Editorial

En el marco del 30 aniversario de la Escuela de Bibliotecología, Documentación e Información de la Universidad Nacional, Costa Rica, se presenta el número 25 del boletín Bibliotecas, el cual cuenta con la participación no solo de especialistas e investigadores del exterior, sino también de profesores de la Escuela.Encabeza el boletín, un artículo producto de una investigación sobre los procedimientos pedagógicos utilizados en el curso práctica supervisada, la formación del profesional y su incursión en el ámbito laboral por medio de la práctica profesional.¿Qué requiere América Latina en materia de formación bibliotecológica? Es la pregunta que solemos hacer para responder a un usuario cada vez más exigente, rodeado de grandes cantidades de información que lo abruma y que, para desempeñarse con éxito en un mundo globalizado requiere el conocimiento que le permita seleccionar y utilizar esta información de manera eficiente, razón que le lleva a demandar servicios eficaces y efectivos. 

Si otorgas poder, prepárate para la responsabilidad

Although it is often disregarded at universities, the ethic-moral constituent is an indispensable portion of any professional development; and even more at current times, when techno-scientific knowledge has become power’s most important underpinning. Incorporating the vast interdisciplinary advances that applied ethics have experienced during the last decades could constitute a specific and apt answer leading towards the institutional resolution of the issue.

Accesibilidad para ingresar a la Educación Superior: desafíos y logros desde el enfoque de la diversidad

Concerning the social role, humanistic mission, professional training and development of knowledge pursued by state universities, this article poses the challenge of valuing the difference and acknowledging diversity as a true commitment to society. From the standpoint of diversity, the article proposes to embrace the population with disabilities from the time of entrance and admission to Universidad Nacional.

UPDATE NEEDS OF PROFESSIONAL LIBRARY: Diagnosis of teachers and graduate degree from the School of Library, Documentation and Information (EBDI), National University of Costa Rica

This project is a diagnosis of update needs and training for professionals in bibliotecology and its results will be used for the design of a Program of Permanent training in bibliotecology, which will be implemented in Bibliotecology School, Documentation and Information of the National University.The studied population is composed by all the teachers of Bibliotecology School, Documentation and Information of the National University, in October, 2007, and all the graduated students of licentiate of the EBDI from 2000 to 2007.The results of this investigation were obtained by means of a questionnaire that was filled by each one of the members of these two populations, who corresponded to 25 teachers of the EBDI and 18 graduates of licentiate. This one also presents the information that was obtained in interviews realized to the managers of the principal institutions who are professionals contracted in bibliotecology.The results obtained of this diagnosis will allow the elaboration of the Program of Permanent training in bibliotecology, considering the formative needs of the professionals in bibliotecology of the EBDI. This project includes the following products:a) Description of the social and demographic characteristics of teachers and of graduated of licentiate of the EBDI.b) Diagnosis of needs to update and training of bibliotecology professional teachers and of graduated of licentiate of the EBDI.c) Determination of the knowledge and skills that the needs to satisfy what big employers ask for.d) Recommendations for the program. Implementation.

Building the Commercial Education Professional Competency Profile

This paper provides a complete description of the Commercial Education Professional Competency Profile that resulted from the curricular diagnosis of the Licenciatura en Educación Comercial , at the Universidad Nacional, Costa Rica.  The methodological strategy used relies on the principles of research on education. Upon expert validation, written questionnaires were applied to first-year students, students of the licenciatura, practicing professionals and employers. The objective was to describe a particular education situation. Data was analyzed according to two categories: intentions/principles and scope/development. The findings resulted in the characteristics of the Commercial Education professionals, i.e. characteristics related to the discipline, characteristics related to the administrative management of teaching, specific and general characteristics of education and pedagogy, and characteristics associated to human development. Based on those criteria, on the curricular requirements of the information sources and on the curricular perspectives of the Academic Unit, ideas were put into practice to build the competency profile. The ideas proposed comprise the curricular fundamentals of the educational project on which the profile is set out, which include the subject of the study program, the global competency or training goal, the generic competencies as cross-cutting approaches, as well as the –pedagogical and disciplinary− specific competencies. The specific competencies of the discipline are focused on four competency areas: document production, organizational support, technological resources and information management.(1) Translator’s Note: One-year post-Bachelor study program in Commercial Education.