Welcome to the Department of Library and Information Science!
Indianapolis-A Superb Location for Advanced Library Science Education
The Department of Library and Information Science is a growing online graduate program with emphasis on management of library organizations and technologies.
IUPUI is a modern urban campus in a model urban setting. Cooperation among business, government, private philanthropy, and educational leaders and innovators has created a city ideal for education. LIS is tied to this spirit of growth, service, and quality education for not only Indianapolis, but for the state and beyond.
Indiana's future librarians and information specialists, as well as business leaders, physicians, lawyers, nurses, chemists, engineers, teachers, accountants, journalists, and computer programmers will find quality academic options on this campus that combines the strengths of IU and Purdue. In addition to Indiana citizens, we welcome a growing number of students from all other states and nations.
The Department of Library and Information Science has strong ties with the Indianapolis Public Library and the Indiana State Library. These efforts support public awareness of the need for quality library and information services to all populations-young and elderly, rural and urban. Our faculty members are also associated with state and national library education organizations and associations in the promotion of educational standards and guidelines.
Students have access to the IUPUI University Library with over 300 computer-equipped work stations and all Indiana University regional campus sites.
The MLS degree program in Indianapolis is offered online, with a few face-to-face courses in fall and spring semesters. All requirements can be satisfied with online courses. The MLS degree program in Bloomington is offered in-person, with a few online courses; it can only be completed with in-person class attendance.Faculty use teaching support and delivery systems that allow for online discussion groups and assignments. The faculty include full-time professors who have both established publication records as well as library experience and records of professional service to the field. They are experienced educators and information managers. Students are encouraged to read the research and teaching profiles of the current fulltime faculty as given on the department’s website.
Students are encouraged to explore a wide spectrum of library professions through their course work and field experiences. The department's curriculum is based on a combination of theory and practice. Internships in application of theory are encouraged. The Indianapolis area as well as cities such as Bloomington, South Bend, Merrillville, Fort Wayne, Evansville, Gary, and Valparaiso offer quality locations for real-world practice experiences. The MLS program overall has been ranked in the top ten nationally, and been recognized for information systems, school library media, and youth services specializations.
Over 70% of the public librarians in Indiana hold a degree from Indiana University. Hundreds in public libraries and school libraries in Indiana have completed the full requirements. Over 200 school corporations in Indiana employ a school media specialist who has completed his or her certification through the IU program. Dozens of academic and special librarians hold the ALA-accredited Indiana University M.L.S. awarded at IUPUI.
All courses for the Masters in Library Science, Specialization in Library Technology Management, dual- degree programs, and certification in public or school librarianship are available online at the IUPUI campus. Students may take up to 9 credits from the Bloomington campus, and transfer in a maximum of 6 credits from another ALA-accredited program. Students can also take up to 6 credits from other departments in the School of Informatics and Computing. Other flexible learning options include independent readings, research, projects and internships. Students should consult with their advisor to determine how to construct a program to meet their career goals.
The department's website, http://soic.iupui.edu/departments/lis/, will provide revisions and updates to this bulletin. Students are encouraged to visit the site frequently for information on career opportunities, schedules, and frequently asked questions. Notices on job leads, professional meetings, conferences, and operations of the school can be received through the le-mail list at: soic-lis-indy-l@iupui.edu.
The Department of Library and Information Science-The World of Information
For decades, scholars and futurists have predicted an information revolution. Those predictions have come to life dramatically in recent years. We live in an information age, an age in which the ability to generate and access new knowledge has become a key driver of social and economic growth.
The signs of a new age are everywhere: the World Wide Web and electronic commerce, personal computers in the classroom, interactive media in the home, virtual universities, electronic publishing, and digital libraries. The statistics are irresistible: the amount of information produced in the last decade alone is greater than all the information created in past millennia. The rhetoric of the Information Age has finally become reality, and that reality translates into unprecedented career opportunities for information professionals who know how to organize, manage, and exploit knowledge assets and who combine analytic and technical skills with a sense of the strategic value of information to individuals and organizations of all kinds.
Today's information professionals connect people and information, at all levels and for all purposes. The field offers a kaleidoscope of career tracks from which to choose both within and outside traditional library organizations: user education, informational web design, information systems analysis, database design and marketing, information brokering, medical informatics, systems librarianship, competitor intelligence analysis, usability testing. In a sense, the opportunities are limited only by the imagination.
Librarians are active agents of social change and early adopters of new information and communication technologies. Professional librarians deploy teamwork, leadership, and technology knowledge to design and deliver information solutions. The field is so diverse that there is a place for every student’s passion. Indiana University's School of Informatics and Computing’s Department of Library and Information Science responds to every technology and information opportunity with a flexible and forward-looking curriculum, which stresses those social, behavioral, and cultural aspects of information design and use.
Last updated: 02/13/2014