Department of Librarianship, Archives and Records
The department was established in 1975 as part of the Faculty of Arts;
it was reviewed in 1993 and as a consequence was relocated to the Faculty of
Computing and Information Technology from the beginning of 1994. It teaches at
all levels from undergraduate to doctoral, offering a Bachelor of Information
Management degree, graduate diplomas, masters and PhD programs.
The department is committed to the view that the management of information in
both paper and electronic forms by archivists, records managers, librarians or
generalists is a key discipline for the information age of the twenty-first
century. Moral as well as technical aspects of document supply and management
are a central concern.
The department has five principal objectives:
- to develop, from their foundations in the humanities and social sciences,
professional courses in archives, records and librarianship which reach out to
the new horizons offered by contemporary information technology;
- to develop and manage a broadly-based undergraduate program in
information management which prepares individuals to take their place in
contemporary organisations;
- to continue to be a benchmark inventor and provider of quality initial,
continuing and advanced professional education for the professions of archives,
records management and librarianship;
- to offer to all students of the university the opportunity to master the
implications of information management and access for the twenty-first century;
- to develop a foundation for the understanding and application of
broadly-based information management processes in the context of contemporary
society.
Its bachelors degree in information management is designed to
replace the BA as the general degree for entry to a wide range of career
opportunities. Graduates of the department's courses will be multi-skilled,
information-literate, broadly based practitioners.
Students are expected to arrive in the department with a declared willingness
to acquire the skills of information management and an understanding of what
these skills are.
In its professional courses, the department orients its teaching to an
understanding of the practical and theoretical bases of the course, with an
emphasis on historical foundations; postgraduate students engaged in thesis
work are expected to make an active contribution to research in the
professional disciplines. Courses targeted to a professional qualification are
routinely submitted to the accreditation processes of the appropriate
professional body.
The department offers the following courses:
- Bachelor of Information Management
- Graduate Diploma in Archives and Records Management
- Graduate Diploma in Library and Information Studies
- Masters degrees by coursework or research
- PhD programs by research.
A number of prizes are awarded to students completing archives and
records courses.
Students enrolled in the Master of Arts (Librarianship) are eligible to compete
for selection to carry out fieldwork at Blackwell's in Oxford, England. Two
students are selected each year to work at Blackwell's on library-related
projects.
The department's research interests include:
Library and information services management
Special librarianship, use of information technology in libraries and
information services; expert systems in libraries; Australian information
industry; strategic value of information.
- Academic staff: Ms J Anderson.
Automated library systems; use of SGML
for library records; application of information technology to libraries.
- Academic staff: Mr D Foott.
Information technology; automation in
library and information systems in developing countries; hypertext and
hypermedia systems; academic and research library systems.
- Academic staff: Professor E Lim.
Academic and research library
services; collection building; bibliography (historical, descriptive and
analytical); textual criticism and editorial work.
- Academic staff: Dr B McMullin.
Public librarianship; library services
to ethnic minority communities; international and comparative librarianship;
library developments in South-east Asia.
- Academic staff: Ms R Rasmussen.
Library and information service
management; the evolving relationships between analogue and digital
media-impacts on information service in the community, education, research, the
arts, business and government; information needs, skills and access;
interdependencies in the information service sector; development of information
service enterprises; information service and disability.
- Academic staff: Professor D Schauder.
Archives and records
management
Legal aspects of recorded information; appraisal and preservation; the
cultural context of record services.
- Academic staff: Ms L Iacovino
The nature of recorded information;
recordkeeping and accountability; appraisal and documentation; electronic
recordkeeping; education of recordkeeping professionals.
- Academic staff: Associate Professor S McKemmish.
Electronic
recordkeeping; organisational culture and strategic recordkeeping options;
recordkeeping audit; documentation and appraisal.
- Academic staff: Ms B Reed.
History and future development of archival
and records management theory and practice; the impact of electronic
recordkeeping upon archival science; organisational analysis and recordkeeping
processes.
- Academic staff: Mr F Upward.
The major in information management is offered by the department, in
conjunction with other departments of the faculty, as a sequence of subjects
within the Bachelor of Information Management. The subjects are also available
to students in a range of other courses, including those of other faculties.
The aim of the major is to provide students with knowledge and understanding of
the way society, its organisations and individuals apply information
technologies and adapt them to a variety of contexts.
Students completing this major will have knowledge of:
- information transfer activities;
- the principles of the relational database model;
- the global information net;
- tools and techniques for information delivery in a wide variety of
contexts;
- methods for capturing information as record;
- ancillary properties (legal, moral and philosophical) of information
access and delivery;
- the social and organisational dimensions of information.
They will
have an understanding of:
- business organisations and their operation;
- business systems and related computer-based information systems;
- theoretical aspects and techniques of processing information;
- the importance of content and structure in documentation processes;
- application, operation, security and management of database systems;
- the ethical and legal issues associated with information
retrieval.
They will be able to:
- diagnose information need, provide access to, deploy and package
information in the interests of clients;
- use techniques for managing the information resources of an organisation;
- identify and document user requirements;
- assist in defining organisational recordkeeping regimes;
- use database management systems query languages to satisfy the
information retrieval inquiries;
- use software systems to generate interfaces for information retrieval;
- communicate effectively with users, clients and other computing
professionals;
- think logically, and develop, analyse and communicate alternative
solutions to problems;
- cooperate with others to work effectively in a team environment, and be
able to take initiative and work independently where appropriate;
- undertake basic research, and be able to locate and retrieve information
in the technical literature from a range of sources, including on-line
sources.
They will have developed the following attitudes:
- enthusiasm for the field of study;
- concern for accuracy, security and privacy in the management of
information;
- professionalism in their roles as information management personnel.
The major in information studies is offered by the department to
students undertaking a range of other courses, including those of other
faculties. It is made up of the subjects offered by the department within the
Bachelor of Information Management.
The aim of the major is to provide students with knowledge and skills in
information management.
Students completing this major will have knowledge of:
- information transfer activities;
- the global information net;
- tools and techniques for information delivery in a wide variety of
contexts;
- methods for capturing information as record;
- ancillary properties (legal, moral and philosophical) of information
access and delivery;
- the social and organisational dimensions of information.
They will
have an understanding of:
- business organisations and their operation;
- theoretical aspects and techniques of processing information;
- the importance of content and structure in documentation processes;
- the ethical and legal issues associated with information
retrieval.
They will be able to:
- diagnose information need, provide access to, deploy and package
information in the interests of clients;
- use techniques for managing the information resources of an organisation;
- identify and document user requirements;
- assist in defining organisational recordkeeping regimes;
- communicate effectively with users, clients and other computing
professionals;
- think logically, and develop, analyse and communicate alternative
solutions to problems;
- cooperate with others to work effectively in a team environment, and be
able to take initiative and work independently where appropriate;
- undertake basic research, and be able to locate and retrieve information
in the technical literature from a range of sources, including on-line
sources.
They will have developed the following attitudes:
- enthusiasm for the field of study;
- concern for accuracy, security and privacy in the management of
information;
- professionalism in their roles as information management personnel.
Handbook Contents
| Faculty Handbooks
| Monash University
| Published by Monash University, Clayton, Victoria
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Copyright © Monash University 1996 - All Rights Reserved -
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Authorised by the Academic Registrar December 1996
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