The train now leaving.... the challenges of educating information professionals for the twenty first century

Abstract

Issues of professional education in the information area have been much debated over the past several decades. However, increasingly the knowledge base and skills required to equip students to take advantage of the ever-increasing range of employment opportunities, are not always found in traditional ‘library schools’. A major challenge for emerging information departments, it is suggested, is to focus upon delivering curricula that are attractive both to students and their prospective employers. Failure to respond to this challenge will see other academic disciplines, particularly those based in business schools, moving to exploit the burgeoning market for information and knowledge practitioners.