Cyber-security in library & information science education

Information security (INFOSEC) includes confidentiality, access and authenticity, particularly of electronic information. INFOSEC has been studied extensively in computer science, business management and information systems, but not in library & information science (LIS). With the threats of cyber-terrorism, data loss, and overall reliance on electronic information, INFOSEC is, or should be, of great concern to LIS professionals and educators. This study explored a potential gap in the curricula of the LIS field. This exploratory research asked: to what extent are ‘security’ and ‘privacy’ explicit elements of ALA-accredited curricula; are there specific courses dedicated to these concepts; what courses overall include these concepts. Websites of all 56 ALA-accredited LIS programs were searched for explicit mention of the key words in any course description/catalog. These two keywords were chosen as being representative of the core concepts of INFOSEC, and as likely components of LIS curricula. Terms were searched individually and frequencies noted, as well as co-occurrences, across 16 course categories. Nearly one-third of the schools didn’t explicitly mention either keyword in course descriptions, and only 4 schools had specialized courses in security/privacy, particularly as meant by INFOSEC. The most frequent occurrence of “security” was in courses on computers/networking/Internet; the most frequent occurrence for “privacy” was in the area of law and policy. There were several course categories with no mentions for one or the other keyword. Initial findings indicate INFOSEC is not being widely addressed in LIS education and this topic needs further study