Applicable only to students admitted during the 2014-2015 academic year.

Information Studies

School of Education and Information Studies

Graduate Degrees

The Department of Information Studies offers the Master of Library and Information Science (M.L.I.S.) degree and the Doctoral of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree in Information Studies.

Library and Information Science

Master’s Degree

Admissions Requirements

Advising

Upon being accepted into the school, the student is assigned a faculty member for initial counseling and direction. Normally, this faculty member is retained as an interim counselor for a year or less, until such time as the student selects a regular faculty adviser, based on the student’s interest and specialization. Once chosen, the faculty adviser provides specific academic advice in matters pertaining to the specialization, program of study, and related matters.

Areas of Study

Consult the department.

Foreign Language Requirement

None.

Course Requirements

Full-time students are normally required to enroll in three courses per quarter in order to complete the program in six quarters.

Eighteen courses (72 units) are required for graduation from the M.L.I.S. program. Students take 24 units of required courses, four units of research methods courses, and 44 units of elective courses. Coursework must provide evidence both of basic professional competencies and of knowledge in a field of specialized competence.

Basic Professional Competence. This requirement is met by completing six core courses (Information Studies 200, 201, 245, 260, 270, 410), and one graduate-level research methodology courses (such as Information Studies 281, 282, or 280).

Specialized Competence. Completion of a course of study is required as evidence of knowledge of a field of specialization in informatics, library studies, or archival studies. The field of specialization and the specialized course program must be approved by a faculty adviser. The specialized competence requirement is ordinarily met by the completion of eleven additional courses, which may include internships. Relevant coursework in other departments or schools is encouraged. Students may petition to have prior coursework applied to their specializations.

During the second year, the student may apply for an internship of one to three quarters either on campus or off campus at one or more approved library or information centers. The internship is a regularly scheduled course and may be applied toward the 18 required courses.

No more than eight units of Information Studies 596 may be applied toward the total course requirement for students under the comprehensive examination plan; only four units may be applied toward the minimum graduate course requirements. In order to enroll in any S/U graded course, including 500-series courses, the student must be in good academic standing.

Students who choose the thesis option are allowed to apply 12 units of 500-series coursework toward the requirements for the degree.

Teaching Experience

Not required.

Field Experience

Not Required.

Comprehensive Examination Plan

Students who choose this option complete a comprehensive examination that consists of two components: a basic component and a specialization component.

Basic Component. A portfolio presentation, the culminating experience and comparable to a comprehensive examination, is required. The portfolio is a presentation of its author’s professional self as developed in the M.L.I.S. program. The portfolio serves as a comprehensive examination by requiring students to assess and integrate their learning throughout the core courses of the program, to relate the advanced work done in specialty courses to their career goals, to identify learning objectives and describe the degree to which those objectives have been met, to select key papers written during the program, and to describe a plan for continuing education and professional involvement. After preparing these elements of the portfolio, students make a public presentation of the work to a panel consisting of the adviser, another ladder faculty member of the department, and a qualified professional. Failure in any part of the portfolio may lead to only one opportunity to present the recorded and/or in-person presentation again.

Students present the portfolio in either the second to last or in the last quarter of enrollment, and after completion of: (1) all outstanding entrance requirements; (2) the eighteen required courses, not counting the entrance requirements, by the end of the quarter in which the portfolio is presented; (3) courses to the level required for good academic standing (grade-point average of 3.0 or higher); and (4) all outstanding Incomplete grades.

Specialization Component. A major paper produced in an elective course, normally in the student’s area of specialization, is required. A grade of B or better must be earned in this course. The same course may not be used to satisfy both the paper and the research methods requirement.

Thesis Plan

Every master’s degree thesis plan requires the completion of an approved thesis that demonstrates the student’s ability to perform original, independent research.

Students who choose this option must submit a thesis reporting on results of their original investigation of a problem. While the problem may be one of only limited scope, the thesis must show a significant style, organization, and depth of understanding of the subject.

Students indicate their interest in this plan by the end of Spring Quarter of the first year. If the thesis option (Plan I) is approved, a thesis committee of at least three faculty members is established. Most students complete 12 units of related coursework under the direction of the committee. The committee approves the subject and plan of the thesis, provides guidance in research, and approves the completed manuscript. Approval must be unanimous among committee members. After acceptance of the thesis, subject, and plan, there is an oral examination on the thesis.

There is no written examination or portfolio requirement under the thesis plan.

Time-to-Degree

The M.L.I.S. is a two-year program, consisting normally of three four-unit courses each quarter during six consecutive academic quarters, for a total of eighteen courses. Those students who enroll in less than 12 units per quarter will necessarily take a longer time to obtain the degree, but not more than ten quarters.