Beyond Our Expectations: A Review of an Independent Learning Module in Descriptive Cataloguing at the Queensland University of Technology

This paper discusses an innovative approach to teaching cataloguing. At Queensland University of Technology (QUT), students enrolled in the Graduate Diploma of Library and Information Studies were involved in an independent learning activity which aimed to develop LIS students’ foundation knowledge of descriptive cataloguing, while simultaneously encouraging students to think critically about broader issues that would inevitably impact on their role as informationprofessionals. In the self-study program, learning activities included an interactive multimedia CD-ROM and a printed workbook with exercises, augmented by the opportunity for group discussion in weekly tutorials to enable students to share key aspects of their independent learning. Students were asked to critically evaluate the CD-ROM and the workbook and also to develop their own professional views about the arguments for and against the inclusion of cataloguing in the LIS curriculum. The paper presents the outcomes of this pilot project.