Ágústa Pálsdóttir

Ágústa Pálsdóttir, PhD, is Associate Professor and Head of Department of LIS, University of Iceland. Her main field of research is information behavior, information seeking, and dissemination of knowledge, as well as health information behavior.  Her research also include reading habits in Icelandic families, the transfer of reading habits through generations, parenting styles and reading habits and the development in studies on  children’s literature in Iceland. Her teaching includes courses about Information services, Knowledge Mediation, the Role and function of libraries and other information agencies, and Management and policy making in libraries and information agencies. She has also thought courses about Indexing, Working methods and the Information society. Ágústa has received a BA from the Dept. of LIS, University of Iceland, MA from the Dept. of LIS, University of Iceland and a PhD from the Department of Social and Political Sciences/Information Studies at Åbo Akademi University in Finland.  Ágústa is a member of the Executive Board of the Nordic Research School in LIS (NORSLIS) sponsored by NORDFORSK, a founding member of the Centre for Research in Information Technology and Mediation, at the University of Iceland, and is a member of the Executive Board for the centre, a member of the Executive Board of University of Iceland Social Science Research Institute, as well as serving in a number of committees at the University of Iceland, e.g. the Scientific Committee of the Faculty of Social Sciences. For further information see: http://www.hi.is/is/simaskra/1544, English version.

New age competencies: How can LIS education support challenges and future prospects of public libraries?

The paper will discuss the role and purpose of the public library and the key issues which they are currently confronting. The following main questions will be discussed.  What are the qualifications that future public librarians need to have? What opportunities do educational

institutions have to work together with the public libraries to support and improve their challenges and future prospects?