Libraly Journal

Libraly Journal ›› 2022, Vol. 41 ›› Issue (2): 4-23.

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Reflections on Progress of Multi-level Higher Education of Library and Information Archives Management in Chinese Mainland: From 2016 to 2021

Tian Ye (Department and Graduate Institute of Library and Information Science, Taiwan University)   

  • Online:2022-02-15 Published:2022-02-22
  • About author:Tian Ye (Department and Graduate Institute of Library and Information Science, Taiwan University)

Abstract: In the context of the construction of “Double First Class University” and “New Liberal Arts”, all levels of professional education in the discipline of library and information archives management are undergoing rapid change and uncertainty in Chinese mainland. In recent years, the Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council has made dynamic adjustments of educational institutions with undergraduate, graduate and doctoral programs six times, involving as many as 90 on LIS programs. Due to the non-rigorous research dimension and structure, there is always a lack of empirical research on professional education based on complete LIS first-level disciplines, especially the lack of attention to the trend of disciplinary adjustment. In view of this situation, this research collects vital information from multiple channels, takes the institutions with LIS programs in Chinese mainland as the research object, and analyzes the establishment and enrollment status of such institutions. The main research findings are summarized below. Firstly, the scale of LIS disciplines has reached a historical high, with a total of 107 disciplines at various levels, including 41 undergraduates, 93 masters (57 academic masters and 75 professional masters), 17 doctors, 14 post-doctoral and 4 junior colleges; Secondly, the regional distribution of disciplines is more balanced, and currently 29 provinces have set up relevant levels of LIS disciplines. Higher-level educational resources such as doctoral educational institutions are highly concentrated, mainly in Beijing, Jiangsu Province, and Hubei Province. Thirdly, from the perspective of diachronic analysis, the undergraduate level tends to decline steadily and develop more towards higher level; the master level represented by professional master’s degree develops rapidly; the departmental background of LIS discipline setting is more diversified, and the traditional academic master’s degree has a certain tendency to shrink; the doctoral level shows a steady growth and the cultivation quality improves year by year. Facing the possible mismatch between supply and demand in the LIS labor market brought by the continuous expansion, we propose a collaborative governance model of multiple entities under the guidance of combining supply and demand, and introduce LIS professional associations as pivotal entities, so as to achieve a dynamic balance between the supply scale, structure, quality and market demand.