Information Professionals as Learning and Research Consultants
Abstract
This paper is based on an investigation about patterns employed by people in obtaining information and in planning and designing their own individual learning and research projects. Sample users selected for the study are people who are skilled enough to employ specialized databases and knowledge structures. The findings suggest a complexity and sophistication in human learning, which is only now being perceived mainly in live academic systems. It also emphasize the almost radically changed social conditions with which information service professionals as learning consultants are currently involved in advanced countries. A change from conceptual learning patterns based on how information professionals and teachers transmit knowledge, to the developmental patterns of involvement in real life transactions is also visible. The new role information service professionals have to play has made the live academic and research systems to merge them into academic and scientific community and to ensure their quality and services. This has enabled experimenting innovative patterns.
Author also opines that social problems are human problems, which cannot be solved by the various professional cohorts working singly. In most of the reformed societies today, information professionals are members of the professional teams working for planned social change in the community. They as learning consultants can promote creative and critical thinking in the minds of citizens. Without such involvement the rapidly rising socio cultural expectations of the people will be exploited in runaway political confrontations.
References
Lester Asheim, U (1957). Research in Mass Communication and Adult Reading. In Library Trends, 6 (4) 120-140.
Patrick R. Penland and Aleyamma Mathai. (1974). Interpersonal Communication. New York: Marcel Dekker.
Patrick R. Penland. (1976). Librarian Client Learning Projects. (Research Report). Pittsburgh, GSLIS, University of Pittsburgh.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Submission of a manuscript to IS indicates that the work is original, has not been previously published (except as an abstract, lecture, or thesis), and is not under consideration by another journal. By submitting, authors affirm that their manuscript meets the journal’s ethical and editorial standards and that they agree to the terms of copyright and licensing upon acceptance.
Once accepted for publication, authors grant IS the first publication rights to the work. However, authors retain full copyright of their content and remain the legal owners of their intellectual property.
IS provides open access to all published articles six months after the release of the respective volume. Once the embargo period concludes, articles are made freely available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). This license allows users to share, adapt, and reuse the work in any medium or format provided that appropriate credit is given to the original authors and the initial publication in this journal.
The journal's delayed open access model supports global knowledge dissemination, ensuring that research is accessible without financial or legal barriers. Authors are also encouraged to archive their published articles in institutional repositories, personal websites, or other platforms, with full citation of the journal version. Pre-print versions posted online should include a citation and link to the final published version in IS as soon as the issue is available; post-print versions (including the final publisher's PDF) should include a citation and link to the journal's website.
All materials published in the IS website are distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution license, unless otherwise noted.
