Developing a Joint EU-US Digital Library Curriculum

Scholars from both sides of the Atlantic, including panelist Syracuse Professor Jian Qin,
met Wednesday morning to talk about developing a joint European Union-United State digital library curriculum.

The Bologna Project, which was created in Europe and is dedicated to improving graduate education programs internationally, has started taking steps toward building these collaborative partnerships.

For example, in the past language and the variation of meaning in the same academic discipline even prevented joint courses from being taught in European countries. Now, they have changed the framework to focus more on learning outcomes so that people are clear what the objectives are and what skills will be taught, which translates across national borders.

In the United States, however, collaborative digital library courses often occur around common topics and among American Library Association accredited schools.

Also, digital libraries in the United States focus more on the cyberinfrastructure and information management related issues, while Europe is more interested in cultural heritage issues.

The panelists provided an update on the status of the efforts to develop joint EU-US Digital Library Curriculum, and invited others to become active with a group of the 10 American and European universities and institutions to help move this process forward.