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scholarly communication 
Cheryl L. Davis and Barbara B. Moran 

Preparing Tomorrow’s Professionals
 
LIS Schools and Scholarly Communication 

Today’s LIS (Library and Information Sci­ence) graduates will enter a work world 
transformed by the revolution in scholarly 
communication. These changes affect virtu­
ally all aspects of academic library opera­
tions. New librarians must confront chal­
lenges such as balancing and providing 
appropriate access to print and electronic 
serials collections and keeping abreast of 
not only current journal and database sub­
scriptions, but also the growing number of 
accepted (and cited) open-access scholarly 
publications. They must wrestle with copy­
right issues and the implications of develop­
ing institutional repositories. 

It is essential that new graduates entering 
academic libraries have a solid grounding 
in the scholarly communication process. 
Scholarly communication has, of course, 
been part of the coursework in LIS schools 
for many years. Students have traditionally 
taken courses such as collection develop­
ment where they learned how to acquire and 
evaluate books, journals, and other vehicles 
of scholarly communication. This type of 
preparation is still essential, but in an era 
when the process of scholarly communication 
is being transformed, it is not suffi cient. 

To better prepare their graduates, LIS 
schools have revised their curricula to incor­
porate information relating to the changes 
in scholarly communication, adding yet an­
other new component to the material to be 
covered. Because most MLS programs in the 
U.S. are still only 36 hours in length, there is 
a finite number of courses that students can 
take in these programs. The traditional skills 
of librarianship, such as reference and catalog­

ing, are still essential, but today’s LIS students 
are expected to master many additional skills 
(including a solid grounding in IT) necessary 
to work in ever more technologically sophis­
ticated libraries. The addition of material 
about changes in scholarly communication 
stretches an already overloaded curriculum 
even further. 

A fundamental goal of the ACRL Schol­
arly Communication Initiative has been to 
“broaden the base of academic librarians who 
are knowledgeable about and concerned with 
scholarly communication issues.”1 In a similar 
fashion, LIS schools are attempting to prepare 
graduates who are familiar with the new world 
of scholarly communication. This article will 
provide an overview of how LIS students are 
being introduced to these issues. 

How are LIS schools preparing tomorrow’s 
academic librarians to deal with the emerging 
changes in scholarly communication? What 
more can they do? In this brief overview, we 
will look first at specialized courses dealing 
with various aspects of scholarly communica­
tion that have been added to the curriculum 
in many schools. The next section will look at 
how existing courses have been modifi ed to 
include scholarly communication. Finally, we 
will explore the benefits of fi eld experience, 
graduate assistantships and participation in 
institutional projects. 

Cheryl L. Davis is a TRLN doctoral fellow at the University 
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and works in the 
Scholarly Communication Center at North Carolina State 
University, e-mail: davic@email.unc.edu, and Barbara B. 
Moran is a professor in the School of Information and 
Library Science at the University of North Carolina at 
Chapel Hill, e-mail: moran@ils.unc.edu. 
© 2005 Cheryl L. Davis and Barbara B. Moran 

C&RL News January 2005  24 

mailto:moran@ils.unc.edu
mailto:davic@email.unc.edu


 

 

 
 

 
 
 

 
 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 
 

  
 
 
 

 
 

 
 

Specialized course work 
A review of ALA-accredited degree programs 
revealed that many LIS schools provide spe­
cialized courses related to scholarly commu­
nication in their curriculum. It is impossible 
in this brief article to discuss all of the types 
of courses being offered, but the following 
course descriptions taken from the online 
catalogs of several LIS schools are represen­
tative of these types of specialized courses. 

• Electronic publishing. The University 
of California-Los Angeles offers a course on 
electronic publishing: “Survey of current is­
sues in electronic publishing. Topics include 
history of publishing, digital libraries, schol­
arly communication, economics, perspective 
of publishers, universities, and librarians, uses 
and users of electronic documents, electronic 
books; new genres in electronic communica­
tion, visions of future.”2 

• Scholarly and Professional Commu­
nication. Drexel University offers a course 
concentrating on scholarly communication: 
“An overview of traditional and contemporary 
communication patterns and the generation 
and use of information in research, scholarly, 
and professional communities. Considers 
models of communication and information-
seeking behavior underlying the development 
of these communities, formal and informal 
communication networks, and the structure 
of the literatures produced.”3 

• Economics of Information. Rutgers 
University provides a good example of this 
type of course: “Issues in the cost and impact of 
information systems, both print and electronic. 
The supply chain from authors through publish­
ers, jobbers, and libraries to readers. Methods 
for estimating costs, describing impacts, and 
conducting benefit analysis. Use for manage­
ment decisions. Economics of scale and of 
scope. Internet commerce in information and 
competing paper and electronic formats.”4 

• Copyright. The copyright course 
offered by the School of Information and 
Library Science at the University of North 
Carolina-Chapel Hill (UNC-CH), taught 
by Laura Gasaway, “examines the law of 
copyright … and its impact on libraries, 

education and research.” In addition to the 
standard issues covered in such a course, it 
also focuses on “the diffi culties the digital 
environment imposes on traditional copyright 
doctrines, pressures from the publishers and 
producers to increase copyright protection and 
the increasing globalization of intellectual 
property protection.”5 

Enhancing the core 
Although many schools have designed new 
courses to deal with specific aspects of the 
scholarly communication revolution, it is un­
likely that a large number of students will be 
able to take advantage of these specialized 
courses. As mentioned above, a 36-hour pro­
gram does not allow much leeway for spe­
cialized electives. In most schools, students 
will learn about scholarly communication in 
existing courses that have incorporated ele­
ments of this topic. There are many courses 
that have been or can be reshaped to in­
clude these elements. One of the most obvi­
ous places to include information about the 
changing field of scholarly communication 
is in a collection development or collection 
management course. All of the ALA-accred­
ited schools offer courses related to collec­
tions, and the changes in scholarly com­
munication are necessarily a part of those 
courses. Restructured courses can provide 
students with a good overview of the chang­
ing practices in collection development. 

But the collection development course is 
only the beginning. A large number of tradi­
tional courses are now including elements that 
are essential to understanding the new world 
of scholarly communication. For example, 
students in cataloging courses often study 
digital object identifiers and explore Dublin 
Core applications. Management classes offer 
the chance to engage students in discussions 
of budget concerns and user needs related to 
electronic material. Courses in serials man­
agement provide a good opportunity to learn 
about site licenses and negotiation and the 
increasing costs of STM serials. Courses in 
digital libraries cover topics such as intellectual 
property rights and electronic publishing. 

January 2005  25 C&RL News 



 
 

 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

  

 

One of the most obvious places for stu­
dents to learn about the new world of schol­
arly communication is in an academic library 
course. Almost all the LIS schools offer such 
courses, and the topics covered in this class 
have been changed over the past decade 
to reflect the changes in academic libraries. 
One of the authors teaches such a course, 
and a significant part of the class is devoted 
to issues related to scholarly communication. 
Students are introduced to SPARC, to open 
access, to the challenge of cooperative col­
lection development in the digital age, and to 
other emerging topics. The courses described 
above are just a few that may serve as vehicles 
for exploring trends. In addition, students can 
also be immersed in scholarly communication 
issues in courses devoted to “special topics,” 
“issues in …” or “trends in LIS,” staples in 
information and library science studies. 

Finally, students in schools that require a 
master’s thesis or paper can be encouraged 
to do research and write on topics related to 
scholarly communication. A quick search of the 
UNC-CH SILS master’s papers written by 2004 
graduates produced papers with titles such as 
Impact of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act 
on Piracy; The Perils of Strong Copyright: The 
American Library Association and Free Cul­
ture; Selectors’ Choices: Statistics for Evaluating 
E-Resources; A Comparison of Subscribed and 
Non-subscribed Titles in the Springer Link Elec­
tronic Journal Package; The Value of Flexibility 
in Metadata Schema; Digital Preservation and 
Academic Library Consortia; Electronic Reserve 
Services at UNC-Chapel Hill: Faculty and Student 
Perceptions of Personal Control, Access, and 
Service Quality; and The Ghost in the Machine: 
Traditional Archival Practice in the Design of 
Digital Repositories for Long-Term Preservation.6 

If these papers are representative of those being 
produced in other LIS schools, it would appear 
that a large number of LIS graduates are inter­
ested in and actually doing research on topics 
relevant to scholarly communication. 

Field experience and institutional 
projects 
One of the tried and true ways that stu­

dents are able to blend theory with practice 
is through field experiences, internships, 
or graduate assistantships that allow a stu­
dent to experience what he or she has been 
learning in the classroom. It is one thing to 
read an assigned article about the serials cri­
sis, but quite another to work in an acquisi­
tions department and experience fi rsthand 
the decisions that must be made in balanc­
ing budgets while maintaining needed titles 
in desired formats. Luckily, many students 
are able to combine their studies with ac­
tual work in a setting where they directly 
encounter some of the challenges presented 
by changes in scholarly communication. 

A number of university libraries are 
directly involved with scholarly communi­
cation projects at their institutions, and LIS 
faculty members can encourage fi eld experi­
ence assignments within these projects. For 
example, institutional repositories such as 
the University of California’s eScholarship7 

initiative are growing and evolving, and the 
practice of requiring the electronic deposit 
of theses and dissertations is being adopted 
by institutions of higher education across 
the nation. The creation and maintenance 
of these repositories can also offer practical 
experience to LIS students. 

At UNC-CH, there are a number of proj­
ects to provide LIS students at all levels with 
hands-on experience. The Center for Re­
search and Development of Digital Libraries 
(CRADLE)8 is a federation of parties interested 
in the migration, management, and accessibil­
ity of digital information. It serves as a test 
bed for the development of digital libraries 
and focuses on the training and education of 
digital librarians. Its affiliated projects include, 
among others: 

• Neoref,9 an archive for scholarly digital 
materials that includes data and research 
notes as well as articles; 

• Open Video,10 a repository of digitized 
video content; 

• Minds of Carolina,11 an initiative to pre­
serve the personal digital archives of UNC 
faculty; and 

• Ibiblio,12 a contributor-run digital library 

C&RL News January 2005  26 



 
 

 

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

that advocates a commons-oriented position 
on information issues for communities of 
developers, scholars, and laypersons, and 
offers free hosting, bandwidth, and support 
for journals. 

CRADLE offers not only the opportunity 
to work on these types of projects but also a 
monthly Brown Bag Lunch where students, 
faculty, and librarians gather together to 
hear speakers and to discuss issues related 
to digital libraries. There is also a Working 
Group on Scholarly Communication at UNC 
that provides additional opportunities for 
group gatherings and discussions. Students at 
most LIS schools have similar opportunities to 
interact with professionals who are grappling 
with implementing changes in scholarly com­
munication in their own institutions. 

Keeping up with change 
As changes in scholarly communication con­
tinue to transform the face of higher educa­
tion and its libraries, it is important for those 
studying library and information science 
to keep pace. LIS education is the chosen 
theme for the presidency of ALA President-
Elect Michael Gorman. Among his concerns 
are the adequate preparation of library pro­
fessionals and the need for curricula to be 
developed in cooperation with those prac­
ticing in the profession.13 LIS educators and 
practitioners working together can ensure 
that tomorrow’s professionals will be well 
prepared to enter the fi eld. 

What are LIS programs doing to educate 
tomorrow’s academic librarians in scholarly 
communication issues? As it turns out, quite 
a lot is being included in curricula of LIS 
schools. Specialized coursework, expansion 
of existing offerings, and taking advantage 
of opportunities for field experiences are all 
contributing to greater coverage of scholarly 
communication issues. What more can be 
done? LIS schools must take full advantage of 
opportunities that their institutions present to 
involve their students in the latest technolo­
gies and initiatives. Working with practicing 
librarians and information professionals to 
develop these opportunities will ensure that 

the latest issues are addressed and that cut-
ting-edge field experiences are developed. 

The reverse is also important; programs 
can offer continuing education seminars for 
those already in the field and strengthen the 
connection between education and practice. 
The result will be increased competence of 
both students and professionals in working 
with the daily challenges the changing face 
of scholarly communication presents. 

Notes 
1. Ray English, “The ACRL Scholarly 

Communications Initiative,” C&RL News 65, 
8 (2004). Also available at: www.ala.org/ala/ 
acrl/acrlpubs/crlnews/backissues2004/sep­
tember04/scholarlycomminitiative.htm. 

2. UCLA Department of Information Stud­
ies Course Catalog, is.gseis.ucla.edu/courses/ 
course_catalog.htm. 

3. Drexel University Graduate Course De­
scriptions, Information Science and Systems, 
coreapp1.drexel.edu/webcourses/CourseList­
ing.asp?SubjCode=INFO&Levl=GR&univ=D 
REX. 

4. Rutgers-New Brunswick/Piscataway Cam­
pus, School of Communication, Information, 
and Library Studies Courses, www.scils.rutgers. 
edu/courses/listing.jsp?SN=17&DN=610. 

5. UNC School of Information and Library 
Science, Special Topics Courses, sils.unc.edu/ 
programs/courses/special_topics.html. 

6. For more information about these pa­
pers and others written by SILS graduates, 
see: ils.unc.edu/mpi/limit.php. 

7. eScholarship Repository, repositories. 
cdlib.org/escholarship/. 

8. CRADLE Web site, ils.unc.edu/cradle/. 
9. Neoref Open Archive Search, neoref. 

ils.unc.edu/. 
10. The Open Video Project, open-video. 

org/. 
11. Minds of Carolina, www.ibiblio.org/ 

minds/. 
12. Ibiblio, ibiblio.org/. 
13. “Gorman, Panel Express Concerns 

for LIS Education at Meeting in New York,” 
Library Journal Academic News Wire (No­
vember 11, 2004). 

January 2005  27 C&RL News 

http:ibiblio.org
http:www.ibiblio.org
http:ils.unc.edu
http:sils.unc.edu
www.scils.rutgers
www.ala.org/ala
http:profession.13