In search of giants: Fostering leadership education in LIS

Abstract

It is generally acknowledged that university graduates in library and information science are generally expected to hold management positions at some point in their career. It is also understood that a key role managers play is that of leader and in particular, visionary. But current LIS programs in the Asia Pacific region tend to place little emphasis on leadership education. And the field in general suffers a handicap in this regard, due both to the negative stereotypes, real and perceived, that surround the profession. Librarians are perceived to be timid, bookish and retiring. Recently of course, librarianship has evolved to encompass a wide range of potential occupational roles under the all-encompassing label information professional. Nevertheless, information professionals still find themselves obscured by other more ap-parently alluring domains (computer science, life science, business administration). In this paper, we argue that a powerful means to inspire a visionary approach in LIS students, which will create capabilities for successful leadership and expose students to a more empowering view of the profession, is to consciously develop role models from the past and use them as teaching exemplars. We set ourselves the task of arguing the potential and value of infusing biographies of these figures into the curriculum. However, before moving to those tasks, we present some evidence to support our views as to the validity of our approach.