INITIAL IT TRAINING IN DEPARTMENTS OF INFORMATION AND LIBRARY STUDIESIN THE BRITISH-ISLES - A SURVEY OF STUDENT VIEWS

A survey of 732 students at twelve Departments of Information and Libr ary Studies (DILSs) measured their experience in the office-automation skills of typing, word-processing, spreadsheets and databases, their assessment of their knowledge and confidence with computers, the level of Information Technology (IT) provision, their preferences in softwa re and hardware and method to complete assignments, and whether their IT training was suitable for their future employment requirements. DIL Ss are recommended to provide keyboarding learning facilities, and a m ore rigorous IT knowledge test to ascertain better their students' act ual needs. The use of integrated packages may provide a more suitable level of IT training than industry-standard packages.