Working Project of the CEBSOPOAL
versión en español
WORKING PROJECT OF THE EDUCATION COMMITTEE ON SOCIAL AND POLITICAL LIBRARY SCIENCE IN LATIN AMERICA
Felipe Meneses Tello
Person Responsible for the Committee
fmeneses@correo.unam.mx
Introduction
The Education Committee on Social and Political Library Science in Latin America (CEBSOPOAL) arises from the concern expressed at the Information, Documentation, and Libraries Social Forum (FSIDyB), held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, August 26-38, 2004. Therefore, this committees mission is to analyze the educational problems that have evolved from the following conceptual areas.
Libraries, Information, and Sociology
Libraries, Information, and State
Approaching the problem
Although we live in the twentieth-first century, we Latin American librarians must not forget that we also live in a geopolitical region with a range of national and local problems that cause us to recognize that our ideas about politics, state, and society are very much behind relative to those of other countries, particularly the hegemonic ones.
Weaknesses in contemporary Latin American library science education have plagued us since the beginning of the twentieth century and continue to do so, in large part by not offering any solid social formation, and by not contextualizing political paradigms. It does not allow for ideological analysis, nor does it articulate democratic values. Neither does it connect with the ideals of human rights that demand a range of freedoms, except to postulate more of the same, that is, an education far removed from the social and the political; a process of education-learning focused on the technical, technological, and administrative an approach that is not only tedious but also generally disconnected from the realities that face the library systems of Latin America and the Caribbean.
It is clear that the academic formation of Latin American library science has primarily been technical-administrative because the absence of materials or subjects with a social and political perspective has been and remains the common denominator in the field of library science education in Latin America. Thus, the deficit knowledge base of students who graduate from this kind of educational system creates serious gaps in the articulation of library science with social and political problems.
Although some relevant social subjects exist in library curricula, for example, the course in Social Library Science found in the new curriculum of the School of Library Science at the School of Letters and Sciences at the UNAM-Mexico, it is nonetheless well-known that that the faculty lack the basic sociological and political knowledge required to reliably teach it effectively. Additionally, only a few Brazilian universities have emphasized this kind of academic education. Although for some time now they have included a few relevant subjects in their library science/documental curricula, for example, Introduction to Social Studies, Historic and Social Studies; Individual and Society; Political Science and Education. Nonetheless, the level of articulation achieved between these library science subjects and their development and the reality faced by Brazilian librarians and those of other countries from the region remains problematic.
From another perspective, we need to recognize that Social Library Science education must complement and articulate with what we are calling Political Library Science. This is of extreme importance because the first cognitive line alludes primarily to Library Science and Society, while the second refers to the connection between Library Science and the State.
Once we agree with this analysis, we recognize that education of this type suffers from dual problems. Firstly, it is necessary to create courses and offer seminars to the faculty interested in teaching these two specialized fields with the goal of effectively transmitting a solid body of knowledge before a group. Secondly, it is necessary to design subjects that can be put into the existing curricula as well as thematic topics within the curriculas specific subjects. This is a task that once accomplished this makes it possible to integrate the knowledge of library science with that of other fields in a manner that offers students an inter- and multidisciplinary panorama that reflects the broad theoretical and practical spectrum of libraries (among the other objects of library science and information science studies.) It also allows us to confront the diversity of problems that exist in the spheres of society and the State, since these two structures have been, are and will be needs, precisely, from those kinds of cultural institutions for the carrying out of their functions. The complex functions that social and political life prepare cannot be accomplished without the involvement of books, libraries, and documental information, as well as authors, reading, printing, bookstores, librarians, bibliographies, among other cultural elements.
Objectives
- General Objective
· To carry out systematic activities aimed at containing the gaps exists in the field of political-social library science education in Latin America.
-Specific objectives
§ To develop a general diagnosis with respect to current library science education that exists in the principal schools that form professional groups of librarians or library scientists in Latin America.
§ To design subjects, departments, seminars (general and specialized) that offer methods from both library science and sociological units and the connections of library science and political science.
§ To prepare and give courses and workshops with social and political library science perspectives, for both professional and support staff development.
§ To create subject bibliographies to support the work that is done looking to fulfill the planned objectives.
Thematic Plans
In virtue of the complexity that the conceptual units Libraries, Information, and Sociology, Libraries; Information and State present, as a point of departure the general and specific topics that that the Study Circle on Political and Social Library Science has created and posted on their web site are suggested,:
http://www.cebi.org.mx/temas.html
In such a fashion the three cognitive spheres are considered:
Cognitive Sphere 1
Social Library Science
Library Sociological Theory
Library as Social Reality
Libraries and Society
Libraries and Social Structure
Libraries and the Population
Libraries and the Church
Other connections
Cognitive Sphere 2
Political Library Science
Library Political Theory
Library as Political Reality
Libraries and State
Libraries and Political Structure
Libraries and the People
Libraries and Government
Other connections
Cognitive Sphere 3
Sociopolitical Library Science
Sociopolitical Theory about the Library
The Library as sociopolitical reality
Libraries and Democracy
Libraries and Education
Libraries and Culture
Other Connections
Activities and products
1. - Analysis of curriculums of the main Latin American schools of library science education. From the specific to the general:
By schools
By countries
By regions (Caribbean, Central American, Andean, Amazonian)
2. - Development of subjects, departments, seminars, courses, and workshops with the goal of:
a) to continue having them included in the curriculums at the universities which offer schools of library and information sciences
b) to offer the opportunity of providing on-line courses to groups of interested colleagues, bringing together some of the topics that are about social and political library science
3. - Development of subject specific bibliographies
4. - Education 1] before a groups and 2] online
5. - To write and publish articles; to write and present papers at national and international forums that mention the topical plans.
Translated by Dana Lubow
Edited by Larry Oberg
4-7-05
WORKING PROJECT OF THE EDUCATION COMMITTEE ON SOCIAL AND POLITICAL LIBRARY SCIENCE IN LATIN AMERICA
Felipe Meneses Tello
Person Responsible for the Committee
fmeneses@correo.unam.mx
Introduction
The Education Committee on Social and Political Library Science in Latin America (CEBSOPOAL) arises from the concern expressed at the Information, Documentation, and Libraries Social Forum (FSIDyB), held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, August 26-38, 2004. Therefore, this committees mission is to analyze the educational problems that have evolved from the following conceptual areas.
Libraries, Information, and Sociology
Libraries, Information, and State
Approaching the problem
Although we live in the twentieth-first century, we Latin American librarians must not forget that we also live in a geopolitical region with a range of national and local problems that cause us to recognize that our ideas about politics, state, and society are very much behind relative to those of other countries, particularly the hegemonic ones.
Weaknesses in contemporary Latin American library science education have plagued us since the beginning of the twentieth century and continue to do so, in large part by not offering any solid social formation, and by not contextualizing political paradigms. It does not allow for ideological analysis, nor does it articulate democratic values. Neither does it connect with the ideals of human rights that demand a range of freedoms, except to postulate more of the same, that is, an education far removed from the social and the political; a process of education-learning focused on the technical, technological, and administrative an approach that is not only tedious but also generally disconnected from the realities that face the library systems of Latin America and the Caribbean.
It is clear that the academic formation of Latin American library science has primarily been technical-administrative because the absence of materials or subjects with a social and political perspective has been and remains the common denominator in the field of library science education in Latin America. Thus, the deficit knowledge base of students who graduate from this kind of educational system creates serious gaps in the articulation of library science with social and political problems.
Although some relevant social subjects exist in library curricula, for example, the course in Social Library Science found in the new curriculum of the School of Library Science at the School of Letters and Sciences at the UNAM-Mexico, it is nonetheless well-known that that the faculty lack the basic sociological and political knowledge required to reliably teach it effectively. Additionally, only a few Brazilian universities have emphasized this kind of academic education. Although for some time now they have included a few relevant subjects in their library science/documental curricula, for example, Introduction to Social Studies, Historic and Social Studies; Individual and Society; Political Science and Education. Nonetheless, the level of articulation achieved between these library science subjects and their development and the reality faced by Brazilian librarians and those of other countries from the region remains problematic.
From another perspective, we need to recognize that Social Library Science education must complement and articulate with what we are calling Political Library Science. This is of extreme importance because the first cognitive line alludes primarily to Library Science and Society, while the second refers to the connection between Library Science and the State.
Once we agree with this analysis, we recognize that education of this type suffers from dual problems. Firstly, it is necessary to create courses and offer seminars to the faculty interested in teaching these two specialized fields with the goal of effectively transmitting a solid body of knowledge before a group. Secondly, it is necessary to design subjects that can be put into the existing curricula as well as thematic topics within the curriculas specific subjects. This is a task that once accomplished this makes it possible to integrate the knowledge of library science with that of other fields in a manner that offers students an inter- and multidisciplinary panorama that reflects the broad theoretical and practical spectrum of libraries (among the other objects of library science and information science studies.) It also allows us to confront the diversity of problems that exist in the spheres of society and the State, since these two structures have been, are and will be needs, precisely, from those kinds of cultural institutions for the carrying out of their functions. The complex functions that social and political life prepare cannot be accomplished without the involvement of books, libraries, and documental information, as well as authors, reading, printing, bookstores, librarians, bibliographies, among other cultural elements.
Objectives
- General Objective
· To carry out systematic activities aimed at containing the gaps exists in the field of political-social library science education in Latin America.
-Specific objectives
§ To develop a general diagnosis with respect to current library science education that exists in the principal schools that form professional groups of librarians or library scientists in Latin America.
§ To design subjects, departments, seminars (general and specialized) that offer methods from both library science and sociological units and the connections of library science and political science.
§ To prepare and give courses and workshops with social and political library science perspectives, for both professional and support staff development.
§ To create subject bibliographies to support the work that is done looking to fulfill the planned objectives.
Thematic Plans
In virtue of the complexity that the conceptual units Libraries, Information, and Sociology, Libraries; Information and State present, as a point of departure the general and specific topics that that the Study Circle on Political and Social Library Science has created and posted on their web site are suggested,:
http://www.cebi.org.mx/temas.html
In such a fashion the three cognitive spheres are considered:
Cognitive Sphere 1
Social Library Science
Library Sociological Theory
Library as Social Reality
Libraries and Society
Libraries and Social Structure
Libraries and the Population
Libraries and the Church
Other connections
Cognitive Sphere 2
Political Library Science
Library Political Theory
Library as Political Reality
Libraries and State
Libraries and Political Structure
Libraries and the People
Libraries and Government
Other connections
Cognitive Sphere 3
Sociopolitical Library Science
Sociopolitical Theory about the Library
The Library as sociopolitical reality
Libraries and Democracy
Libraries and Education
Libraries and Culture
Other Connections
Activities and products
1. - Analysis of curriculums of the main Latin American schools of library science education. From the specific to the general:
By schools
By countries
By regions (Caribbean, Central American, Andean, Amazonian)
2. - Development of subjects, departments, seminars, courses, and workshops with the goal of:
a) to continue having them included in the curriculums at the universities which offer schools of library and information sciences
b) to offer the opportunity of providing on-line courses to groups of interested colleagues, bringing together some of the topics that are about social and political library science
3. - Development of subject specific bibliographies
4. - Education 1] before a groups and 2] online
5. - To write and publish articles; to write and present papers at national and international forums that mention the topical plans.
Translated by Dana Lubow
Edited by Larry Oberg
4-7-05
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