Education for information management: restructuring and reform

Abstract

As educational institutions respond to the challenge of educational and social change, information management continues to provide a vehicle for adaptation, even survival. This article describes recent developments at the Queen's University of Belfast, where, as a consequence of institutional and other changes, the former Department of Information Studies has undergone something of a transformation both in terms of its role and its operational structures. The result has been the creation of a new entity, the School of Finance and Information. Made up of the Departments of Accounting, Information Studies and Business Administration, the school operates as an integrated, interdisciplinary whole, with divisions which specialize in accounting and finance, and information management, respectively. The main focus of the paper is on the information management side of the school: on its structures, programmes and mission. As a case study in structural and educational change it should be of interest to the information education community in general and, specifically, to colleagues faced with uncertainty in a time of shifting markets and and changing institutional priorities.