Page 62 - JOURNAL OF LIBRARY SCIENCE IN CHINA 2018 Vol. 43

062 Journal of Library Science in China, Vol.9, 2017

of politics, the Party and the state radically broke away from the leftist guiding thoughts and
advocated democracy and freedom in academic research, thus providing a relaxing environment
for the education and research of Library Science. As for economy, the whole nation focused on
the construction of socialist modernization. With the successful transformation from the planned
economy to the market economy, the national economy kept surging, the comprehensive national
strength was greatly enhanced, and people’s livelihood was generally improved. Not only the
economic development provided financial and material guarantee for LSE, but the high demand for
professional talents caused by such economic development also became the strongest driving force
for the LSE development. When it comes to the development in science, education and culture, the
state put forward a strategy of boosting the nation through science, technology and education and
formulated a series of guidelines and policies to promote cultural prosperity, which, without doubt,
provided a beneficial social environment for the development of LSE.
Since 1978, China’s LSE has entered a golden period when it developed in a truly prosperous
manner. During this period, there were mainly three stages concerning LSE development. The first
stage (1978-1991) was the reconstruction and quick expansion of LSE. After 1978, LSE got back
on the right track, with its scale expanding in a fast way. A multi-level LSE structure was formed,
with progress achieved in course system and teaching contents. The second stage (1992-1999) was
the adjustment and reform of LSE. Marked with the renaming of related institutions, “LSE was
extending and developing in a direction oriented towards information management” (C.F. Chen,
G. Wu, & Tang, 2008). The disciplines and professions concerning Library Science were adjusted
and repositioned, and the mode of talent cultivation was also reforming. The third stage (since
2000) was the innovative development of LSE. In this stage, the educational trend of Library
Science merged with those of information science and archives. Breakthroughs were achieved
in the disciplinary construction, the faculty structure saw notable enhancement, the curriculum
kept improving, and professional degree education reinvigorated the education in Library and
Information Science.

4.2 The impact of social environment on LSE from 1978 to 2016

4.2.1 The influence on the development scale and speed of LSE
After the Cultural Revolution, there was a fundamental change in the principles and policies of
the Party and the state. The “realization of four modernizations” became the strongest call of the
era at that time. The three major events that took place in the early spring in 1978 had played an
important role in the development of LSE. The first is that the first batch of students, who were
enrolled after the restoration of the National College Entrance Examination, went to universities
and received education, and this unveiled the prelude to the unprecedented development of China’s
higher education. The second is the National Science Conference held in March 1978, and it was
then that “science and technology were acknowledged as the primary productive force” and the