About the iSchools Organization
The iSchools organization was founded in 2005 by a collective of Information Schools dedicated to advancing the information field in the 21st Century. These schools, colleges, and departments have been newly created or are evolving from programs formerly focused on specific tracks such as information technology, library science, informatics, and information science. While each individual iSchool has its own strengths and specializations, together they share a fundamental interest in the relationships between information, people, and technology. The iSchools organization is governed by the iCaucus.
Vision
The iSchool Caucus seeks to maximize the visibility and influence of its member schools, and their interdisciplinary approaches to harnessing the power of information and technology, and maximizing the potential of humans. We envision a future in which the iSchool Movement has spread around the world, and the information field is widely recognized for creating innovative systems and designing information solutions that benefit individuals, organizations, and society. iSchool graduates will fill the personnel and leadership needs of organizations of all types and sizes; and our areas of research and inquiry will attract strong support and have profound impacts on society and on the formulation of policy from local to international levels.
Goals
- Lead and promote the information field.
Member schools are committed to collective efforts that will shape the information field, communicate its purpose and value and enhance its visibility. - Create effective responses to strategic research and academic opportunities.
Member schools work together to enhance academic initiatives and to leverage funding for important research challenges in the information field. - Provide support for, and solutions to shared challenges.
Member schools provide one another with mutual support and a collective identity, helping constituent schools respond to local challenges and advance the information field. - Provide informed perspectives on matters of public policy as they affect the collection, organization, dissemination, use, and preservation of information.
Approach
iSchools promote an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the opportunities and challenges of information management, with a core commitment to concepts like universal access and user-centered organization of information. The field is concerned broadly with questions of design and preservation across information spaces, from digital and virtual spaces such as online communities, social networking, the World Wide Web, and databases to physical spaces such as libraries, museums, collections, and other repositories.
Degree programs at iSchools include course offerings in areas such as information architecture, design, policy, and economics; knowledge management, user experience design, and usability; preservation and conservation; librarianship and library administration; the sociology of information; and human-computer interaction and computer science.
Every year, the iSchools organization sponsors the iConference. This gathering of information professionals is a shared, onsite experience that fosters interaction, spontaneity, reflection, and forward movement. Affiliation with the iSchools is not a prerequisite for participation; everyone is encouraged to participate in the annual iConference.
