[Eurchap] Online petition and support letters to prevent closure of Department of Information Science at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf

[isabella.peters at freenet.de]

Dear colleagues,


this time I am writing because of a rather personal concern - but which also reflects a known symptom for the underevaluation of the Information Science discipline in Europe. Hence, it is a matter of EUChap, too.


We were informed this week that the dean of the Philosophical Faculty of the University of Düsseldorf intends to close the Department of Information Science in the next faculty council meeting on Tuesday, 26 January.


The reason for closure is the need to economize and to cut a professor's position at the level of the Philosophical Faculty (12 institutes, 10,000 students). However, unlike at other institutes, the cut of a professor in information science would entail the closure of the whole department, affecting four degree programs, more than 10 university lecturers and almost 1,000 students, as Prof. Stock is the only full information science professor in Düsseldorf.


The imminent closure represents a great loss not only for the greater field of information science but also for bibliometrics research and education. Bibliometrics and scientometrics are inherent parts of the curriculum in Düsseldorf. Alumni, doctoral students as well as BA and MA students frequently present their research at international conferences such as ISSI, STI and the ASIS&T SIG/MET workshop. Information science students from Düsseldorf also play a role in bibliometric analyses for research funders and universities, as the research center in Jülich involves them in bibliometric contract work. 


I consider the planned closure short-sighted, ill-conceived and disastrous for information science and bibliometric education and research in Germany and Europe.


As an alumna  I strongly oppose the dean's decision to cut Prof. Stock's position and close the department and kindly ask for your support:


The student body has started an online petition to protest against the closure, which has already gathered more than 700 signatures: change.org/saveIWS


My colleagues Dirk Lewandowski, Jasmin Schmitz, Violeta Trkulja, Katrin Wellerand I have issued a request for support letters from the community to the university president and the dean to convince them to stop the intended closure.

 An English translation of their open letter can be found here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/19Mm1Fli724z05miSdsh2n6q910SlqvhxsJXCUoB2520/edit?usp=sharing 


Please help us to protest against the closure of the Department of Information Science by signing the petition, writing a letter and sharing this information with your colleagues.


Kind regards from Kiel, 
Isabella Peters


PS: Further information in German can be found here: 
https://www.phil-fak.uni-duesseldorf.de/studium/fachschaften/informationswissenschaft/news/newsdetails/offener-brief-bzgl-der-einstellung-der-informationswissenschaftlichen-studiengaenge-3825/ 
http://libreastumblr.com/ 
http://www.infobroker.de/blog/informationswissenschaften-in-duesseldorf-vor-dem-aus/ 
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OvqCP3SHFC-cEXOQ5WJAzLfFvAoEvBfEZ2AVQ6Ao5jI/edit?usp=sharing 
 



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