Creating Tomorrow's Technologists: Contrasting Information Technology Curriculum in North American Library and Information Science Graduate Programs against Code4lib Job Listings

Monica Maceli
2015 Journal of Education For Library and Information Science  
This research study explores technology-related course offerings in ALA-accredited library and information science (LIS) graduate programs in North America. These data are juxtaposed against a text analysis of several thousand LIS-specific technology job listings from the Code4lib jobs website. Starting in 2003, as a popular library technology mailing list, Code4lib has since expanded to an annual conference in the United States and a job-posting website. The study found that database and web
more » ... sign/development topics continued to dominate course offerings with diverse sub-topics covered. Strong growth was noted in the area of user experience but a lack of related jobs for librarians was identified. Analysis of the job listings revealed common technology-centric librarian and non-librarian job titles, as well as frequently correlated requirements for technology skillsets relating to the popular foci of web design/development and metadata. Finally, this study presents a series of suggestions for LIS educators in order that they continue to keep curriculum aligned with current technology employment requirements.
doi:10.3138/jelis.56.3.198 fatcat:3psy2cr2jfda7cuq3pdjprnfe4