Bibliotekariens kunskap

Sammanfattning: In 2019, a new program in library and information science was initiated by Södertörns högskola, with the description that they wanted their education to show the complexities of practical librarianship, implicitly in conflict with more theoretical educations today. This conflict between the theoretical and the practical within library and information science education is the starting point for this thesis. I understand language and power within a framework of social constructionism, where language is a vital and active part in creating meaning, and from there I take my interest in how the concept of knowledge is constructed in a program syllabus for education in library and information science. I analyze six program syllabi from the six Swedish universities that offer library and information science education, using two themes: the conditions for knowledge and the subject matter of knowledge, the “how” and the “what”, using Fairclough, Laclau and Mouffe. In my results I reach the conclusion that there are differences in how signs such as “user” and “information” are set within the six program syllabi, leading to the creation of two discourses: the discourse of specific knowledge and the discourse of process-oriented knowledge. Using the mediaeval philosopher Cusanus and researcher within studies in practical knowledge Jonna Bornemark, I analyze the different discourses and their concept of knowledge, concluding that we need to use both our critical thinking and practical knowledge, the ratio and the intellectus side of our mind, to educate good librarians.