Conceptualizing the field of library and information studies: The perspective of LIS faculty and LIS practitioners in the United States

The study explored the field conceptualization of Library and Information Studies (LIS) by LIS Faculty and LIS Practitioners in the United States. Professional LIS occupation, the demographic variables of gender, age, and educational background , and the occupational variables of job position, educator experience, practitioner experience, and area of specialization were studied in relationship to field conceptualization .; A 17-item, web-administered questionnaire was completed by faculty from LIS schools in the United States with an ALA-accredited Master's degree program in LIS (N=146) and librarians with an MLS degree and were working in the United States in an Academic, School, Special, or Public library (N=311). The faculty group was a random sample. The practitioner group a non-probability sample. The subjects were not randomized. Consequently, the two groups could not be meaningfully compared. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze both samples; the chi-square test was utilized to analyze the relationship between job position and educational background and specific questionnaire items for the LIS Faculty.; Five findings were summarized. LIS Faculty and LIS Practitioners continue be predominantly middle-aged or older and, in the case of practitioners, predominantly female. The evidence also suggested that the notion that LIS education is being undermined by an influx of academics with doctorates from non-LIS disciplines could not be supported. The majority of LIS Faculty and LIS Practitioners preferred both Library and Information terms be included in the names of LIS schools. The division between LIS faculty and LIS practitioners was manifested as a matter of behavior rather than attitude; the majority of both groups thought the intellectual ownership of LIS was the equal and shared responsibility of LIS faculty and practitioners. The LIS Practitioners characterized the field of LIS as a Practice Profession . The LIS Faculty were evenly split among Academic Discipline , an Academic Profession, or Practice Profession . The LIS Practitioners preferred the name Librarians, LIS Faculty preferred Information Professionals. This last finding supported an undercurrent of the study which suggested that individuals were aware of the fact that who they were somehow related to what (or whether) they could speak about LIS as a field.