SHIBBOLETH AND SUBSTANCE IN NORTH-AMERICAN LIBRARY AND INFORMATION-SCIENCE EDUCATION

This paper analyzes the health of library and information science education (LIS) in North America. Structural and cultural inhibitors of disciplinary development are identified. The perspective is strategic pragmatism and the primary focus is the LIS discourse domain. The malaise which besets the field is defined in terms of fundamentalism, xenophobia, censorship, fetishism, infirmary feminism, genetic inbreeding, social activism and multicultural mania. A number of possible remedies are outlined.