Library and Information Studies (LIS)

Welcome to the Department of Library and Information Studies (LIS)! Established in 1966 and continuously accredited by the American Library Association (ALA) since 1972, our Master of Library Science (MLS) degree program has produced more than 3,600 graduates, many of whom are now in such key positions as reference librarians, school library media specialists, law librarians, system administrators, and Web designers, to name but a few. The Department also offers an Advanced Studies Certificate that requires the completion of 18 credit hours of carefully planned study tailored to the academic needs and goals of individual students who have completed the MLS and want to upgrade their competencies or to change their career directions.

Our program engages students in understanding the nature of information and its use, the conceptual foundations of information organization, the requirements of a variety of user groups and sources of information to meet these requirements, and the cutting edge technology to store and retrieve information and to support communication and collaboration among users in an information commons where the roles of information producer and information consumer meld and the issues of management and information policy, intellectual freedom and equity of information access are emphasized.

Recent improvements to our program include the addition of online MLS reference cohorts since fall 2010 and the increase of online course offerings. Students now have the flexibility of completing the MLS Library Media Specialization either entirely online or through a mixture of both online and seated classes.

Please take a moment to explore this Website. I hope you will find out that we at LIS are committed to program quality, academic excellence, and community and professional service. If you have any questions, concerns, or comments, please feel free to contact us. Thank you!

Jianqiang Wang, Ph.D.
Interim Department Chair and Associate Professor

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