The crisis of the Library and Information Science academia in Spain

Abstract

The situation of Library and Information Science teaching and academia in Spain is analyzed. The main trends analyzed are the labour market, the technological changes, the higher education reform, and the discipline definition problems. A preliminary diagnosis is an adjustment crisis to the employment market in a country with a very recent tradition in LIS education, which is proceeding in the context of the digital revolution and the process of globalization of the higher education. Some recommendations are cultivating the core employment fields, expanding with alliances the role in schools libraries and content management, developing a more realistic and effective model for technological education, resolving the dilemma between generalist and specialist education, reintegrating the human an social dimensions of the studies, emphasising the discursive and theoretical integration of the discipline, and improving the factual evidence that supports discussions about prospective trends and actions.