EDUCATION FOR LIBRARY AND INFORMATION MANAGEMENT CAREERS IN BUSINESS AND FINANCIAL SERVICES

DURING THE 1980s, information technology proliferated in corporations. While the technology permitted information professionals to add much more value, it also greatly increased information expense. Rising expense made financial management the fundamental library management competency, while intensifying top management pressure on the library more generally. Unfortunately, librarians continue to lack serious interest in the financial management implications of information technology. The education tends to reinforce this because it is defined by a series of obsolete dualisms-theoretical versus practical, core versus types of libraries, active versus passive learning. Acceptance of theory-plus a rigorous active approach to the core-will help release the education's potential for both corporate libraries and the businesses they serve.