Educational accreditation is the process, which provides independent evaluation of the integrity and competence of the educational institutions according to the requirement of the applicable standards. According to Wikipedia (2009) the education accreditation “is a type of quality assurance process under which services and operations of an educational institution or program are evaluated by an external body to determine if applicable standards are met.” Accreditation is necessary to improve the quality of education, training and services. It builds confidence of employers, enhances the credibility of the organization and promotes quality culture. It also ensures through regular surveillance the continuous improvement in the standard of education and keeps the curriculum up to date according to the needs and demands of the market. Degrees received from unaccredited organizations are not acceptable for financial aid, civil service or other employment.
In the developed countries, i.e., USA, Canada, Australia and UK following library associations are responsible for the library education standards and accreditation of LIS schools:
American Library Association (ALA)
Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA)
Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP)
The Council of the American Library Association (ALA) has designated the Committee on Accreditation “to be responsible for the execution of the accreditation program of the ALA and to develop and formulate standards of education.” This committee has prepared standards known as “Standards for accreditation of Master’s programs in library and information studies” (ALA, 2008).