The LIS school in the ICT age: a casualty, or catalyst for making a "cross-border" shift of a different type? - the case of South Africa

LIS schools in South Africa, like in many other parts of the world (including the developing world), are part of a triangular relationship involving LIS teaching departments, universities and the library and information services profession (that is, a relationship involving ‘borders’ of a different type). This relationship is profoundly affected by a rapidly evolving information and technology environment as well as higher education restructuring globally. In a context of ‘diffusion and diversity’ arising from domains framed by different borders, this paper takes a look at LIS schools in South Africa to ascertain whether they have succumbed to the pressures and constraints brought about by a technologically driven information environment and the so called efficiency models of universities. Alternatively, have they used these pressures as challenges to catalyse a ‘cross-border’ or paradigm shift from a discipline that evolved largely on a pragmatic basis to one grounded in epistemology and research methodologies providing it with the capacity to embrace rapidly evolving trends in the generation, use and transfer of information in the ICT age. A qualitative approach, involving a cursory survey of LIS school heads in South Africa analysed against conceptual understandings gleaned from relevant literature, frames the inquiry attempting to address these critical questions. The paper outlines the pressures of the triangular relationship that frames or borders the existence and inherent difficulties of the LIS school and points out that the LIS schools surveyed, each in their own way within their institutional contexts, have managed thus far to survive their challenges - albeit this being no guarantee of continued survival. In terms of whether these LIS schools have used these pressures as challenges to catalyse a paradigm shift in their conceptualisation of LIS education, the paper points out that some have been more creative here than others and concludes that LIS schools, in South Africa or in other parts of the developing world and elsewhere, need to dig deeply and creatively into their epistemological resources to sustain their academic projects in a highly competitive and arduous environment. As a way forward the paper makes suggestions, with the use of concrete examples, of various types of LIS school collaborations some of these including collaboration across country borders, across disciplinary borders, across ‘science/theory-practice’ or ‘academia-professional practice’ borders.