Library and Information Science

This paper discusses education for librarianship in Japan in terms of curricular revisions of a library school on the undergraduate level.

When the Japan Library School was first established at Keio University in 1951, it had a program focused on public librarianship. Thenceforth, it made curricular revisions emphasizing special librarianship in 1962 and 1968 respectively, as well as extensions in the scope of its program“in line with social needs in Japan. But a mere addition of a few courses to the curriculum existing at that time did not solve educational problems, but made unstable the basis for the curricular structure. Then, in 1972, the school decided to reorganize its curriculum. In the current revision of the curriculum, information science was sought as theoretical foundation of library science with the hope that in the future the student will be able to apply results of theories to practical problems. Putting the concept of the main functions of information systems into the curriculum, courses are grouped into three major areas of: 1) Recorded materials; 2) Organization of recorded materials; and 3) Information systems.