A research project on the current situation of Master in Library & Information Science

Conduct of Focus Groups

The LIS Department in Kuwait University is conducting a research project about the current situation of Master in Library and Information Science and the ways in which it needs to be developed, considering the needs of the Kuwaiti market. For this purpose, a questionnaire was administered among alumni and both quantitative and qualitative data were gathered. An analysis of the data indicated that there was a need for focused discussion in the form of focus groups on most vital issues that needed further deliberation. Three focus group sessions have been conducted on 17th, 23rd, and 25th April. Altogether, 33 participants took part in the sessions. The participants represented employers from both public and corporate sectors, managers of library and information organizations, DLIS alumni, current students of Master’s, and faculty members.

Questions

The following questions have been discussed in the three sessions. Deliberations were audio-recorded and some notes were taken.

What are the specific areas in which Kuwaiti companies have a need to recruit information professionals? The possible areas could include: knowledge management, portal and Intranet management, databases, digitization, document management, indexing, archiving, workflow management, etc.?

What are the best ways, in your view, in which the Kuwaiti companies and the Department of Library and Information Science can create meaningful partnership?

What are the primary deficiencies in the LIS graduates that need to be addressed in the current MLIS program?

What are the specific skills/competencies you wish to recommend to be taught in the MLIS program that are absent from the current coursework?

Do you think that the names of the department and degree need to be changed from DLIS and MLIS? Will any change help in improving the image of the profession?

Keeping in view the needs of the market, in what way the MLIS program needs to be changed during the next five years?

Deliberations and Results

These focus group discussions have generated highly rich data. Deliberations were lively and engaging. Concerns and viewpoints of different stake-holders have been highlighted. These data will be analyzed during the next month. The results will appear in different forms such as seminars, conference papers, journal articles, and a research report. We will be delighted to post an essence of these results on "LIS Café".

By Prof. Sajjad ur Rehman