News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                            Presenter Contacts:

Linda C. Smith

Professor & Associate Dean

Graduate School of Library and Information Science

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

lcsmith@uiuc.edu

Bruce R. Kingma

Professor and Associate Dean

School of Information Studies

Syracuse University

brkingma@syr.edu

November 2006

WISE Members Present on Long Term Outcomes of Web-Based LIS Distance Learning Programs

Austin, TX – Bruce R. Kingma, Professor and Associate Dean (Syracuse University School of Information Studies), and Linda C. Smith, Professor and Associate Dean (Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), presented “Long-term outcomes of web-based distance learning programs in LIS”  with co-presenters Michelle M. Kazmer (Florida State) and June Lester (Oklahoma), on Wednesday 11/8/06 at 1:30 pm at the 2006 ASIS&T annual meeting. The year’s meeting, Information Realities, Shaping the Digital Future for All,  took place November 3-8 at the Hilton Austin in Austin, Texas.

Abstract

Beginning in 1996 and continuing today, an increasing number of students have taken advantage of online web-based distance learning programs to earn a master's degree in library and information science (LIS). To date, there has not been research to determine whether graduates of online programs have successful careers (are they finding jobs, staying in the field, are their careers advancing?) or if they are contributing to the LIS profession by active membership in professional organizations, publishing articles in professional journals, or Web-based professional communication (e.g., via listservs, online communities, blogs, and/or wikis). If graduates of online programs are not having careers as successful as those of graduates of on-campus programs, and/or if graduates of online programs are not contributing to the LIS profession as actively as graduates of on-campus programs, then schools of LIS need to consider how to adjust their online education programs to improve the success of their graduates and thereby help maintain the health of the LIS profession.

See http://www.asis.org/Conferences/AM06/index.html  for more information about the 2006 ASIS&T Meeting