The Convergence Paradigm as the Basis for the Design of New programs in the Field of the Information Sciences

The Department of Information Sciences at the University of Zadar has recently submitted its new program for accreditation, at two university levels – the undergraduate and the graduate. These programs were designed according to the needs of the LAM community. Together with the existing PhD program, these programs approached educational issues from a twofold perspective: firstly, the authors intended to offer new content, knowledge and skills, as represented by a number of optional and elective courses and workshops that could answer the needs of the LAM sector in both Croatia and the region; and secondly, the authors were aware of the fact that the educational programs for the LAM sector, that sometimes tend to be atomized and situated in different academic surroundings, should be managed in a different way. Special attention in this paper will be paid to issues concerning the digitalization of cultural heritage. Different models for the collection and presentation, preservation and use of digital assets have been designed; all based upon a multilayered concept of the communication of cultural memory as a complex phenomenon that foresees the synergies between library, archival and museum (LAM) studies and the ITC, and several of them form a part of the courses in the curricula. This paper will also focus on convergence issues as a basis for the understanding of the relationship between several LAM and other disciplines such as communication, semantics, cognitive sciences etc, as well as the theoretical boundaries of the information sciences in relation to the disciplinary traditions of archival, library and museology studies; this will shed light on the unifying principles of information disciplines and fields of practice that could provide a new framework for disciplinary theory, as well as on the barriers that sometimes affect the planning process. Also included will be a discussion on interdisciplinary issues (as something to be desired) as these can lead towards a new paradigm of ISs in a digital society, as well as how these might influence their overall identity.