Library Review

Evolving perceptions of LIS students about their discipline: An action research with
inquiry-based learning approach
Yazdan Mansourian
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Yazdan Mansourian, (2010),"Evolving perceptions of LIS students about their disciplineAn action research
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Evolving perceptions of LIS Evolving

perceptions of
students about their discipline LIS students
An action research with inquiry-based
learning approach 185
Yazdan Mansourian Received 22 July 2009
Library and Information Studies, Tarbiat Moallem University, Reviewed 10 September 2009
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran Revised 14 October 2009
Accepted 28 October 2009
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report findings of an action research on students’
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perceptions of their area of study, Library and Information Science (LIS). The paper aims to
demonstrate how an inquiry-based learning (IBL) can help students to gain a more realistic view of
their discipline and consequently become more involved in the active learning.
Design/methodology/approach – The data were collected in two phases during an academic year.
The data collection tools were observation, interview, and questionnaire with open-ended questions.
In total, 38 first-year LIS undergraduate students at Tarbiat Mollem University (TMU) in Tehran
formed the target group. The study adopted a qualitative approach to seek a deep insight into the
case and did not attempt to generalize the results.
Findings – At the beginning of the first semester, most of the students did not possess a clear and
realistic view of their discipline and they had to cope with uncertainty and ambiguity about their
future career. Employing IBL approach in teaching LIS modules was an efficient way to prepare
students for deeper involvement with learning activities and it helps them to gain a better
understanding of their discipline’s scope, which consequently can prepare them for lifelong and
independent learning in future.
Research limitations/implications – LIS schools can use the suggestions in the paper to provide
their students with more chances of enjoying IBL techniques. However, the paper is based on a small
group of students in a specific context and the results cannot be easily generalized.
Originality/value – The effects of LIS students’ perceptions on their study progression have not
been addressed before and this paper can enhance our knowledge on this issue.
Keywords Learning methods, Teaching, Information science, Action research, Iran
Paper type Research paper

Introduction
Teaching and research are two main grounds of activities in all higher education
institutions, like universities. A successful university should be able to integrate these
two areas into its curriculum to equip students with enough knowledge and a range of
essential skills and abilities that they require for their future life and career. In the
traditional paradigms of education, universities usually had a pre-defined curriculum
for their undergraduate students with specific resources and definite objectives of
learning. However, in the new educational theories, learning and teaching are mainly
considered as dynamic and student-centered processes, with a particular focus on
developing research skills and intellectual capabilities of students. For example, in
recent learning theories mainly in the constructivism paradigm, such as ‘‘Community
of Practice’’ (Lave and Wenger, 1998), ‘‘Social Development Theory’’ (Vygotsky, 1978),
and ‘‘Discovery Learning’’ (Bruner, 1973, 1990), it is widely believed that learning is an Library Review
Vol. 59 No. 3, 2010
pp. 185-197
# Emerald Group Publishing Limited
The author wishes to thank the anonymous referees for their thorough reading and constructive 0024-2535
comments. DOI 10.1108/00242531011031179
 LR active and constructive process. As a result students should be involved with research
59,3 activities from the beginning of their undergraduate level.
However, the success of any research-led teaching depends on many factors such as
the lectures’ understanding of the initial perceptions of their students about their
discipline. For example, first-year undergraduate students in different subjects,
including Library and Information Science (LIS), usually do not possess a clear
186 understanding of their subject’s scopes and functions. This uncertainty might become
a source of frustration for some of them which might decelerate their educational
progress. Employing an appropriate teaching method in the first semester might be
very useful to help students to overcome their initial uncertainty and become prepared
to pursue their study in the future and to involve in research activities.
During the recent years, educational researchers have been suggesting that teachers
use new methods of teaching to help students pass this period of uncertainty much
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faster and easier. Among the existing approaches, inquiry-based learning (hereafter
IBL) is one of the most widely used and recommended methods in different areas such
as LIS (e.g. Cox et al., 2008) and computer science (e.g. Gordon and Brayshaw, 2008).
This paper reports findings of an action research in which the researcher, who was
at the same time the lecturer of first-year undergraduate students in LIS, employed IBL
approach to help his students to gain a deeper insight of LIS as an academic subject
and as a profession. During his previous experience of teaching LIS modules, he had
identified that an overwhelming majority of undergraduate students lack a clear
perception of the scope of their course and it causes frustration and disappointment for
them. To solve the problem, the researcher employed different techniques of IBL in his
teaching at the first semester and in the second semester he investigated the impact of
this approach with a qualitative approach. To collect the data, the researcher employed
various techniques including observation, survey and follow-up interviews.

A selective review of the literature

The background of this study relates to three separate sections of the literature in three
different areas. The first section is about ‘‘LIS education’’ in general and ‘‘LIS education
in Iran’’ in particular, the second part relates to ‘‘action research’’ as a research method
and the third part links to IBL as a well-known pedagogical approach.
The first section is important as the research case was a group of LIS students in
one of the Iranian universities, the second part is relevant as the researcher had a
qualitative approach and adopted an action research method and finally the third part
is linked to this research because the IBL is the employed pedagogical approach in this
study. However, even a glance at each part of the abovementioned areas needs several
independent papers. Therefore, this paper only provides a brief overview of each area
and introduces a number of resources for further reading.
Particularly, as LIS education is a well-researched area, the literature body on this
issue is so extensive. Several resources have already addressed various aspects of this
topic. Some of them focus on LIS education in a specific school (e.g. Brown, 2009), or in
a particular country (e.g. Haycock, 2007) or in a continent (e.g. Juznic and Badovinac,
2005; Ocholla, 2008). Even a quick glance at this huge literature body shows most of
these studies evaluate LIS curriculum contents (e.g. Horvat, 2003) and highlight the
required skills of LIS graduates in their future work (e.g. Middleton, 2003; Gerolimos
and Konsta, 2008), which are valuable in their place. However, until now less attention
has been paid to LIS students’ perceptions of their course. Accordingly, this study puts
 emphasis on the feelings and perceptions of LIS students and aims to show an example Evolving
of implementing new teaching methods in LIS education.
perceptions of
A glance at the LIS education in Iran LIS students
LIS has a long history in the Iranian culture as a professional practice but, its formal
education in the country began 71 years ago, in 1938, through a number of short term
training courses. The formal LIS education as an academic subject started at the
Iranian universities about 43 years ago when in 1966 the first LIS master course opened
187
at Tehran University (Hayati and Fattahi, 2005). During the last four decades the
number of LIS departments has been constantly increasing. At the present time, in
2009, more than 50 departments exist throughout the universities around the country.
They all have undergraduate courses and some of them run MA and PhD programs
too. There is an extensive literature about the history and development of LIS
education in Iran, mainly in Persian and some publications in English, which can be
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useful for the readers to have more details on this issue (e.g. Harvey, 1989; Hayati, 1996;
Kiani, 1999; Hayati and Fattahi, 2005). Similar to LIS education literature in general,
these publications mainly focus on LIS curriculum or describe how LIS schools were
formed and developed during the last decades. Therefore, little research has been done
on LIS students’ perceptions of their course and how they perceive their subject as a
future career. Also, our knowledge of the implication of new learning and teaching
methods in LIS schools in the country is limited.

Action research: an overview

Action research is one of the qualitative methods which is widely used in different
subjects including educational research, social science, and management. This kind of
research is a systematic process of thinking, research and practice which is involved to
the real life of the researchers and is connected to their daily activities. Action research
links to researchers’ personal efforts to gain a better understanding of real problems
and find practical solutions for them. This method is called ‘‘action research’’ because it
happens at the same time of ‘‘action’’ and it is almost impossible to separate the
‘‘research’’ and ‘‘action’’ while it is happening. Moreover, action research usually begins
with the recognition of a problem in a real context and follows by some thinking and
actions. The circular form of action research provides researchers with a chance to
follow their actions and evaluate the results. A quick look at the literature in various
social sciences in general and educational research in particular shows an increasing
popularity of this method among the researchers and practitioners (e.g. Carr and
Kemmis, 1986; Hollingsworth, 1997; Reason and Bradbury, 2008; McNiff and
Whitehead, 2002; Hopkins, 2002; Somekh, 2006; Greenwood and Levin, 2007; Reason
and Bradbury, 2008). Moreover, action research has already been used as a research
method in some of LIS studies (e.g. Gordon, 2006).

Inquiry-based learning
IBL is a form of active learning that focuses on the vital role of posing questions during
the learning process. IBL is mentioned in different pedagogical texts with similar terms
such as: discovery learning, research-based teaching, inductive teaching and learning,
research-led teaching, guided-inquiry, undergraduate research, and teaching research
links. In IBL teachers play a role of facilitator for learning and do not provide specific
information to their students. They help students to raise questions and indirectly
supervise them to find appropriate answers for these questions.
 LR Basically, in any teaching method derived from IBL, students go through an active
59,3 process of acquiring knowledge to develop their understanding about the topic. As
Hutchings (2007, p. 12) stated:
Enquiry-Based Learning is about ensuring that, as far as is possible, students acquire their
knowledge by means of a process of active learning, that is to say by a more natural method.
The effect of this method is that learning outcomes are more likely to become intellectually
188 embedded: what we discover, we retain.
This process helps students to contribute in creation of knowledge and become prepared
for lifelong and independent learning. Therefore, learners should work together to solve
problems rather than following direct instructions from their teachers. In the light of this
approach education begins with the learner’s curiosity to seek information about
something. For that reason, students make sense of new concepts by themselves and
their teachers only play a role of facilitator in the process of learning.
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In IBL the process of learning is constantly stimulated by inquiry which is driven

by questions or problems. In this evolving process learning happens based on a
practice of purposefully seeking knowledge and new understanding of related
concepts. In various teaching activities based on IBL approach students taking
increasing responsibility for their active learning to develop new skills in self-reflection
and self-directed learning. The previous research showed that IBL is an effective way
to equip learners with various skills as Hutchings (2007, p. 13) referred to some of them
including critical thinking, reflection and self-criticism, team-work, independence,
autonomous thinking, and information literacy.
Regarding the usefulness of this approach, during the recent years, IBL has been
used in various research initiatives and there is a growing literature indicating the
popularity of this approach in the new teaching and learning paradigms (e.g. Badley,
2002; Brew, 2003; Plowright and Watkins, 2004; Justice et al., 2007; Cox et al., 2008).

Current study
This study adopted action research as the research method in the light of IBL approach. In
other words, while the researcher was carrying out his duty as the lecturer of the first year
undergraduate students, he employed IBL techniques and tried to investigate the effect of
this approach on the efficiency of his teaching. A total of 38 undergraduate students in the
first year of LIS course at Tarbiat Moallem University (TMU) in September 2008 formed
the research case. Of them, 37 were female and only one of them was male. This uneven
distribution of gender shows that the library professional is predominantly female in Iran,
an issue which should be explored in other studies in the future.

Research questions
The research questions of this study arose from the real situation that the researcher
worked in and based on his previous experiences as a lecturer of this area. He realized
that most of the first-year LIS undergraduate students do not have strong motivations
about this subject. Accordingly, the following research questions formed the focal point
of this study:
RQ1. How effective is an IBL approach to enhance LIS undergraduate students’
understanding of their discipline?
RQ2. How can an IBL approach contribute to increasing the involvement of LIS
undergraduate students in their learning activities?
 RQ3. Is there any link between students understanding of the scope of their Evolving
course and their level of interest towards it? perceptions of
Research design LIS students
The researcher, who at the same time was the lecturer of some modules for the
students, used an IBL approach in his teaching and encouraged students to delve into
the relevant resources and look for information. 189
IBL was somehow a new method in this context, because the dominant teaching
method in this course has been mainly based on the traditional way of delivering
lectures and providing students with specific lecture notes or particular reading lists.
Moreover, a final written exam for each module, at the end of each semester, was the
main method to assess the progress of students. Of course, some of the lectures
consider some marks for students’ presentations and coursework. However, the major
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mark was based on the final written exam. Therefore, IBL can be considered as a new
scheme for this course.
To employ IBL approach he used several steps. For example, he encouraged
students to develop learning diaries and keep a record of their learning activities.
Moreover, in each lecture he introduced some of the recent books published in the
country in LIS area and asked the students to browse the books and write summaries
or reviews based on the structure that he had developed for them.
He also encouraged students to work in groups and helped them in making new
inquiry on the discipline. In general, the researcher used different methods to firstly
show his students the various aspects of LIS, and secondly inspire them for seeking
more detailed information about the current trends and issues in this subject in the
country. In summary, the main actions that the researcher took in this study were:
. Using brainstorming and mind maps to encourage students to reflect on their
previous knowledge and making links with the contents of modules.
. Raising questions about different aspects of the lectures’ contents and asking
students’ opinions on them.
. Supporting team working and asking students to reflect on each other works.
. Introducing a number of LIS-related concepts (e.g. Information Literacy,
Information Seeking Models and Knowledge Management) and asking them to
collect information about the topics.
. Arranging tutorial sessions to discuss students’ learning progress.
. Arranging oral presentations for students, individually and in groups, to talk
about their experience of information seeking on the related topics.
. Encouraging students to develop portfolios and learning diaries to reflect on
their learning.
. Encouraging students to seek information about LIS discipline through various
resources (websites, reference sources, textbooks, etc.).
. Encouraging students to visit different libraries to observe librarians’ real
activities.
. Introducing LIS Persian journals and encouraging students to browse their
recent issues.
 LR . Introducing Iranian Library and Information Science Association (ILISA) and its
59,3 activities.
. Encouraging students to attend local and national LIS conferences.
. Introducing a number of LIS Persian weblogs to students and asking their views
about them.
190 During two semesters the researcher used various techniques to collect the data he
required to monitor the effect of IBL on his teaching. The methods he used include a
questionnaire survey at the beginning of each semester (Appendices 1 and 2), follow-up
interviews and his direct observations of students learning activities.

Findings
The collected data showed the first year undergraduate students do not possess a clear
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understanding of practical implications of the course. They mainly are looking to pass
the modules and do not seem interested in the core values of librarianship. It causes
ambiguity and uncertainty for them which can lead to frustration of, and
dissatisfaction with, their course. The analysis of data gathered through researcher’s
observation, students’ comments in the survey and follow-up interviews revealed
following categories of their feelings in the first semester:
. uncertainty about the suitability of this course with their real interests;
. ambiguity about the genuine meaning of LIS as a profession, and as a university
discipline;
. lack of motivation to thoroughly read the course topics and resources in the
reading list;
. lack of choice to change their subject at the university;
. job insecurity after graduation; and
. indifference and unfamiliarity with what they are going to learn during this
course.
Some examples of students’ comments[1] about the values and scope of LIS, which
show these kinds of feelings, are presented in Table I.
Nevertheless, some of the students showed their enthusiasm of their discipline
which mainly came from others’ recommendations or their previous positive
experiences of libraries. However, the number of students with positive feelings at the
beginning of the semester was less than the number of students with indifferent or
negative attitudes. Nevertheless, as this study adopted a qualitative approach the
researcher did not wanted to depict a statistical figure of this issue.
Although the majority of students did not have a clear definition of this area, some
of them could define LIS reasonably well. Nevertheless, most of them had a very
simplistic perception of LIS and their comments were based on their previous
knowledge and personal experiences of using libraries. For example, the following
quotes show their attitudes:
This is the job of librarians at the libraries.
Keeping books in a library and providing books for people who visit the library.
 Identified feelings Example of comments Evolving
perceptions of
Uncertainty ‘‘To be honest with you, I have no idea!’’, ‘‘I don’t know yet!’’
Ambiguity ‘‘This is too early for me to make any comments on it, as I am a
LIS students
newcomer to this area and do not have enough knowledge
about it’’
Lack of motivation ‘‘I had no motivation whatsoever’’, ‘‘I just wanted to enter to
the university!’’ 191
Lack of choice ‘‘Based on my scores in the entrance exam, it was the only
option for me!’’
Job insecurity ‘‘I am worried when I get my degree the number of graduated Table I.
students increase and I can’t compete with them to get a good job’’ Examples of students’
Indifference ‘‘I had no motivation but I think when I learn more about comments reporting
this discipline, I will become interested to it’’ their perceptions of LIS
Unfamiliarity ‘‘I did not know this area at all and I just selected it out of at the first week of the
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the blue’’ semester

Even so, they usually referred to this fact that the real scope of LIS must be much
broader than their existing knowledge:
This is a subject related to books and readers. That is all I know about it at the moment.
However, I am sure there must be much to learn about it during these four years that I am not
aware of now.
In general, the following categories were identified in the data that show how students’
perceptions of LIS as a profession and a university discipline might be affected by their
positive attitudes and experiences:
. optimism about the suitability of LIS activities with their real interests and
wishes;
. pervious positive beliefs about libraries and library materials, specially books;
. career development by obtaining a university degree in LIS;
. social aspects of libraries and usefulness of LIS work in helping people; and
. job satisfaction that might be achieved by working in LIS field.
In addition, the researcher was interested to find out how the students perceive LIS at the
beginning of the course. In response to the question ‘‘how do you define library and
information science in your own words?’’ some of the comments are presented in Table II
and the following categories were identified in the data which show the initial perceptions
of students about the functionality of LIS as a profession and a university discipline:
. LIS as a profession for information gathering and dissemination;
. LIS as a professional practice with a historical perspective and social position;
. LIS field with a basic role of enhancing literacy in the society;
. LIS role in the organization of various kinds of information resources;
. the cultural aspects of LIS field; and
. LIS mission in preserving cultural and written heritage.
Table III shows some examples of students’ definitions of LIS.
 LR The results also showed, some of the students have chosen this course following the
recommendations of their friends or relatives. The following quotes are examples of
59,3 this:
One of my relatives is an MA student of librarianship and she is so enthusiastic about this
discipline and recommended this course to me.
My uncle who knows about LIS recommended me to choose this course.
192
In responding the question of ‘‘How do you envisage your future career after your
graduation from the university?’’ there was a mixture of positive and negative attitudes:
I don’t see it as a promising future. I have no idea at all!
I envisage myself as a librarian working in a library. That is all!
At least in the town that I have come from, there won’t be enough opportunities, unless I
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move to bigger cities.

Unfortunately, I am not that optimistic about my future in this field. I have doubt that whether
it worth spending four years of my life at the university studying this subject.
I think it would be only libraries which are interested to employ us.

Identified category Example of comments

Optimism ‘‘I selected this subject as I have a positive feeling

towards reading and books’’
Pervious positive feelings ‘‘I wanted to be a librarian as I have always loved
reading books and I think this is the closest subject to books’’
Career development ‘‘I chose this subject because I thought by a LIS degree I
Table II. might have a good chance to get a job’’
Examples of students’ Social aspect of LIS ‘‘As I enjoy helping people, I think working in a library
positive comments about is a great chance to help people’’
their discipline at the Job satisfaction ‘‘I know some librarians among my relatives who are satisfied
first week of the with their job at libraries and I thought I might be
semester satisfied too’’

Focal point of definition Example of definitions

Information gathering and dissemination ‘‘This is a profession to gather, organize

and disseminate of information’’
LIS as a professional practice ‘‘. . . an old profession with a long history
but people know little about it. That is why our
perceptions about it does not necessarily
match with its real meaning’’
LIS’s role to enhance literacy ‘‘. . . a discipline which is helpful to increase
the literacy and awareness in the society’’
Information organization ‘‘. . . a profession which deals with
organizing information’’
LIS’s cultural role ‘‘. . . a subject to enhance the cultural activities
Table III. for different groups of people’’
Examples of students’ Preservation role of LIS ‘‘LIS is responsible to preserve the written
definitions of LIS heritage of the humanity’’
 In addition, at the beginning most of the students were somehow dissatisfied about the Evolving
public attitude of their discipline. In answering the question ‘‘in general, how do you perceptions of
evaluate the role of library and information science in society?’’ the following examples
show their initial perceptions: LIS students
It has not a significant role at the moment. However, regarding the increase of the value of
information this role will be more significant soon.
The potential of this area is much bigger than its existing situation.
193
As people do not know enough about this subject, they do not pay much attention to it.

Second phase of data collection

After a semester using various IBL techniques, at the beginning of the second semester
the researcher asked the students to answer some questions, Appendix 2, to see how
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their perceptions changed during this period of time. The results showed learning
more about the scope of this discipline and its functionalities in the society plays a vital
role in improving students’ perceptions about their subject. Most of the students
reported a significant progress in their awareness about this topic. The following
excerpt from the interviews shows a sign of this progression:
Initially, I was a bit upset as I had no idea what is the main point of this subject. However, now
after a semester my perception of LIS is totally different. Now, I like it very much and I want
to become a good librarian.
The analysis of the second phase of data collection led to identifying the following
categories which demonstrate students’ views of different aspects of LIS in general and
their course in particular:
. interdisciplinary nature of LIS as an opportunity for learning;
. usefulness of the curriculum in depicting the scope of LIS as a profession;
. LIS as a discipline and its similarities and differences with other subjects;
. possibility of study in the higher levels after graduation;
. comparing LIS with other subjects to evaluate its features in a reasonable way;
. gaining familiarity with the main topics in LIS;
. usefulness of the topic regarding what libraries can do for the society;
. gratification of LIS because of its unique features which make it more interesting;
. focal role of information in LIS which differentiate it from other areas;
. job opportunities which are available for LIS graduates;
. promising future of LIS in the country regarding the current developments in
this area;
. the possibility of further education to achieve higher qualifications;
. increasing personal confidence after learning more about the meaning of this
field;
. increasing enthusiasm because of the suitability of this course with their interests;
. society’s needs for LIS services which provide librarians and information
professionals with enough chances to be useful for their society;
 LR . feeling of having some achievements by monitoring their progress in their course;
59,3 and
. variety of choices for career development after graduation.
Table IV shows some examples of students’ comments regarding the abovementioned
categories.
194 Discussion and conclusion
The researcher in this study was deeply involved with the research topic and had long
term interaction with the research population on a daily basis. This situation provided
him with a chance to closely observe students’ behavior in their learning activities and
to monitor their reactions to the IBL techniques. He concludes IBL is an efficient
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Identified category Example of comments

Interdisciplinary ‘‘The interdisciplinary nature of LIS is the best feature of this subject and
nature of LIS I am sure there will be so many opportunities for me to progress in this
area’’
Usefulness of the ‘‘The modules that I passed in the first semester were very useful in
curriculum illustrating a general picture of LIS for me’’
Learning about the ‘‘This is much more extensive area than what I had thought before’’
discipline’s scope
Possibility of study ‘‘I think there are so many possibilities for students who are willing to
in the higher levels continue their education in this area’’
Comparison with ‘‘When I compare it with other subjects at the university, I can’t see any
other subjects disadvantage’’
Gaining familiarity ‘‘I have a more positive attitude, as I know much more about it now’’
Usefulness of the ‘‘Library and information science is a way of improving research activities
topic around the country to accelerate the progression of the society’’
Gratification of the ‘‘We as librarians will be like a pool of knowledge which not only will
topic satisfy our information needs, but also will be able to help others too in
this way’’
Focal role of ‘‘In my opinion this is the best job someone could have as it deals with
information in LIS information’’
Job opportunities ‘‘I have been told that this is not difficult to find a good job with a LIS
degree’’
Promising future in ‘‘I think, this area of study is growing fast in Iran and I am determined to
the field continue my education in master level to increase the chance of getting a
good job’’
Further education ‘‘I need to continue my education in this area until I get my PhD. If I can
have enough qualification like getting a PhD, then my job is guaranteed’’
Increasing personal ‘‘I am optimistic about the future as I rely on my abilities and I am keen
confidence to enhance my knowledge and skills’’
Increasing ‘‘I’m sure that I’ll be successful in this area, as I have enough motivation
enthusiasm to progress my knowledge and skills’’
Society’s needs for ‘‘I think all universities need librarians as at each university there are
LIS services several libraries’’
Table IV. Improving ‘‘My attitude of this area has considerably changed and every day I learn
Examples of students’ perceptions about new aspects of LIS’’
comments on the LIS
promising aspects of LIS Variety of choices ‘‘I believe this is the discipline of the future, as the importance of
discipline after one for career information is increasing everyday and the job opportunities in this field
semester development will me more in future’’
 method to enhance LIS students learning and it can help them to become more Evolving
successful in their studies. In fact, the result of this study can be considered as another perceptions of
proof to endorse the effectiveness of IBL in undergraduate teaching. Using this
approach not only helps teachers to enhance the efficiency of their teaching, it is helpful LIS students
to equip student with research skills. Moreover, the paper concludes that IBL is an
effective approach to enhance LIS students’ understanding of their course, as the
results showed after a relatively short period of time their perceptions on this issue 195
changed in a positive way. Of course, as this study was a qualitative research and the
researcher did not intend to quantify the results, he did not make any statistical
measures. The findings also demonstrated that an IBL approach can contribute to
increase LIS undergraduate students’ involvements with their subject. This study
showed there is a link between students understanding of the scope of their course and
their level of interest towards it. Moreover, it was confirmed if LIS educators try to
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focus on students perceptions and tries to provide them with a realistic picture of this
subject; it can be very helpful in improving students’ perceptions.

Note
1. All quotations presented in this paper are translated from Persian to English by the author.

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LIS students
Appendix 1. The initial questionnaire to evaluate early views of students at the
first semester
Please answer the following questions briefly. Obviously, there is no right or wrong answer to
any of these questions and I only would like to know your idea about these questions. Moreover, 197
you do not need to mention your name as your answers remain anonymous. Also, you are free to
not answer any questions that you do not wish to do so. Finally, your questions do not affect your
mark in this module whatsoever.
(1) How do you define library and information science in your own words? How do you
think about it?
(2) In your opinion, what are the main subjects and issues in this discipline?
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(3) How would you describe the main responsibilities of librarians and information
professionals?
(4) What was your motivation of selecting LIS as your area of study at the university?
(5) Has anyone encouraged you to choose this course or you have selected it yourself?
(6) What kinds of skills do you expect to learn in this course?
(7) How do you envisage your future career after your graduation from the university?
(8) In future, how do you envisage your role in the society as a librarian?
(9) Is there anything else that you would like to add here?

Appendix 2. The second questionnaire at the beginning of the second semester

(1) Now after four months study at the university, how would you describe this discipline?
(2) In your opinion, how your perception of this subject and its scope has been changed
during the past months?
(3) Do you think learning more about LIS has been effective to make you more interested to
this subject?
(4) How do you envisage your future career after your graduation from the university now?
(5) In general, how do you evaluate the role of library and information science in society?
(6) If you had no limitation to choose your subject, would you have selected LIS? If not what
was your preference?
(7) Is there anything else that you would like to add here?

Corresponding author
Yazdan Mansourian can be contacted at: y.mansourian@gmail.com

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