oa Basic Features of Universal Accreditation of Arab informatitions Programs

Purpose: the research paper provides a brief overview of the situation and problems in the preparation of the information specialists programs in Arab universities, with an emphasis on the need for internal quality and academic accreditation by external organizations. As was the highlight of characteristics of similar programs in North America and Europe and efforts to lay the foundations for the academic sector to adopt these programs. A set of objective indicators has been developed on the basis of an understanding of the worldwide developments in the actions and services of information providing agencies, the Arabic academic environment, the outcome of local assessment and accreditation Council boards and the observations and recommendations arising from different international and regional workshops, seminars and meetings to facilitate the assessment and accreditation of university education in general, and information education in particular.

Methodology/approach: The researchers’ extended experience has been implemented and used together with observations and specialized literature survey in the field to collect data and inductively formulate and presented in identifying challenges facing the preparation of the Arab information specialist.

Findings: many of the educational and training programs in preparation of the Arab information specialist have seen structural and methodological changes in order to communicate with the global changes in this aspect. But it did not reach the point where they can get the accreditation of international organizations, which is considered to be a global requirement for academic accreditation in this sector. And It was found that many local academic programs in Library and Information Science deal positively with the changing and advancement of information environment and this seems positive through changes in curriculum and program names. However, the current academic affiliation of most of these programs (with faculties of Literatures or Arts, as they are called in the Arab world) still reflects the traditional Arab view of the origin of the field, which is not universally supported.

Practical implications: the paper provides useful current information to inform Arab Library and Information Science educators, researchers, and students on the issues and challenges facing the preparation of Arab Information Specialists

Originality/value: Information and findings offer by this research has a value for future studies and researches regarding the preparation of information specialists in the Arab world and third world in general.