| CODE | LIA2326 | ||||||||||||
| TITLE | The Information Professions, Sectors and Contexts | ||||||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 02 - Years 2, 3 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 5 | ||||||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | ||||||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Library Information and Archive Sciences | ||||||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | The emerging information environment and economy is based upon information and its collection, generation, organization, management, storage, dissemination, use, and diverse kinds of (economic, financial, cultural, social, professional, personal, etc.) value. The information professions provide informed knowledge, analysis, and insight for organizations aiming to leverage and maximize their information assets and potentials. This study-unit describes and explains the importance and implications of these professions in, and relevance for, diverse sectors and contexts. It provides an overview of the information professions, such as knowledge, information, and records management, librarianship in its rich diversity (national, academic, public, special, digital, etc.), archival work, and information policy analysis (access, freedom, ethics, privacy, security, etc.). It describes and explains approaches to diverse kind of information-related work to help prepare students for these professions in, and relevance for, the emerging information environment and economy Information professional careers, for example, include records, information, and/or knowledge managers, information policy researchers and consultants, data specialists, librarians, archivists, preservationists, and curators. Topics to be covered in the study-unit include: - Overview of the information professions including their commonalities and distinctions; - Information values and ethics; - Information policy (access, freedom, privacy, security, transparency, open data, secrecy); - Information and civic rights and legal and business obligations; - Traditional information work: the role of librarianship (public, academic, private, special); - Global reach and impact of information work; - Current and future trends and challenges (business, public/community, technological, financial, spatial). Study-unit Aims: - Introduce the diverse information professions and their importance to the emerging information environment and economy; -Help prepare students to determine, create, and navigate their information careers. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Compare and contrast the information professions; - Describe the unique features, responsibilities, and expectations of different information professions in diverse information environments; - Interpret and appraise the major policies, standards, ethics, and values of concern to specific and all information professions; - Explain and defend the centrality of the information professions for the Information Science discipline and the information economy. 2. Skills By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Recognize and Discern between the diverse information professions and their specific competencies, expectations, and responsibilities; - Identify connections and build relationships between different information professions and contexts; - Develop informed policies and procedures for different information work in diverse information environments; - Apply and analyze professional ethics and values of the information field to practice and research activities; - Identify challenges, opportunities, and trends in and for various information professions; - Select appropriate approaches to conducting information-related work in different types of sectors and contexts. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Text: - Dority, G. Kim. (2016). Rethinking Information Work: A Career Guide for Librarians and Other Information Professionals. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited. - Hirsh, Sandra (Ed.). (2015/2018). Information Services Today: An Introduction. New York: Rowman & Littlefield. Supplementary Readings: - Bawden, David and Lyn Robinson (2012). Introduction to Information Science. London: Facet Publishing. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture | ||||||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Marc Kosciejew |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2024/5. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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