New UBC SLAIS Course on LIS 2.0?

I have some fantastic news... Dean Giustini is part of group in early exploratory stages looking at creating an LIS 2.0 program out at UBC SLAIS.

Drop by & check out the comments in Dean's post and this wiki page to see some of the early thought processes. The other reason I'm enthusiastic about this initiative is that Brian Lamb is listed as one of the stakeholders. I read Brian's blog all the time, and think he has great vision.

We're long due for a course like this on the west coast, but certainly not behind the times. There's a great opportunity to learn from others who have gone before -(via Dean's wiki page...) Amanda Etches-Johnson, Alyssa Kroski and Meredith Farkas. And obviously Michael Stephens and our own Connie Crosby would be in that list too.

What would I like to see? Off the top of my head, how about...

1. Lots of hands on interaction with software tools - If students come out of the course with a 'no fear' attitude to try OS software and new web tools -- mission accomplished. The tools will be different in 5 years. Healthy attitudes rule!
   
2. A strong info-professional spin to the tools - setting up an RSS feed reader is great, but new students should also be strong on mixing & filtering content for their user's info-driven purposes. The librarian's job is to make information easy, and these interactive tools have the potential to solve many of our challenges. If we don't consider & apply them, who will?
   
3. A strong link to the traditional LIS core - information seeking behaviour, collection development, indexing, abstracting, controlled vocab vs folksonomy tagging, and so on. All have context to add to any web collection or project, LIS 2.0 projects included.
   
4. Web 2.0 Applications to Emerging Trends - New graduates are going to be asked about using web 2.0 for creating Intranets, Current Awareness services, or Competitive Intelligence projects. They don't have to be a total solution provider, but a complete perspective on the possibilities is essential.
   

For me, this isn't about anything 2.0 - it's just about building solid web skills within my profession. Same thing goes for our recent VALL screencasting workshop. Looking forward 10-15-20 years, how many of us believe that Librarians can compete without it?

If it was up to me, this course would be a mandatory requirement.