Educating a new cadre of experts specializing in digital collections and digital curation: Experiential learning in digital library curriculum

Abstract

Integration of experiential learning into the library and information science (LIS) courses has been a theme in LIS education, but the topic deserves renewed attention with an increasing demand for professionals in the digital library field and in light of the new initiative announced by the Library of Congress (LC) and the Institution of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) for national residency program in digital duration. The balance between theory and practice in digital library curricula, the challenges of incorporating practical projects into LIS coursework, and the current practice of teaching with hands on activities represent the primary areas of this panel discussion. The panel brings together a representative from the Library of Congress Office of Strategic Initiative to talk about the Residency in Digital duration program and LIS educators who are actively involved in developing and teaching DL courses with experiential components in face-to-face, hybrid, and online environments.