Education for Australia's information future

Abstract

Digital disruption and an increasingly networked society drive rapid change in many professions and a corresponding need for change in tertiary education. Across the world, information education has, to date, prepared graduates for employment in discrete professions, such as librarianship, records management, archives and teacher librarianship. However, contemporary information practices are less defined and are demanding of new professional skill-sets and understandings. This paper reports a study that consulted Australia's tertiary academics about the current circumstances of information education in the academy and elicited a vision and a concern for future directions in Australian information education.

Keywords:

• digital information
• information
• information academics; information education
• tertiary information

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Australian library and information science educators who generously contributed their time and thoughts to this research project. The project was funded by the former Australian Learning and Teaching Council Ltd, an initiative of the Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations.