Provocations on iSchools and Librarianship: New Priorities for LIS Forward

Abstract

For the last twenty years, the field of library and information science (LIS) has been evolving within the context of iSchools. Now, organizationally melded with other information fields, LIS is better positioned than ever to synergize expertise across disciplines to benefit librarianship. However, the recent LIS Forward position paper asserts that dynamics are changing within iSchools in ways that can strengthen or diminish LIS, surfacing critical tensions and issuing recommendations for the iSchool community. This panel assembles thought leaders to share new perspectives on the provocations of the position paper and to further advance the conversation with the ASIS&T community. The group will consider themes of diversification, competition, and identity and explore two urgent professional concerns—Black librarianship and AI. A moderated discussion will be documented to inform future engagement on charting directions, investments, and grand challenges for the field of LIS and the profession.