Mission & Program Objectives

Vision

The Department of Information Science will expand its leadership role in preparing information professionals to meet the needs of the global information society. LIS graduates will continue to serve as intermediaries between information and information seekers, as well as serve crucial roles in a wide variety of settings with increasingly sophisticated technological tools. The diverse faculty of LIS will contribute individual strengths to increase the quality of teaching, research, and service that will maintain the department as a center of excellence.

Mission

The Department of Information Science provides and supports resources, research, and service for education and leadership to the information science community and prepares information professionals of the highest quality to serve dynamic roles in the state, the nation, and the world.

Goals

The goals of the department are to

  • prepare information professionals who demonstrate excellence in leadership, service, research and education in a technology-driven environment;
  • advance and contribute to leading-edge research and scholarship;
  • contribute to professional, academic, and public interests through consulting, continuing education and leadership; and
  • provide high-quality distributed learning opportunities while maintaining a high-quality residential experience.
  • maintain a supportive and flexible learning environment to accommodate students' individual backgrounds, needs, and aspirations.

Program Objectives

Bachelor of Science

The bachelor’s program goal is to provide general educational preparation for students planning to enter the information professions. The bachelor's program objectives are for students to demonstrate knowledge and skills related to:

  • The roles and impact of information policies, practices, and information itself on diverse populations in a rapidly changing technological and global information society.
  • Human information needs and behavior in order to develop and implement information systems and services that meet user needs.
  • Professional practices necessary to succeed in information-related occupations and to pursue the professional master's degree.
  • The philosophy, principles, and legal and ethical responsibilities of the field.

Master of Science

The master’s program goal is to prepare students for careers as information professionals in a variety of roles and settings. The master's program objectives are for students to demonstrate knowledge and skills related to:

  • The roles and impact of information policies, practices, and information itself on diverse populations, including underserved groups, in a rapidly changing technological and global information society.
  • The design and implementation of conceptual and technological systems and services to facilitate the discovery, identification, selection, acquisition, organization and description, storage and retrieval, preservation, dissemination, management, and use of recordable information and knowledge in any format for effective access.
    • Human information behavior in order to develop and implement information systems and services that meet user needs related to information and knowledge creation, communication, discovery, identification, selection, retrieval, analysis, interpretation, evaluation, synthesis, management, and use.
    • Communication and networking for personal and professional growth, leadership, collaboration, policy development, and change management.
    • Teaching, research, and service, including interdisciplinary activities, that contribute to the advancement of the field.
    • The philosophy, principles, and legal and ethical responsibilities of the field

Doctoral Program

The doctoral program goal is to prepare students to contribute to the advancement and evolution of the information society in a variety of roles and settings as administrators, researchers and educators. The doctoral program seeks to:

  • Develop scholars passionate about the role of information in human affairs.
  • Nurture critical and reflective thinking on fundamental issues and problems related to information.
  • Promote cross-disciplinary thinking and research that expands expertise in cutting-edge areas of information science.
  • Instill a commitment to the philosophy, principles, and legal and ethical responsibilities of scholarly and applied research.
  • Foster an environment of substantive and productive mentoring and apprenticeship that integrates resources, courses, and faculties from a broad range of academic units.
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