What is the status of library science education in South Africa today?
Lor: I’ve been out of South Africa since 2005, and very preoccupied with international and academic work, so I’m not the best person to ask. I am familiar with the Department of Information Science at the University of Pretoria, which I think is very good – one of the best in Africa. But then, I’m an extraordinary professor there, so I’m not an unbiased observer. A short answer would be: Mixed. Some good schools, some mediocre. A rationalization process has been taking place and a number of schools have been phased out. Unfortunately, quality is not the only factor determining survival. The University of Cape Town’s school is being phased out, which I think is a great pity. Generally, I think that the move in the 1960s and 1970s to integrated bachelors degrees (combining the major and minor courses of a general bachelors degree (mostly BAs) with Library and Information Science majors) was a mistake. I’m an early product of this system myself, graduating in 1967 with a BA Librarianship
