Nordic Research School in Library and Information Science

Vision and guidelines

One of the most crucial tasks in the information society is to provide means to connect people and organizations with that information they need in all their activities. Information is understood in a broad sense. From scientific and technical publication contents to cultural messages in many forms, transferred in multimedia environments by a variety of means and institutions, such as libraries. This requires knowledge about the information and cultural environments, their structure, and the information behaviour and needs of people and organizations. Furthermore, scientifically based knowledge is also required about the various ways of facilitating access to and seeking, retrieval and use of information, knowledge organization and domain analysis, the history and sociology of institutions mediating information and culture as well as methods of managing and evaluating information infrastructure, resources and systems for the benefit of different institutions and society. They are all fields of study that form the core content of Library and Information Science (LIS). Each educational site in the Nordic-Baltic LIS field has its own, but complementary, profile of research and knowledge from which the research educational community may profit.

The objective of NORSLIS (Nordic Research School in Library and Information Science) is to increase the quality levels of doctoral education in library and information science in order to meet the requirements of a knowledge society. The research school intends to achieve synergic effects, effectiveness and efficiency in doctoral education and research of LIS by collecting the scattered scientific expertise, often in small-size research educational units, throughout the Nordic and Baltic countries.

The means are networking of research students and supervision by research courses, workshops, road show seminars, exchange of scientific personnel and mobility of students, and by inviting scholars (of high international standing) to bridge the knowledge gaps that exist in the Nordic and Baltic LIS environment. The intent is also to make the programme, information and knowledge contents of the research school activities freely accessible through a web site.

Considerations and criteria applied in planning and selecting the activities
· NORSLIS will select, develop and lead activities with high quality that creates synergies and international orientation which could hardly be achieved by local or national research programmes;
· The activities will cover a broad range of topics and combine theoretical and methodological aspects. Two 5 ECTS research courses will be developed and offered per academic year, some of which will be provided twice during the five-year period. The idea is to enable two cohorts of students to benefit from those courses, taking into account that doctoral students normally take courses in their first two years of study. 5 ECTS (European Credit Transfer System) implies about five days of teaching and related activities, and five weeks of student work. The main responsible course leadership will be at least one person from the 15 participating departments;
· NORSLIS considers all credits as acceptable for local exams although the final decision is up to the local programs. Pedagogically, all courses and workshops stress interactive student presentations and direct supervision. Courses, in addition, are based on case studies, often hands-on exercises, and scheduled virtual supervision windows during student work. In most cases the examination for obtaining full credits consists of students writing research papers in the form of publishable articles;
· Workshops provide an opportunity for students to present a paper based on their research and to get feedback from their peers and from senior researchers. One workshop will be offered each year. Workshop credits will be in the range of 2-3 ECTS;
· The novel concept of a 'road show seminar' will be incorporated. It means that a team of 2-3 senior researchers of high international status will visit about three Nordic-Baltic sites, each covering an adequate region, with a tailored set of lectures and tutorials on a pre-selected research area, as well as supplying improved supervision and consultation. The idea is in a cost-effective manner to provide research knowledge and experience out to the local research groups and doctoral students within Nordic-Baltic regions. Travel and accommodation costs are thus minimized. Visiting professors are expected to participate in 'road show seminars';
· Visiting professors for a period of 3-4 weeks at 1-2 relevant locations, e.g., to promote research frameworks and encourage local research groups;
· Exchange of supervisor experience between the NORSLIS institutions will be encouraged by the availability of a number of travel grants. To be cost-effective the exchange is intended to take place in connection with other NORSLIS events, such as research courses or workshops in which the supervisor already is engaged;
· The local research educational programs are intended to specialise around the planned NORSLIS courses, 'road show seminars' and workshops. This should cut down on duplication and increase the number of participants at each event. The local departments can encourage their students to attend the NORSLIS courses and thus better plan the student activities to fit in with the individual program and Ph.D. projects;
· Every research student in a local programme of the participating institutions is a potential participant in activities and courses. Activities are also open for researchers and Ph.D. students from relevant research fields outside the network - with interests in LIS. A formal application process will be implemented to ensure equality in terms of nationality, gender and qualifications as well as to ensure lowest possible travel and accommodation costs. The contents and prospects of the research or doctoral projects of applicants will form the main criteria for selection. We expect 15-20 students to participate in each of the courses;
· Each activity will be documented and evaluated annually (including student assessments) and reported to the research school board.
· Accommodation and travel expenditures will be kept to a minimum by choosing dates and locations to minimize travel and accommodation costs. Board meetings will be held in connection with the annual workshops.

In this way NORSLIS actively meet the medium- and long-term demands, planning and execution of local research education anywhere. One of the long-term effects would be to stimulate the development of local programmes so that they are stronger, more informed and thus able to function effectively in research education. We want to create the NORSLIS Research School to function as a backbone for such activities, forming a solid foundation for the continuation of cooperation in research and research education. Our intention is to continue after five years. The hope is that we are strong enough at that time to attract support from other sources. In addition, after five years the basis of electronic contact for the future should have been built up. In providing and supporting courses and supervision, we will use all available instructional possibilities, virtual and real.