The department`s research program spans library and information science from youth services to information retrieval and from policy to school media. The faculty are widely published and heavily cited in these and other areas, supporting the high status of the M.L.I.S. program in national rankings, informing the undergraduate program, and contributing to the education of Ph.D. students. The faculty design and study new information technologies and new uses for information and media. Research addresses the organization and dissemination of information; the design, management and evaluation of information services and systems; and diverse topics in professional education for library and information science. There are many opportunities for students at every level to become involved in faculty research projects, gaining valuable hands-on understanding of the interplay between new research and the cumulated achievements of the field. Faculty in the Department of Library and Information Science have interactions across the University with other faculty members from departments as varied as cognitive science, computer science, business, and education.
Members of the Library and Information Science faculty serve as editors of internationally recognized journals in their fields of interest, and their research is supported by organizations such as the National Science Foundation, the Council on Library and Information Resources, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the U.S. Department of Education, and the Special Libraries Association, as well as individual libraries. Much of this work is conducted in the School`s Alexandria Project Laboratory, located on the second floor of the SCILS building. Members of the department also play a leading role in the University`s Distributed Laboratory for Digital Libraries, which supports research and graduate students.
The diverse research interests of the faculty are united by the shared conviction that the revolutionary technologies of computers and networking will serve humanity best when they are developed and understood in terms of their service to the needs of individuals and organizations. The Department of Library and Information Science recognizes that for effective teaching in our rapidly changing field, it is essential that every member of our faculty be active in the creation of new knowledge in that field, through innovative research.
