Overview

The master's degree program provides the basic graduate preparation required for the first professional degree.

The master's degree is offered in a residential format in Denton, in an off-campus format in Houston and at the UNT Dallas campus, and through the department's online and distant learning program. Online and Distance learning programs or cohorts required a face to face on site component called Web Institutes.   

Students pursuing the master's degree through distance learning or cohorts are required to attend a six days of face to face meetings, usually spread over two semesters. After completing the institutes, students pursue the remainder of their studies online. Students can also take a combination of web-based and face-to-face courses. Each course taught by the full time faculty and offered online has a face to face component.

The on-campus and distance education degree programs are governed by the same policies and procedures for admission, retention and graduation. The programs are supervised by the chair of the department with central coordination under the college dean and the vice president for academic affairs. The programs function under the same governance structures for ensuring that curriculum and instructional mechanisms are in keeping with the mission and educational outcomes of the department. All policies and procedures related to admission, satisfactory academic progress, courses of study for degree requirements, course objectives, and grading criteria for courses are clearly stated and published as appropriate in the department's bulletin, student handbook, course outlines, or printed program guides.

The master's program prepares information professionals for work in a variety of roles and application settings, including various information agencies and all types of libraries. In addition, the program prepares at a master's level individuals who wish to pursue study in the theoretical development of information science.

To provide this education, the program rests on a broad conceptual framework that is covered in the core courses, and the program is elaborated in courses that educate information professionals for a number of different client settings. The unique nature of this program, and what sets it apart from other programs in the university that may deal in some way with the topic of information, is the approach to the study of information, its behavior and its use from the point of view of the user.