X Close

DIS Staff Blog

Home

Department of Information Studies

Menu

CILIP Reaccreditation for MA LIS and MSc IS

By Anne Welsh, on 11 June 2014

Taking notes on the DIS Common Room

Photo credit: James Curtis

On 15 May we were pleased to welcome CILIP’s accreditation panel to the department to discuss our Postgraduate Diploma and MA Library and Information Studies (PGDip / MA LIS) and Postgraduate Diploma and MSc Information Science (PGDip / MSc IS) courses. Both courses have now been reaccredited for the maximum 5 years, until May 2019. We really enjoyed meeting the panel and taking part in the process, which, for the first time this year, was informed by CILIP’s new Professional Knowledge and Skills Base (PKSB).

Introduced by CILIP in 2013 after widespread consultation with the information profession, the PKSB is a useful professional development tool against which all accredited library school courses are now mapped. At its heart are core ethics and values which underpin generic skills in leadership and advocacy; strategy, planning & management; customer focus, service design & marketing; and IT & communications and professional expertise in organising knowledge & information; knowledge & information management; using & exploiting knowledge & information; research skills; information governance & compliance; records management & archiving; collection management & development; and literacies & learning. These are set within the wider contexts of the library, information & knowledge sector and the organisation and environment.

As education providers, the PKSB provides a structure within which we can prepare our students for their future careers: since 1919, when UCL offered its first library courses, developed with one of CILIP’s predecessors, the Library Association, we have aimed to equip our graduates not only with theory, but with the skills they will further develop throughout their careers, and for UK information professionals the framework for Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is now the PKSB.

We are pleased that both our programmes have been reaccredited and happy to have the PKSB to use with our students alongside UCL’s own Personal and Professional Development (PPD) resources. We look forward to continuing to work with the many professionals who share their expertise with us through guest lectures and talks and by hosting work placements for our students, and to welcoming those who can make it to our summer drinks party this evening.

We are always happy to hear from experienced practitioners who would like to form links with the Department. Contact details for both our programmes are available on the CILIP website and, of course, our departmental webpages.

Our next Cilip reaccreditation is scheduled for May 2019.

Anne Welsh, Lecturer in Library and Information Studies and Programme Director for the MA LIS

Leave a Reply