Proceedings of the 4th British‐Nordic Conference on Library and Information Studies, “Continuity, Culture, Competition”, Dublin, 21‐23 March 2001

Susie Andretta (Senior Lecturer in Information Management, London Metropolitan University, London, UK)

Program: electronic library and information systems

ISSN: 0033-0337

Article publication date: 1 December 2003

70

Keywords

Citation

Andretta, S. (2003), "Proceedings of the 4th British‐Nordic Conference on Library and Information Studies, “Continuity, Culture, Competition”, Dublin, 21‐23 March 2001", Program: electronic library and information systems, Vol. 37 No. 4, pp. 275-275. https://doi.org/10.1108/00330330310500757

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2003, MCB UP Limited


The British‐Nordic Conference of 2001 covered the broad topics of “Continuity, Culture, Competition” via five major themes viewed from the perspective of Scandinavian and British information communities:

  1. 1.

    education and research for heritage information management;

  2. 2.

    networks‐partnerships‐consortia‐mergers;

  3. 3.

    learning and empowerment;

  4. 4.

    taxonomies and typologies; and

  5. 5.

    the economics of information.

This collection of papers is relevant primarily to information professionals involved in the provision of library and information studies (LIS) since it examines the future direction of LIS curriculum development in the light of the impact of the “socioeconomic context of information research management in 2005” (Enser, p. 15). Middleton's paper, for example, identifies a comprehensive list of skills associated with the roles played by information professionals, while the importance of a strong relationship between research and education in the information management/science disciplines is stressed by Watson and Banwell through the example of Northumbria University, where the development of a research profile has led to value‐added provision. Other themes covered include a call for further collaboration between European LIS institutions; the problems associated with marketing the role of the librarian in the private sector; the unclear relationship between information management (IM) and knowledge management (KM); and the impact of distance learning and lifelong learning on the curriculum and on LIS students.

What is missing in these proceedings is a clear link between the original themes and the issues represented in the conference's title. The themes identified by the conference's committee provide the environment in which the challenges generated by the principles of continuity, culture and competition operate. Enser's opening speech sets the agenda for this convergence by positioning Information Science within a social science perspective dealing primarily with “the principles and practice of knowledge transformation in society” (p. 15). Professional continuity is challenged here by the emergence of knowledge workers and the increased pressure on information professionals for value‐added contributions. These issues resonate with the original conference themes of “education and research” and of “learning and empowerment”. Under “culture” Enser explores the role of “memory organisations – the museums, galleries, archives and libraries” (p. 17) and highlights the need for a shared vision in support of policies of social inclusion and lifelong learning. These cultural challenges require continuous and increased collaboration at both national and international levels and the paper by Huotari and Valtonen contextualises such a co‐operation within the management of heritage information. Lastly, the principle of competition urges the adoption of a more proactive value‐added service associated with the “economics of information” theme.

Curiously there appears to be no Web presence for this conference and this omission limits the coverage afforded by these proceedings. In addition, the identity of the institutions organising such an event is also unclear and readers outside of the LIS domain would not know that the conference was a joint effort between British Association for Information and Library Education and Research (BAILER) and the University College of Borås in Sweden.

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