Curriculum
The Master of Science in Library and Information Science (MSLIS) program requires the completion of 36 credits. Most students complete the program in one to two years, depending on their course load. A maximum of seven years is permitted. Subject to approval, up to six graduate credits relevant to a student’s career goals may be taken before admission to the school or transferred from another accredited institution. Students who have graduated from the School of Information Studies with a Bachelor of Science in Information Management and Technology may receive a waiver for six of the 36 credits.
Three themes run throughout the courses in the MSLIS program:
- Focus on users
- Effective leadership and management of information and information organizations
- Appropriate and effective use of information technologies
Curriculum
The curriculum consists of three main elements:
- Core Courses: The MSLIS core provides a foundation for further study and encompasses essential professional concepts and competencies.
- Exit Requirement: The exit requirement allows students to integrate classroom knowledge with real-world work experience.
- Electives: Electives deepen understanding of core MSLIS principles, as well as providing broader contexts and perspectives.
All courses are three credits unless specified otherwise.
| I. Primary Core: 19 credits |
Courses in the Core fall into three categories:
Introductory Courses
Information Resources Courses
Management and Policy Courses
| II. Exit Requirement: 3 credits |
Students usually fill the exit requirement with an internship or cooperative education experience. Students who come to the program with extensive practical experience in their chosen career area may substitute an independent study (IST 690) for an internship, with the consent of their advisor. Internships play an important role in the MSLIS program, providing opportunities to transfer concepts from the classroom into the world of information practice in libraries or other organizations.
| III. Electives: 14 credits |
Students have a broad range of electives to choose from, including those available for students in the school's other master’s degree programs. In addition to formal courses, students may fashion an independent study, working with a faculty member.
Elective courses are grouped into interest areas. Students may wish to spread their electives across different topics in order to achieve a balanced program of study. Alternatively, students may wish to focus in one area, to strengthen specialty skills. Course lists for each area appear below.
Interest Area 1: Services and Resources – Courses in this interest area focus on the tools, principles, and practices necessary to be an effective intermediary between information resources and a client’s information needs. These electives build on skills in the three core information resources courses.
Services
Resources
Interest Area 2: Organization, Retrieval, and Access – Courses in this interest area explore theoretical concepts, systems, and practices for organizing information in order to facilitate access and retrieval. This interest area includes a wide range of approaches to the organization and retrieval of information, from the established to the innovative and experimental. Courses from the systems interest area below, which treat information systems in general, are frequently relevant here, depending on the student's interests and experience.
Interest Area 3: Information Systems Design, Implementation, and Management – Courses in this interest area focus on theoretical concepts and models, tools, skills, and standards necessary to the design, implementation, and management of information systems in general. Students wishing to learn more about the organizational and retrieval aspects of information in systems may wish to include courses from the interest area above.
Please see the Syracuse University graduate catalog for course descriptions.