Abstract
M.Inf.
The information society is placing new demands on the LIS profession
which could soon be facing an identity crisis. Certain issues need to be
addressed to make the traditional LIS more viable and active today.
One of these issues is the suitable education of potential employees of
the LIS.
The purpose of this study was to establish, by means of empirical
research, to what extent the IT education offered by Departments of
Information Science (DIS) at South African universities are preparing
graduates for an electronic information service (EIS).
A literature survey was undertaken to establish the nature of an EIS.
Three major categories of information technologies which make up an
EIS were identified, viz network technologies, communications
technologies and retrieval technologies. A second literatyre survey
was then undertaken to ascertain the state of IT education in DIS both
in developed and developing countries. The motivation for
distinguishing between these two nation types was based on the fact
that South Africa comprises both developed and developing nations.
Based on the information gleaned from the two literature surveys, a
questionnaire was compiled and posted to all heads of DIS at South
African universities. The purpose of the questionnaire was to establish
the extent to which those technologies that comprise an EIS have been
incorporated into the curriculum of South African DIS, as well as the
attitudes of DIS heads towards the role and significance of IT
education in their curricula.
The main finding was that although the importance of an IT
component in the curriculum is recognised by all DIS, the majority are
not placing sufficient emphasis on IT in their curricula. There is a
general willingness and a positive attitude towards the incorporation of
more IT into the curricula but various constraining factors inhibit this
willingness. Problems faced by all DIS is finding the space in their
curricula to allocate to IT training and maintaining a healthy balance
between theory and practice. Some DIS have the added burden of a
lack of facilities as well as catering for students from previously
disadvantaged backgrounds.