Towards Effective South Asian and International Collaboration in Library and Information Science Education and Research

Abstract

Collaboration is the act of people coming together to achieve common
objectives. There has been growing interest for regional and international
collaboration in the Library and Information Science (LIS) field. Such
collaboration has been for education, research, or collaboration enabled by
professional associations. However, there is a lack of prior research on regional
collaboration opportunities for LIS education and research pertaining to South
Asia, which has more than a fourth of the world population. Using the
knowledge-creation model as a theoretical lens, this study investigates the
current state of LIS education and research in South Asia; the opportunities for
regional and global collaboration in LIS in the eight South Asian countries; and
the possibilities for the future based on these collaboration opportunities. The
study will help researchers and professionals from this region to know what they
have, what they lack, and how they could grow, and benefit the member
countries they come from and beyond.