This document provides an overview of library and information science education in Slovenia. It discusses the history and development of LIS programs in the country, which began with short courses in 1947 and evolved to a full university program established in 1987 at the University of Ljubljana's Faculty of Arts. The current program offers undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degrees in library science, information science, and book studies. It outlines the curriculum, faculty, facilities, student enrollment and outcomes, as well as international cooperation and professional qualifications in Slovenia.

1. Library and Information
Science Education in
Slovenia
dr. Alenka Šauperl, assistant professor
Department of Library and Information Science and Book
Studies, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana

2. Introduction to Slovenia 1/2
• Population:
1.997.004 (2003
census)
• Territory: 20.273
km2
• Tallest mountain:
Triglav (2.864 m)
• Adriatic coastline:
about 42 km
• Capital city:
Ljubljana (population
300.000)
• Indepentent state
since 1991

3. Introduction to Slovenia 2/2
• Currency: TOLAR
Architect: Jože Plečnik
(1872-1957)
Building: National and
University Library (1936-1941)

4. The National and University Library
beginning in
1774
the palace
1941

5. Slovenian libraries
• 64 public libraries in most towns and
cities
• Academic libraries in all state and
private faculties
• School libraries in all primary and
secondary schools
• Special libraries in some of the major
companies

6. Professional positions
• Librarian with a high school diploma
• For basic work operations
• Librarian with a college degree
• Work in circulation and technical services
• Librarian with an university degree
• Work in all areas, management positions

7. Slovenian national library
network
• Almost 300 libraries cooperate in the
national union cataloging system
• High level of cooperation also in
interlibrary loan and other services and
activities
• Cooperation among, and within public,
academic, special and school libraries

8. Three Slovenian universities
• University of Ljubljana
• 1919
• 26 faculties, 8.419 graduates in 2004
• University of Maribor
• 1975
• 13 faculties, 3.651 graduates in 2004
• University of Primorska (in Koper)
• 2003
• 5 faculties, 341 graduates in 2004

9. Three Slovenian universities

10. The University of Ljubljana
1919

11. Schools
1. Academy of Fine Arts
2. Academy of Music
3. Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film
and Television
4. College of Nursing
5. Biotechnical Faculty
6. Faculty of Administration
7. Faculty of Architecture
8. Faculty of Arts
9. Faculty of Chemistry and
Chemical Engineering
10. Faculty of Civil and Geodetic
Engineering
11. Faculty of Computer Science
12. Faculty of Economics
13. Faculty of Education
14. Faculty of Electronics
15. Faculty of Law
16. Faculty of Maritime Studies and
Transport
17. Faculty of Mathematics and
Physics
18. Faculty of Mechanical
Engineering
19. Faculty of Medicine
20. Faculty of Natural Sciences
21. Faculty of Pharmacy
22. Faculty of Social Sciences
23. Faculty of Social Work
24. Faculty of Sports
25. Faculty of Theology
26. Faculty of Veterinary Medicine

12. Faculty of Arts in the centre of
Ljubljana

13. Faculty of Arts departments
• Archeology
• Art history
• Comparative
linguistics and
literature
• Ethnology
• Geography
• History
• Library and
information
science and
book studies
• Musicology
• Pedagogy
• Philosophy
• Psychology
• Several languages with
literature, including Czech
• Sociology
• Translating and interpreting

14. Facts about Faculty of Arts
• Founded in 1919
• About 8.000 students
• About 300 faculty members
• Computers for all faculty, one computer
lab and only a few computers for
students
• Departmental libraries

15. History of LIS education 1/2
• First organized course:
• 5 weeks long
• For secondary school graduates
• 1947, 1949
• First college program:
• 2 years
• Major or minor
• Academy of Education (now Faculty of Education)
• 1964/65

16. History of LIS education 2/2
• First university program:
• 4 +1 year program
• Major or minor
• 1987/1988
• Faculty of Arts
• development:
• Only LS can be studied since 1996/97
• Information science and book studies added in 2000
• Graduate programs:
• Master’s: 2+1 year, individual programs
• Doctoral program up to 5 years
• Since 1995/96
• Still the only LIS program in Slovenia

17. State examination
• All these years a parallel system:
• All graduates of
• Secondary schools
• Colleges
• Universities
• Work experience + preparatory lectures
• Examinations in 7 subjects at the National
and University Library

18. Department of Library and Information
Science and Book Studies
• Enrollment of about 50 students per year
• About 30 students in single subject program
• About 20 students also studying at another
department of Faculty of Arts
• Faculty:
• 8 full-time professors and assistants
• About 20 adjunct lecturers
• 4 classrooms + shared computer lab

19. First year
• Bibliography
• Descriptive
Cataloguing
• English Language I
• Foundations of
Librarianship
• History and
Philosophy of
Science
• History of
Librarianship
• Information
Technology
• Introduction to
information science
• Publishing and Book
Trade I
• Research Methods I

20. Second year
• Contemporary
Organization of
Librarianship I – Basics
• Databases I
• Descriptive Cataloguing
II
• Developmental
Psychology
• English Language II
• Library Automation
• Research Methods II
• Placement
• Public Libraries
• Publishing and Book
Trade II
• School Libraries
• Subject Cataloguing I

21. Third year
• Academic Libraries
• Bibliometrics
• Codicology
• Cognitive Psychology I
• Contemporary
Organization of
Librarianship II –
Systems
• Databases II
• Descriptive Cataloguing
III
• Placement
• Publishing and Book
Trade III
• Reference Service and
Methods
• Sociology of Mass
Media
• Special Libraries
• Subject Cataloguing II

22. Fourth year
• Book History
• Cognitive Psychology II
• Comparative
Librarianship
• Computer
Communications
• Contemporary
Organization of
Librarianship III –
Theory
• Descriptive Cataloguing
IV.
• Documentation
• Library Management
• Library Marketing
• Library User Studies
• Preservation and
restauration of library
materials
• Publishing and Book
Trade IV

23. Final year
• Passing all exams
• Graduation thesis:
• Advisor
• Approval of a
committee
• Text of 40+ pages
• Defense in front of a
3 member committee
• Defenses are
scheduled in
January, April, May,
June, September,
and November
• The dean hands out
diplomas in a formal
ceremony several
times a year

24. Payment
• Undergraduate study:
• No tuition for full-time students
• About 2.500 EUR per year for part-time students
• Master’s study:
• 60% funded by the Ministry of Education
• Total cost about 2.000 EUR per year
• Average salary in Slovenia
• 730 EUR (neto)

25. Master’s program
• 4 required courses
• 2 elective courses, one outside
department
• Master’s thesis

26. Required courses
Library science Information
science
Book studies
Organization of
information
Organization of
information
Contemporary
publishing
LIS research
methods
LIS research
methods
Copyright & trade
of intell. property
Development of
LIS
Information
retrieval systems
Marketing
methods in publ.
Library
management
Digital libraries Electronic
publishing

27. Master’s program – Elective courses
• Data structures, algorithms and
programming
• Database design
• Issues in contemporary LIS
• Issues in contemporary
publishing
• Learning as a contiunous
process in personal
development
• Library information systems
• Library marketing
• Library systems and evaluation
• New technologies in publishing
• Preservation of library materials
• Social aspects of information
science
• Theory of descriptive cataloging
• Information theory
• Theory of information sources
and services
• Theory of subject cataloging
• User studies
• Visual information in digital
libraries

28. New program undergoing
accreditation in 2005
• Bologna declaration
• 3 years of
undergraduate + 2
years of graduate
studies
• One undergraduate
degree with 3 tracks:
• library science,
• information science
• book studies
• Four graduate degrees:
• library science
• school librarianship
• information science
• book studies

29. International cooperation
• Socrates/Erasmus
• Prague
• City University
London
• Leonardo da Vinci
• Leipzig
• Paris
• Oxford
• Joint degree program in
book studies:
• Hochschule für Technik,
Wirtschaft und Kultur,
Fachbereich Buch und
Museum, Leipzig
• Pôle Métiers du Livre,
Univ. Paris X-Nanterre
• Oxford International
Centre for Publishing
Studies, Oxford Brookes
University

30. EKIPA Project in Leonardo da
Vinci Program
• Students work in libraries, information
centres, publishers and bookstores
• Become a truly European graduate of
LISB

31. Thank you.
Come to
visit or study
in Ljubljana.