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By Martin De Saulles
 Over the last 12 months at the University of Brighton we have been
setting up some new postgraduate awards in information management to
complement our existing range of library and information courses. For
the last several years we, like most information professionals, have
been aware that the sector is undergoing significant changes and that
the drivers of change are coming from a number of fronts. In early
2006 we had a close look at the courses we were delivering in the
light of these changes and decided that a new course was needed to
address some of the emerging demands being placed upon library and
information professionals.
In assessing the continuing professional development (CPD) needs of
information professionals, we invited feedback from potential
applicants via the FreePint Bar and the CILIP Gazette. Both of these
generated significant feedback that was hugely valuable. The course
development team that I led was very impressed with the willingness of
people to contribute their views. I am sure it is the same in most
universities, but we were not given a budget for market research and
so relied on the goodwill of interested parties to provide us
information about what professionals in the field want from a
postgraduate CPD course.
Web 2.0 expertise important
One of the key themes that emerged from the feedback was an interest
in how some of the new Web 2.0 or Enterprise 2.0 services could be
used within the context of information management. Anybody who reads
the library and information trade press, attends conferences and
exhibitions, or subscribes to specialist blogs knows that there is
something going on out there beyond the usual hype that accompanies
new technologies.
I am not the first person to say this, but it reminds me of 1995 when
people were starting to become aware of this new 'Internet thing' and
could see the potential for transforming communication and information
distribution. Those of us with spam-filled and overflowing inboxes may
wonder how much progress has been made on the communication side of
things, but the Web has certainly transformed the way most of us
consume and share information.
Some of the feedback I received expressed a desire to better
understand how to make sense of some of the new technologies and
services such as RSS, wikis, blogs and how they might better use them
in their work. I hope that several of the modules we have created for
our new MSc in Information Management will tackle these technology-
related issues. Our aim is to provide a practical course that shows
students how to use new information management technologies
effectively but also to understand them within the context of broader
and more long-term developments in library and information management.
Emphasis on training and distance learning
Respondents also expressed an enthusiasm for a course that would help
them with the job of end-user training. This seems to be an
increasingly important role for information professionals, as patrons
of library and information services are using many information
services themselves but often do not have the expertise to get the
most from them. Being able to draw on the expertise of the University
of Brighton's Centre of Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT) has
been a great help to us in thinking about how to structure a module
that would 'train the trainers'.
A third theme coming out of the responses I received was enthusiasm
for distance learning as a delivery method. This reflects the needs
for information professionals to balance their work, personal and CPD
needs. In the end, we have decided to stick with our blended approach
to course delivery, where students undertake a significant portion of
the work at home and attend the university in short, intensive blocks
lasting three to five consecutive days. We have found this works well
because it allows students to get to know each other and the teaching
staff, and is less intrusive on their work lives. Next year we will be
exploring the use of technology to deliver one or two modules on a
completely remote basis.
I believe the interest in distance learning is part of a broader trend
in education and professional development amongst library and
information professionals. This stems from rapid technological changes
requiring new skills to both use these technologies and understand
their role within information-intensive organisations. Organisations
themselves are facing pressures to adapt to globalisation, increasing
competition and raised expectations from their user base. These
factors place dual pressures on information workers to adapt to
technological and organisational change. Spending time out of the
office or library to attend college becomes increasingly difficult, so
options for home study are particularly attractive.
Ironically, some of the technologies that are forcing information
professionals to update their skills are also those that make distance
learning more practical. Cheap personal computers, pervasive and fast
broadband, and collaborative Web tools such as blogs, wikis, instant
messaging and video conferencing allow a degree of interaction between
students and tutors that would not have been possible even five years
ago.
Human interaction still has its advantages
However, there is a danger for educators in becoming carried away with
technology and forget that teaching and learning is more than sitting
in front of a computer. In my experience, some of the most useful
sessions with students have been where a classroom discussion has
spontaneously developed around a lecture topic. While this is not
impossible to replicate using technology, there is something special
about all the participants physically being in a room together.
The challenge posed by all these changes for established educational
establishments, including my own, are enormous. The move to mass
higher education in the UK, the increasing demands from employers for
students to be taught skills relevant to the workplace and the
emphasis by policy makers on lifelong learning for all citizens may
not always be best served by the traditional approach of lectures and
tutorials taking place within university buildings.
The innovative approach to training librarians in how to use new
technologies by Meredith Farkas and her associates in the US has shown
the potential for people outside the educational system to teach
others. Their '5 Weeks to a Social Library' programme which ran
earlier this year used a range of Web tools to help librarians better
understand how new social media can help with the delivery of library
and information services. Although the online programme was limited
to 40 participants, the teaching materials are all still freely
available on their website <http://www.sociallibraries.com/course/>.
Making such materials freely available for others to use and
redistribute on a non-commercial basis runs counter to the philosophy
of many educational establishments, where educational materials are
kept locked behind firewalls and offered only to fee-paying students.
A notable exception to this is the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (MIT) in the US which has put lecture notes, presentations
and supporting videos for over 1,700 courses on their website for free
public access. That one of the world's leading universities feels
confident enough to make such information freely available shows that
education is more than just reading and listening. It is the
interaction with tutors and fellow students on top of the reading,
listening and thinking that facilitates true learning.
Looking ahead
Coming back to the University of Brighton and our new postgraduate
information management courses, I hope that we have developed some
courses which combine the best elements of distance learning with
classroom interaction and discussion. Following our consultation
process and internal discussions we created two new MSc awards: MSc
Information Management and MSc Information Management (Health), which
both started at the end of September 2007.
Both these courses are aimed at librarians and information
professionals with at least several years' professional experience in
this area. As I write this, our new students are now enrolled and I
look forward to teaching them over the coming months. We have been
able to offer some funding towards tuition fees for new students and
hope to be able to do this again for entry to these courses in
September 2008. Overall, the informal consultation process worked well
and has, I hope, resulted in courses that meet the needs of today's
library and information professionals. A key task for my colleagues
and I will be to continue this dialogue and make sure the courses
remain relevant. I welcome any feedback or questions about our
courses and my contact details are in my biography.
Martin De Saulles, Course Leader, MSc Information Management and MSc
Information Management (Health)
Dr Martin De Saulles is a Senior Lecturer at the University of
Brighton where he teaches and performs research in the areas of
knowledge management, information law and information policy. Prior
to joining the University in 2003, Martin worked in a number of
information-related roles including Information Manager at Mercer
Management Consulting and Senior Analyst at Analysys Consulting. Email
him at <mrd@brighton.ac.uk>.
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