Re-envisioning Management Education and Training for Information Professionals

The evolving demand for workforce skills has often been a topic of discussion at various professional LIS conferences. Although LIS schools tend to highlight the goal of preparing future members of the LIS profession to be effective leaders, a curriculum gap still exists. Most LIS schools are still falling short when it comes to offering advanced management courses on a regular basis. Consequently, this lack of adequate management education and training in LIS Schools tends to contribute to the development of “accidental managers.”

This webinar will demonstrate the current landscape of LIS education in relation to the demand for leadership and management skills and the increasing significance of these competencies for information professionals. Also discussed will be a 15-credit online Advanced Certificate in Management for Information Professionals (CMIP) that was developed in the Division of Library and Information Science at St. John’s University. This certificate program was created in response to the current and future needs for leadership and management skills in the LIS profession. The CMIP courses include project management, knowledge management, and marketing and advocacy. Students learn skills to produce highly relevant artifacts such as a strategic plan, a marketing plan, an advocacy campaign proposal, a change management plan, etc.

It is vitally important for LIS schools to bridge the gaps existing in LIS education in order to meet professional demands for leadership and management skills, and this webinar will demonstrate one way in which LIS schools can accomplish this.