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This investigation aims to highlight the need for the information professions globally to value diverse knowledge paradigms in a world where people from diverse cultures and backgrounds interact with information on a daily basis. We provide examples from the Library and Information Science (LIS) profession in New Zealand which has been shaped by socially and culturally inclusive education and practices which take into account diverse ways of knowing and understanding the world and information.

An investigation into socially and culturally inclusive LIS education initiatives worldwide contextualizes a discussion of current LIS curricula in New Zealand and their delivery. The achievements and challenges in LIS education, the library profession, and library service are considered alongside the rich and varied nature of New Zealand society and the provision and accessibility of library services.

LIS education is at the start of this process, and New Zealand education providers promote a range of socially and culturally inclusive practices within their programs resulting in LIS graduates who are equipped to make ongoing contributions to an inclusive society through their professional work. We conclude that these three inseparable components of LIS in New Zealand result in social and cultural inclusion, but can always be further enhanced.

This chapter draws attention to the absence of consideration for non-Western knowledge paradigms in LIS curricula worldwide, and brings together diverse examples, mandating for library services and a library profession that reflect the rich social and cultural makeup of the communities we serve. We conclude that three inseparable components of LIS in New Zealand result in social and cultural inclusion, and there is always opportunity for further enhancement.

Taking as its starting point the view that information literacy (IL) and information literacy education (ILE) are essential for national, social and personal development in countries of the less developed world, this chapter looks at how context informs our understanding of the nature and process of IL and ILE in developing countries of the Asian region, with particular attention to Cambodia and Laos. The principal focus is on definitional issues related to cultural contexts. From the literature and from personal experience as IL/ILE trainers in SE Asia, we maintain that extant definitions and understanding of IL are principally North American in origin and focus, or largely based on the North American perception of IL and ILE. It was not until the mid-years of the first decade of this century that we saw formal recognition that IL competencies are being applied within cultural and social contexts, and that cultural factors are affecting information literacy. Our chapter contributes ‘on-the-ground’ support for this understanding. During the course of a series of IL/ILE workshops in Cambodia and Laos, a series of ad hoc focus groups was utilised to test the contextual effects on understandings of information literacy; contextualised definitions, each specific to and slightly different for individual countries, were developed. What emerged from the focus group discussions about IL was a series of definitional nuances highlighting these key points: (1) information literacy in definition and practice must be contextually grounded; (2) knowledge creation as a product of information literacy is both knowledge based and problem focused; (3) the contexts of a society must be understood quite specifically; and may be unique to each society; and (4) information literacy involves a continuum that comes from and at the same time enables new learning related to the contextual aspects of information. Given these points, we confirm that traditional definitions of IL are not particularly robust in the context of less developed Asian countries. Further, we conclude that local understanding of IL results in definitions aligned with the realities of specific societies. This in our view leads to more robust, contextualised information literacy education.

Library and information science (LIS) is a global academic, intellectual and industrial field with a large international reach. From a human perspective, LIS includes library and information professionals, the information industry people, students, academics and researchers. The field has a strong history of teaching, education and research development, standards, networks and distribution worldwide. Growth and development in the field have taken in all parts of the world. In this monograph we focus on the current trends in teaching, education and research in the Asia-Oceania region. This vast region of the world covers Asia, which is from Korea and Japan in the north to India in the west and Indonesia in the south, and Oceania (Australia New Zealand and neighbouring islands such as Fiji, Papua New Guinea, etc). In this book we have tried to cover as much of the Asia-Oceania region as we could within the chapters presented, but not every country or aspect of LIS in the region has been represented.

Preedip Balaji B holds a masters degree in library and information science from Bishop Heber College, Bharathidasan University, Trichy in 2007. He worked as information professional in different positions at Indian School of Business and IKP Knowledge Park, Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh, South India. Having received his Junior Research Fellow award in 2009 from the University Grants Commission, New Delhi, currently, he is pursuing doctoral studies at Documentation Research and Training Centre, Indian Statistical Institute, Bangalore. His research interests are in natural language processing, faceted analysis and classification. He has to his credit 10 national and international publications, published in journals, workshop manual and conference proceedings.