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Strategy for Internationalization
at the Royal School of Library and Information Science
This strategy for internationalization at RSLIS lays down a systematic and ambitious approach for strengthening the international dimensions of education and research at RSLIS. It is governed by a vision, strategic goals, priorities, and criteria for future efforts, principally but not exclusively within the common framework of the iSchools. The latter element, a common framework, was established through RSLIS joining the iSchool caucus in 2009. iSchool caucus embodies the most important thrust of devel-oping LIS for the future, and it pointedly aims at collecting the best LIS institutions in the world.
Preamble
Internationalization has become a key parameter for universities worldwide. It is widely recognized that various forms of international cooperation is not only beneficial but al-so necessary in the fields of research and higher education. Through student and searcher exchange as well as other forms of scientific cooperation the quality of re-search and teaching is improved, cross-cultural understanding and global orientation is enhanced and new potentials for growth are established.
Moreover, internationalization is designated as an essential part of the Danish gov-ernment’s strategy for the future development of research and higher education (cf.
regeringsgrundlaget p. 20-27).
The Royal School of Library and Information Science (RSLIS) has a long and im-portant tradition of international cooperation in research and teaching. The institution has for many years enjoyed a high international standing among partners, sister insti-tutions and interest groups worldwide. However, there is also an obvious need for in-tensifying and developing international activities at RSLIS. Within the last few years internationalization has acquired a special importance at RSLIS due to the school’s recent development. The institution of RSLIS was originally created (in 1956) for the purpose of furnishing the Danish library sector with suitably educated librarians and was the largest library school worldwide. In 2001, the School acquired university sta-tus with a full academic program spanning from BA-studies to a PhD-programand ac-quired an academic staff structure identical to the other universities’ in general.In 2004 RSLIS was assessed according to the standards of The Committee on Accredi-tations of the American Library Association (ALA). The conclusion of the committee was that RSLIS was among the leading institutions globally of higher education in the LIS field.
While libraries still recruit a significant part of their staff among RSLIS candidates, they have also increasingly been employing candidates with degrees from other institu-tions. In parallel with this development, RSLIS candidates increasingly find their way into new kinds of jobs, e.g. in private companies and organizations. Even though RSLIS retains and continues to emphasize a highly important relation to the Danish and Nordic library sectors, RSLIS can on account of these developments no longer be
defined as “the educational institution of the library sector”, nor can its only or even
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primary raison-d’être any more be said to be the education of staff for libraries. RSLIS is defined by its scientific discipline, that is, the international scientific field of LIS (often simplified into ‘information science’, which is increasingly common as the international designation of the field; see also the section on iSchools below). As a consequence, the institution in 2010 changed its Danish name from Danmarks Biblioteksskole (The Library School of Denmark) into Det Informationsvidenskabelige Akademi (The Acad-emy of Information Science).
For these reasons, the international standing of RSLIS within the field of LIS has be-come a key part of the institution’s strength and identity, a development whose im-portance will only increase over the coming years. Whilst RSLIS is part of international information science, the institution also has its own identity with a special emphasis on the relation between information and culture. The approach to culture is mainly socio-logical and particularly concerned with cultural communication, e.g. how to utilize and develop libraries and other platforms of culture for the dissemination of culture in soci-ety. Another example is the fact that the design of information systems as well as the study of information behaviour are augmented by knowledge about culture and con-text. Within the context of international LIS, RSLIS sees it as part of its mission to draw attention to the relation between information and culture and to enrich infor-mation science in general with the importance and possibilities related to this issue.
The main strengths of RSLIS
The main strengths of RSLIS are these:
The scientific discipline of information science
The way RSLIS practices and develops the scientific discipline of information science yields relevant and important research as well as a line of education leading to central and valuable work qualifications.
International standing within LIS
RSLIS demonstrably has a high standing in international LIS. RSLIS is a significant contributor to international conferences etc. in the field. RSLIS is productive in relation to the best journals within the field, and RSLIS is a member of the international iSchool caucus (see the section below).
Useful and relevant education with high employability
RSLIS candidates find work in the public and private sector as search specialists, in-formation specialists, knowledge managers, usability specialists, inin-formation archi-tects, cultural communicators, media specialists and educators among others. The number of RSLIS candidates working in innovation and entrepreneurship is also in-creasing.
Special relation to libraries as well as other cultural platforms
RSLIS continues to deliver highly qualified candidates to libraries as well as other cul-tural platforms. RSLIS also produces research that is especially relevant to these insti-tutions and for the dissemination of culture in general.
3/11 Strategic challenges in an internationalization perspective
Already in the preceding decade 00-09, RSLIS has had a significant degree of interna-tional cooperation. There has been a good number of visiting professors at RSLIS as well as RSLIS-employees visiting other universities, and also international confer-ences - organizing, co-organizing, and in general participating in such contexts. Fur-thermore, there has been a significant amount of Nordic cooperation, not least through the NORSLIS program. A number of agreements concerning cooperation and espe-cially exchange of students and researchers have also been concluded. Above all, the establishment in 2005 of a full English-language master-program which can be fol-lowed at RSLIS should be mentioned in this context. In addition, more Ph.D. students and master students (within the continuing education program) from the Nordic coun-tries have been enrolled at RSLIS. Finally, RSLIS is a partner in a number of interna-tional research projects and networks.
It must be said, however, that these efforts have nevertheless been wanting in a num-ber of respects. Most critically, the numnum-ber of RSLIS students going abroad for a term or longer has so far been very low (see appendix 2). The number of exchange stu-dents studying at RSLIS has been somewhat higher, but far from as high as it would be desirable and as the school’s international reputation would otherwise seem to war-rant. Whilst recognizing major achievements such as the NORSLIS program and the continuing education master-program just mentioned, the approach to internationaliza-tion has not been sufficiently systematic. Internainternationaliza-tional agreements have mainly been based on contacts between individual researchers. This may often have been mean-ingful and fruitful, but the form of agreements and especially the partners with whom to establish such agreements should in general be governed by a vision, strategic goals, priorities, criteria and in so far as possible a common framework comprising the institutions in question.
Vision
RSLIS will promote, strengthen and communicate a strong international LIS profile, hereby retaining and further developing its international standing worldwide as a highly qualified and attractive academic institution in information science.
Strategic goals
The strategy is constituted by five strategic goals:
1. Collaboration and agreements – research and teaching
Promoting and strengthening international collaboration in teaching and re-search with other academic institutions of high standard within information science
2. Recruitment
Attracting highly qualified students, teachers and researchers from academic institutions of high standard worldwide
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3. Mobility and exchange
Increasing and strengthening the mobility and exchange of students, teachers and researchers between RSLIS and other international institutions of high standard in information science
4. Intercultural and international qualifications
Promoting, encouraging, and strengthening the intercultural and international qualifications of students and staff
5.
EmployabilityFostering competent candidates and researchers in information science who are attractive employees, entrepreneurs and innovators in a global setting
Sub-goals, criteria and activities
A number of sub-goals and criteria underpin the five strategic goals:
Ad. 1. Collaboration and agreements – research and teaching
Promote and strengthen collaboration on research and teaching with mem-bers of the iSchool network and with other strong and dynamic LIS institutions worldwide through the following activities:
- Develop and promote a joint study profile of information science and cultural communication within the iSchool network, e.g. with Humboldt University, De-partment of Library and Information Science. The longer term goal is a fully accredited Joint Study Program.
- Develop a new international master’s program at RSLIS
- Encourage researchers to engage and participate in research projects and networks as well as joint applications. This can be initiated at the institutional level or by the researchers themselves.
Identify strong and strategically interesting academic institutions for collabora-tion and exchange of students and faculty members. This should be based on criteria such as scientific level, domain and focus and the availability of suita-ble language courses and programs taught in English.
Regions and countries of particular interest in addition to the iSchool network are: the Nordic countries, Europe, Brazil, Russia, China, and South Africa.
Ad. 2. Recruitment
More qualified students should be attracted to the full international masters’ program, and more qualified exchange students should apply for a semes-ter/term at RSLIS.
This will require a systematic and critical approach to the selection of ex-change institutions and to collaboration agreements. In addition, it will require a proactive and targeted PR approach inviting and motivating potential stu-dents living abroad to study at RSLIS. Besides the use of the RSLIS website,
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fact sheets and presentations of the master’s program at relevant confer-ences, a loyal and qualified network of alumni is important. International standards for curriculum description and practice will be followed in accord-ance with the Bologna process and the ‘code of conduct’. This will facilitate transparency between curricula at the home institution and at RSLIS and sup-port the process of decision making. A declaration of quality in teaching and education will be presented to potential students.
The number of qualified international applicants for positions at RSLIS should increase, including applications for PhD positions. This requires a continued high standing within information science and the iSchool community. Moreo-ver, RSLIS should be known and acknowledged as an attractive and interna-tional oriented workplace.
Ad. 3. Mobility and exchange
An increasing number of students and faculty members should go abroad for an extended period of time (a term or longer). This should be facilitated through the availability of relevant material and information concerning studies and research at partner institutions as well as practical matters. RSLIS should ease mobility for students with regard to regulations and structure of syllabus, curricula planning and course concession.
Ad. 4. Intercultural and international qualifications
RSLIS should encourage and support the staff’s professionalism in speaking, teaching and writing English. International counseling and network activities should encourage and facilitate the integration of students and faculty mem-bers of different nationalities. This should add to the experience and percep-tion of RSLIS as an attractive study and workplace.
Ad. 5. Employability
The candidates’ qualifications in a global market should be strengthened and facilitat-ed through a goal-orientfacilitat-ed career counseling and guidance at RSLIS. Students should be encouraged to plan their career in terms of a reflective approach to their choice of courses at RSLIS and abroad. Students should also be encouraged to consider a trainee position in an international context. Moreover, the IVA Board of External Advisors should be involved in building a relevant picture of qualifications aimed at a global setting.
6/11 A common framework - the iSchools
The iSchool Caucus and iSchools in general
The international organization of iSchools comprises some 35 schools, but the number is constantly growing. Some of the schools are university faculties, some are universi-ty departments and some are yet other kinds of units. In any case an iSchool must, however, be sufficiently independent to enable its Dean to make decisions on behalf of the school at the yearly meeting of deans (without delaying the process by having to report back before decisions are made). In the context of the iSchool Caucus, the leaders of the schools are called iDeans.
Within the full group of iSchools, the iSchool Caucus forms the nucleus of the organi-zation. While the iSchool movement in all cases try to involve the best, and only the best departments, it is especially demanding to become a member of the iSchool Caucus. The iSchool Caucus decides the overall direction of the entire movement. Further details can be found in the iSchools charter and on www.iSchools.org. RSLIS is a member of the iSchool Caucus and joined in 2009.
iSchools and the discipline of information science
Like RSLIS, most iSchools have developed from being originally vocational institutions for educating librarians into full-fledged scientific institutions with a significantly broad-er scope. In the course of this development, the most common designation for the dis-cipline thus emerging has come to be information science. Most iSchools, however, like RSLIS retain an important relation to the library sector and its development.
The following statements found in iSchools charter and on www.iSchools.org give a condensed picture of how the iSchool organization views and presents itself as well as the discipline of information science:
The iSchools are interested in the relationship between information, people and tech-nology. This is characterized by a commitment to learning and understanding the role of information in human endeavors. The iSchools take it as given that expertise in all forms of information is required for progress in science, business, education, and cul-ture. This expertise must include understanding of the uses and users of information, as well as information technologies and their applications
The study of information is interdisciplinary, fed by multiple diverse fields. Librarianship and computer science have historically been the primary feeders of the field, but infor-mation studies is also fed by fields such as education, psychology, anthropology, busi-ness, journalism—indeed, the range of social sciences.
The study of information focuses on the intersection of information, technology, and people, which requires a broad interdisciplinary approach to those phenomena, the re-lationship between them, and their rere-lationships to other aspects of culture and human endeavor. The ubiquity of information in human endeavor requires that the field of in-formation aims to have an impact on all fields of science and all aspects of culture.
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This description accurately characterizes a good deal of studies and research at RSLIS, but not all. Even though culture is mentioned several times, it is at a more general level than would describe its role at RSLIS. The RSLIS focus on the relation between information and culture adds some more dimensions than described above. That, however, is not a limitation but rather a source of potential enrichment. While RSLIS can without reservation partake in the aims and endeavours described in the above passages, and thus enhance its own work in these fields, the school can also offer a further perspective which can enrich other iSchools.
As an organization, iSchools strive to develop a shared international brand without obliterating the individual identities of its members. This shared brand helps in making the members better known internationally, not least to each other but clearly also reaching a wider audience. RSLIS expects this development to motivate more stu-dents abroad to consider going to RSLIS for part of their studies. Similarly, the iSchool network facilitates a period of study abroad for RSLIS students. It is an important con-crete goal of the Strategy for Internationalization at RSLIS to establish more exchange agreements with other iSchools. The same considerations apply to academic staff.
Moreover, a well-developed shared international brand will also add to making the iS-chools’ candidates still better known and attractive to employers. It will make iSchools even more attractive as partners with private enterprise and other external institutions which can support and benefit from research at iSchools. The relation that was estab-lished in 2010 between Microsoft Research and iSchools is a strong example of this.
It is an important part of the RSLIS Strategy for Internationalization that the iSchool Caucus will have first priority as the framework within which most future internationali-zation efforts shall take place. Exchange agreements, research cooperation etc. with other iSchools will be given first priority, however without excluding similar agreements with other external institutions.
The European Dimension – “Euro iSchools”
RSLIS sees it as a special task to contribute to the formation of a solid European group of iSchools. In a joint effort with the Berlin iSchool, Institut für Bibliothek- und Informationswissenschaft at Humboldt University (IBI), RSLIS has taken a lead in this respect.
Building a European group brings a number of benefits, especially:
The availability of European exchange programs such as Erasmus strongly facilitates student exchange, administratively as well as financially
The availability of European programs for research cooperation such as the COST and Marie Curie programs similarly facilitate and enhance various forms of research cooperation
A sufficiently strong and comprehensive group of European iSchools will be well positioned to make joint applications for EU FP-projects. The working out of EU project applications is known to be a highly demanding task. Therefore, it is a great advantage when the partners applying are well acquainted with
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each other before the process starts. Moreover, the scientific strength of a project proposal of course depends on a number of strong partners being in the proposal. In particular, the combination of different points of strength at the various institutions is essentially important, a point which is also greatly aided by strong mutual relations being in place well before the process of applica-tion.
To RSLIS, there also is a specific Nordic dimension to the focus on a European iS-chool dimension. Nordic relations within the field of LIS, which have been built through the NORSLIS program or otherwise, should be maintained, and RSLIS wishes to fa-cilitate and encourage the entry into iSchools of other Nordic LIS institutions, whether or not attached to the EU.
The Case of Cooperation with IBI
Since 2010 a close partnership between IBI and RSLIS has emerged. In each term, there has been a visit of a delegation of leaders and professors from one institution to the other one, a practice that has now become firmly established. During these visits, the visitors have taken part in teaching by giving lectures to students, as well as hav-ing joint research seminars. Another important part of these visits has been negotia-tions leading to still closer cooperation. Some concrete results of this are so far:
Enhanced knowledge about each other - studies as well as research strengths
Visibility of internationalization and iSchools to students and staff at each insti-tution
Joint PhD-seminars through Videolink
The working out of an EU application within the Marie Curie program, together with other EU-partners
Defining a joint study profile consisting of one term in Copenhagen and one in Berlin, to start in September 2012 (the joint study profile is conceived as a forerunner of a full and formally accredited Joint Study Program).
The joint study profile will be a particularly attractive model for spending a term abroad for the students at each institution. This fact together with the increased visibility of the partnership is expected to increase student mobility considerably.
The cooperation with IBI also serves as a model for future closer cooperation with other European iSchools and provides experience as well as inspiration for future co-operation with iSchools outside of Europe.
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Appendix 1 – Partner Universities (as of February 2012)
Institution Partner Universities Contracts under renewal Previous Partner Uni-versities Under negotiation
Humboldt University of Berlin x
University of Granada x
University of Groningen x
University of Hacettepe x
Linnaeus University x
Oslo and Akershus University College x
University of Porto x Charles University x University of Iceland x University of Latvia x University of Sheffield x University of Szeged x Tallinn University x University of Tromsø x University of Tsukuba x Vilnius University x University of Zaragoza x
St. Petersburg State University x
Oulu University x
University of Hamburg x
University of Stuttgart x
University of Dublin x
Northumbria University x
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill x
Swedish School of Library and Information Science x
Berzsenyi College x
University of Bucharest x
University of Applied Science
(Fachhochschulstudiengänge Burgenland) x
Poyal Melbourne Institute of Technology x
University of Tampere x
Transilvania University of Brasov x
Loughborough University x
College of Nyíregyháza x
The Robert Gordon University x
Berzsenyi College x
Brasilien x
10/11 Appendix 2 – Student exchange statistics
Inbound and outbound exchange 2008-2012
2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 Total
In Out In Out In In In Out In Out In Out
University of Groningen 1 1 2
University of Hacettepe 1 5 1 6 1
Linnaeus University 2 2
Oslo and Akershus University College 1 1 1 2 1
University of Porto 1 1 1 3 Charles University 3 2 1 1 2 2 7 University of Iceland 1 1 1 1 2 University of Latvia 2 2 University of Sheffield 1 1 1 1 4 University of Szeged 0 Tallinn University 1 1 University of Tromsø 1 1 University of Tsukuba 1 1 1 1 Vilnius University 0 University of Zaragoza 1 1 1 1
St. Petersburg State University 0
Oulu University 0
University of Hamburg 3 3
University of Stuttgart 1 1
University of Dublin 1 1 2
Northumbria University 1 2 3
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 1 1 1 1 2 1 4 3
Swedish School of Library and Information
Science 0
Berzsenyi College 0
University of Bucharest 0
University of Applied Science
(Fachhochschulstudiengänge Burgenland) 0
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2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 Total
In Out In Out In In In Out In Out In Out
University of Tampere 0
Transilvania University of Brasov 0
Loughborough University 0
College of Nyíregyháza 0
The Robert Gordon University 0
Berzsenyi College 0
Brasilien 0
Kharkiv 0
