested library schools to undertake a major restructuring of their programs and recommended a two-year M.L.S. program.

This article summarizes the differences between teaching adults and teaching children. It evaluates the concept of andragogy â a term that describes the teaching of children â in order to conclude the major characteristics of adult learning. It also makes some suggestions for the development of curricula of graduate programs.

A study of the subject interests of LIS students in Singapore was carried out via a questionnaire survey of students and graduates of the master of science (MSc) information studies program at the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, as well as survey of applications to the program. Cluster analysis was performed on the questionnaire data. The respondents were clustered based on the elective subjects that they selected in the questionnaires. For both sets of data, two distinct clusters were found - a library-oriented cluster and an information technology (IT)/information management-oriented cluster. In each cluster, further sub-clusters were found that correspond to known specializations in the field. An analysis of the relationship between the clusters and the areas of specialization selected by respondents indicated some ways of improving the areas of specialization defined in the MSc program. The cluster analyses were found to yield useful results and provided a better understanding of the students' interests and how the interests were structured.

Lois Upham is the Editor of this column: The Standards Connection and the Asociation for Library and Information Science Education representative to the National Information Standards Organization (NISO). This column is based on the October 1995 issue of Information Standards Quarterly, which was received in January 1996; Upham reviews articles from this issue and summarizes the standards work of NISO for the past year. She also notes that the Association for Library and Information Science Education was withdrawing from subsequent NISO membership.

This article points out the importance of discussions about distance-learning quality, formats, and appropriate usage. It addresses some elementary issues, trying to bring up questions and to answer them. Particularly, this article talks how modern technologies play important roles in the design of distance education.

This survey addressed the experience of receiving tenure through the personal narratives of Directors of Library and Information Science Schools in the USA. Fifty-five respondents were asked to rank the emphasis of the variables operating in tenure based on their experience. Participants agreed that the granting of autonomy via tenure was an opportunity to exercise academic freedom. With tenure came the responsibility to contribute as a citizen of both the institutional and disciplinary communities of the profession. The most prominent factor in determining tenure and promotion decisions for LIS faculty is demonstration of research productivity through peer reviewed publications: articles, books and conference proceedings. Teaching and service are also important components of academic life. It was found that collaboration underpinned collegiality and created an environment conducive to research. In turn, the stability and collegiality of a tenured position made the institution work as a teaching and learning environment.

This article presents the background of Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University, its history, and its major study areas. It goes into some detail about the School of Liberal Arts before concentrating on the Information Science Programs offered by that school. The objectives, qualifications of applicants, and the details of the different Information Science Programs are presented at length. The article then goes on to give a detailed outline of the distance-teaching system as used by STOU. It concludes with a statement as to the unique value of the Information Science Programs offered by STOU.

This article emphasizes (1) librarianship today is a technology-dependent discipline that is driven by technological changes, and (2) libraries will need to adopt a much more business-like model and develop management skills. The author thought the ideas about libraries could be applied to library schools. Accordingly, suggestions were made for library schools: (1) they must change redically, and (2) a commitment to reinvigorated continuing education may represent a good step for them to redefine what it does. Some examples were used to illustrated the ideas.

Although survey data disclose that traditional content and delivery continue to be stressed, educators still ponder the fact that the new combinations of knowledge, attitudes, and skills in the workplace may require something more of library and information science (LIS) educators. A de-emphasis on traditional content has resulted. Professional education and practice call for multiplicity, academic self-sufficiency, and adjustment to local needs and aspirations. The problem surfaces when students are so exceedingly diverse as to resist common boundary. There is a need for these types of problems to be discussed in light of curriculum changes and for a common boundary in instruction to be defined. Analytical studies to articulate the unarticulated part of the information paradigm may help to conceptualize the information science substance more clearly.