Introduction to Library and Information Science/Learning More: Free LIS Resources

After reading this chapter, students should be able to articulate

1. the importance of professional development and continuing education
2. barriers to professional development and continuing education
3. a list of prominent open access professional development tools in their area of specialty

Open access LIS resources

Many LIS resources have restrictive licenses and are only available to people affiliated with libraries that subscribe to them. This includes many of our discipline's most well-known journals. However, there is an increasing number of LIS material available freely online. Some are free of charge, others are freely licensed, and some, like the LIS Wiki, can be edited by anyone.

Reference sources

• Online Dictionary for Library and Information Science, by Joan K. Reitz. This is a great resource, but not freely licensed, so don't copy it here.
• LIS Wiki, a Free compendium that anyone can edit -- licensed under the GNU FDL.
• Talking with other library workers, many of whom love answering questions and mentoring.

Peer-reviewed Journals

While the major peer-reviewed journals in LIS tend to have some major barriers to access, an increasing number of journals in our field are freely accessible online. Currently, open access journals tend to have a more international focus, and also tend to emphasize technology topics more than traditional U.S. indexes of library publications. You can search a number of open-access peer-reviewed journals simultaneously using the [Directory of Open Access Journals], which indexes dozens of LIS journals.

• code4lib is an excellent journal about library tech.
• DESIDOC Journal of Library & Information Technology
• D-Lib -- one of the most well-respected journals in the area of digital libraries.
• Evidence Based Library and Information Practice
• First Monday "is one of the first openly accessible, peer–reviewed journals on the Internet, solely devoted to the Internet. Since its start in May 1996, First Monday has published 1,278 papers in 205 issues; these papers were written by 1,714 different authors." Licensed under the Creative Commons BY-NC-SA license.
• Information Technology and Libraries
• In the Library with the Lead Pipe -- despite this blog's humorous title, it provides a number of peer-reviewed articles with footnoted citations, and is an awesome place to learn about new ideas in librarianship.
• International Journal of Digital Library Services
• International Research: Journal of Library and Information Science
• Journal of Library Innovation covers innovative library practices in many forms, ranging from "the discovery of unmet user needs" to "creative collaboration between libraries, or between libraries and other types of institutions" to "Implementing new technologies" to "Explorations of the future of libraries."
• Journal of the Medical Library Association
• Library and Information Research
• Library Philosophy and Practice
• Library Resources and Technical Services (LRTS) is one of the most prestigious journals in the areas of cataloging and technical services. The American Library Association makes the entire run of this journal, except for the most recent year, available online.
• Library Student Journal -- articles written by LIS students. Note that only the "Articles" section, rather than the "Essays" and "Opinions" sections, is peer-reviewed. Although this journal isn't cited very often, the articles are of a high quality.
• Library Trends has been edited by professors at the Graduate School of LIS at the University of Illinois since 1952. Each issue has its own theme, and the topics it covers are quite wide-ranging. Illinois' Institutional Repository makes all issues available online, except for the two most recent years.
• Partnership: the Canadian Journal of Library and Information Practice and Research
• Theological Librarianship

Non-English

• Journal of Educational Media and Library Sciences (Chinese - Taiwan)
• Knjižnica (Slovenian)
• Libreas (German)