Accredited courses
Accredited courses moving with the times
ACCREDITED courses should be at the cutting edge of the profession and the employment market and now it’s not just their content that needs to be there.
Since Covid, the lines between cutting edge course material and cutting edge course logistics have been blurred by hybrid culture and technology. Understanding the information professions is core to CILIP’s mission to unite, support and advocate for all information professionals. Knowing what they do, what their workforces look like, and the challenges they face enables CILIP to deliver relevant services to its members, and to attract future members.
Anoush Simon, Head of Information Studies at Aberystwyth – which happens to run the most CILIP-accredited courses – said that during and after Covid there had “been a gradual return to the ‘new normal’ for us… The wide use (and acceptance of) Microsoft Teams has been a positive impact for working with our distance learners, but full-timers benefit too, particularly around disser- tation supervision. In 2020 we quickly moved our in-person distance learning induction events to online, mainly using Teams, and we are now in the process of reintroducing in-person events based in Aberystwyth. We expect we will alternate in-person events with Teams- based events in future, to allow students the choice – we think this will be more effective than hybrid approaches.” Some of the changes in teaching library and information science (LIS) aren’t technology-driven. Anoush says 2023 is the “first year of teaching on our new BA Cultural Heritage Studies: Libraries Archives and Museums, with a great new group of students. I suspect
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this does also reflect a trend in the sector with students expressing their interest in the many and varied aspects of the heritage sector – libraries, archives and museums – and seeing the links between them and the potential this could have. I do think this is underpinned by how people now find and access cultural and intellectual information online.”
Keeping it Accredited Accredited courses are one of the resources available to CILIP to help keep the information professions as navigable as possible for its members, their employers, and their trainers.
New technologies and unstable economic conditions can make this challenging but, by the same token, this makes CILIP’s services more valuable to individuals and organisations who need to keep pace. This is achieved through the five criteria that courses need to meet to become accred- ited: all of which strengthen links to the real world of the information professional. Learning providers are willing to under- take this because they know students look for accreditation when choosing courses.
1. All courses are assessed using CILIP’s Professional Knowledge and Skills Base (PKSB –
www.cilip.org.uk/pksb) which is revised to reflect the evolving skills for a successful career.
2. Evidence of validation through inter- nal quality assessment procedures. This includes proof of support from the senior management of the university or college for the department and the delivery of courses or modules.
3. That learning providers engage with employers and provide evidence of this. The relationship should see employers supporting, or complementing, course delivery.
4. That course staff are up to date with their own professional practice and that there is a staff development policy in place at the learning provider.
5. That students on accredited courses are encouraged to engage with CILIP – to make this process more accessible to stu- dents, CILIP has a student membership offer.
A list of CILIP accredited courses in the UK are listed below, and the full list for the UK and abroad can be found at www.
cilip.org.uk/page/Qualifications.
Aberystwyth
The Department of Information at Aberystwyth University has the most CILIP accredited courses. Dr Anoush Simon, head of information studies, said: “This means that you can have confidence in receiving excellent teaching and academic support, and a professionally accredited qualification at the end of your studies.” She added that “staff expertise is complemented through close professional links both locally and nationally. The presence of staff with expertise in the professional sectors of both libraries and archives, including a growing specialism in digital information and AI, enables us to share ex- pertise to deliver schemes like Digital Information and Media Management as well as the well-established, broad-based courses. All our courses are available as full time (on-campus) and flexible distance learn- ing, allowing students to work while studying for a professional qualification. For 2022 we have new online standalone short courses (as well as optional modules) in School Libraries, Children and Reading, Music Librarianship, and Digital Presence.”
Link:
www.aber.ac.uk/en/dis Courses
BA Cultural Heritage Studies: Libraries, Archives and Museums. Full Time.
BSc Information and Library Studies. Distance Learning
BA Information Studies and History/Media Studies. Full Time.
April-May 2023
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