Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
School of Communication, Information and Library Studies
 
Message from the Dean
About the University
About the School
Degree Programs Available
Financial Aid
Academic Policies and Procedures
Journalism Resources Institute
Library and Information Science
Instruction
Research
Service
Careers in the Library and Information Professions
Master of Communication and Information Studies Program
Master of Library and Information Science Program
Professional Development Studies
Ph.D. Program in Communication, Information, and Library Studies
Faculty and Administration
Camden Newark New Brunswick/Piscataway
Catalogs
  School of Communication, Information and Library Studies 2006-2008 Library and Information Science  

Library and Information Science

Michael Lesk, Chairperson; Department of Library and Information Science
Ross J. Todd, Director; Master of Library and Information Science Degree Program

www.scils.rutgers.edu/lis/index.html

The Department of Library and Information Science educates the new generation of leaders in global, networked librarianship and information services. Its special emphasis is on people seeking and using information in the context of advances in technology, policy, access, and organization.

The new environment of digitized information, including the Internet and the World Wide Web, offers serious challenges to the education of information professionals. The department's curriculum demands technical competence on the part of the matriculating student and requires that students come to an understanding about the involvement of global information networks as they relate to shifting geopolitical and social realities. As students familiarize themselves with new technologies and global circumstances, they also learn about the ethical values and the historical roots of modern information mediation. This knowledge enables students to appreciate those aspects of librarianship that are relevant to the 21st century, chief among them being library and information science's focus on people seeking and using information.

Since it was founded in 1953, the Rutgers M.L.I.S. program has taught future information professionals to understand the basic processes of information and their relation to society. Through courses taught by theoreticians and practicing professionals, the department's curriculum has combined the principles of librarianship and information science to educate students to help users to function effectively in their diverse worlds. Theory has been consistently connected with the requirements of professional practice.

The globalization of information requires that the Rutgers M.L.I.S. program extend its goal of educating the leaders of the profession through exposure to the social and policy aspects of information access across borders, as well as to cutting-edge technology. We position our students to be innovative in the global use of the new information media to serve the needs of diverse populations.

The faculty offers the master of library and information science (M.L.I.S.) degree and the bachelor of arts degree in information technology and informatics. The faculty offers continuing education to professionals in the field, and it contributes to both the master of communication and information studies (M.C.I.S.) and doctor of philosophy (Ph.D.) degree programs, described in this catalog. While the faculty's research projects and teaching interests are diverse, they center on the provision of information to people and the effects of information on their experiences and learning. Faculty are interested in the array of institutions where information is disseminated in culture and the phenomena surrounding this transfer, in the society that information sustains and makes possible, and in the work that information specialists do as they live up to the challenging responsibilities implicit in their work.

The department has three goals: to teach, to inquire, and to serve.


 
For additional information, contact RU-info at 732/932-info (4636) or colonel.henry@rutgers.edu.
Comments and corrections to: Campus Information Services.

© 2006 Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. All rights reserved.