A Survey of Internationalisation Activities in European Library and Information Science Schools

Findings are presented from a questionnaire-based survey addressing issues in internationalisation and international collaboration of European higher education institutions within Library and Information Science (LIS). Seventy-five percent of the 30 schools in the survey population responded to the questionnaire. Many schools are making special efforts to internationalise their programme curricula. Study-abroad programmes tend to be widespread and exchanges within EU’s mobility scheme for students and staff are a typical vehicle relied on. International student enrolment (degree students) presents a somewhat diverse picture. Quite a few schools have internationally oriented academic specialists on their staff. The fairly new concept of Internationalisation at Home has been slow to impact on internationalisation activities. Overall, there is a clear sense of the obstacles hampering progress in international cooperation. The general picture of the pace of internationalisation within European LIS education appears somewhat uneven. There seems to be a paucity of more ambitiously conceived collaborative initiatives.