LIBRARIES AND DIGITAL ACADEMIC KNOWLEDGE IN BULGARIA. NEED FOR DIGITAL COMPETENCE DEVELOPMENT IN LIS EDUCATION Ass. Prof. Krassimira Anguelova Sofia University, Faculty of Philosophy, Department of Library and Information Sciences and Cultural Policy Workshop Parma, October 2005

Overview 1.Online archiving systems in Bulgarian Universities 2.Problems connected with the digitalization of academic knowledge in Bulgaria 3.Development of homogeneous infrastructure for electronic access to academic information. National standardisation and unification 4.LIS Education in Bulgaria and development of “digital competencies” for graduates and working professionals.

Developing of contemporary online archiving systems in Bulgarian Universities  Sofia University : ARCADE (Architecture for Reusable Courseware Authoring and Delivery) system  Medical University – Sofia : Flexible Problem-solving oriented Web based e-learning system  University of Plovdiv - PeU (  Technical University – Rousse. A Virtual Center „e- Learning Shell”

Development of homogeneous infrastructure for electronic access to academic information. National standardisation and unification  Creation of universal standards and national legislation  Virtual Chair in Computing – 2002  Virtual Faculty in Information and Communication Technologies  Establishment (by 37 Bulgarian universities) of the Bulgarian Virtual University (BVU) – Dec.2004  Virtual Euro-Faculty in computing to the GEANT pan-European data communications networks  Regional virtual universities  Creation of a high-speed information highway

Problems connected with the digitalization of academic knowledge in Bulgaria  Implementation of knowledge management practices (technological and human orientated) at the level of the organization (its vision, management, culture and practices) at an individual level  Insufficient quality and reach of the level of electronic publishing, of e-learning, e-teaching and e-archiving of the academic texts in universities

Problems …  Lack/shortage of funds  Rigid management.  Need for training all kinds of users of digital platforms and systems  Resistance of some of those users to the idea of being trained and taught

Problems…  digital archives or digital libraries related project initiatives in Bulgaria up until now have been started, initiated not by the libraries but outside them  Situation of divergence between libraries and digital libraries than convergence

Problems due to…  Lack of highly qualified, resp. expensive professionals  Need for professional development and cross-training  Need for increasing the number of knowledge management, IT and information-related courses offered in colleges and universities

Most of the problems are due to:  Librarians’ lack of knowledge about: Global networked economy Identifying and implementing technical solutions for digital archiving and preservation. Modern software tools for creation and maintenance of databases Development of e-services and e-management in libraries Intellectual property rights and especially copyright issues regarding digital materials Legal deposit of digital materials Competition with commercial operators for digital archiving and preservation etc.

Need for forestalling Role of LIS Education  Characteristics of the status and evolution of Bulgarian LIS schools: the depth and range of their programs (9 LIS schools) the program perspective “old fashioned” government requirements for certification of professional librarians

“State of the art” at LIS Education in Bulgaria  A slow shift towards competence oriented courses and practical skills mastering in: A) selection of Internet resources, organization of Internet resources, interfacing Internet resources, adaptation to users and use of Internet resources.

“State of the art”… B) Internet navigation; Internet information organization; Internet information development; Internet information consulting service. C) copyright and intellectual property rights for electronic resources; D) Web design; E) Managing Electronic/Digital libraries; F) Database management and processing; G) Database design and development etc.

Continuous education and lifelong learning  University Center for continuous education for librarians and information professionals (UCCELIP)- established in 1999  internal workshops at libraries in the country for developing additional skills, different programs  professional current awareness program for Bulgarian librarians – Technology day

Conclusions  The development and maintenance of digital libraries, digital archives of knowledge or of digital platforms for e- research or e-learning are still isolated “pockets of excellence”  Libraries and librarians are not always involved in the process of development of academic knowledge digitalization projects due to lack of digital competencies and skills and no pro-active behavior and self confidence…

Our common task: To take actions together to avoid the danger for libraries turn into “info-poor places in the info-rich world”!

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