The study aimed to explore the current status of library and information science education regarding program offerings, faculty, students, curriculum, and infrastructural resources. It further explored the challenges faced in imparting quality education and the future prospects. A mixed methods research design (convergent parallel strategy) combining quantitative and qualitative methods was used to achieve the objectives of the research. The quantitative data were collected through a questionnaire survey from nine universities where LIS departments were well established and regularly offering academic programs with a 100% response rate. The qualitative data were gathered through semi-structured interviews from 17 faculty members purposively selected to obtain their real perspective on various aspects related to the research questions. The findings of both strands have been converged and discussed along with the review of the existing literature in the ‗Discussion‘ chapter. The major drifts and concerns identified were a lack of planning, dearth of physical, financial and technological resources, inadequate curriculum contents, lack of faculty, intake of weak students, the absence of quality assurance system, scarcity of collaboration, and low social image and visibility of the departments. The expansion of academic programs to encompass a broader ‗information‘ landscape, inclusion of ICTs into the curriculum, imparting a balanced blend of subject, research, technological and generic skills, were the major challenges to prepare future professionals. Moreover, the availability of competent faculty with PhD degrees, increased competition from other disciplines (i.e., management, computer science, communication studies) and building employers‘ confidence were also discussed concerns. The development of a quality assurance mechanism through accreditation, rebranding the profession to uplift its social image and initiatives for national and international collaboration were the challenges to ensure future sustainability of academic programs in the country. Moving towards ‗information‘, a trend of obtaining a doctoral degree among the available faculty, increased research output, expansion in the academic programs level, focus on curriculum innovation and quality, expanding job sector other than library and above all positive attitude of faculty about the future of academic programs were the promising prospects of LIS education in the country. The study‘s recommendations primarily focused on moving towards information, redesigning and revising the curriculum to accommodate new trends and offering need based specializations to capture the job market. Enticing competent and diversified faculty by involving experts form related fields, attracting intake of good students by revising admission criteria, and accrediting academic offerings were considered vital for ensuring LIS education to remain relevant.
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