Library and Information Science
Master’s Degree

ON CAMPUS PROGRAM

Earn your master’s degree in library and information science.

How do libraries serve their communities? What knowledge and skills do librarians need to ensure equitable access and use of information? How can we preserve history and memories for future generations? How can we tell the stories that have gone untold? How can we help people evaluate the authenticity of information they receive? Explore these questions and more as a Library and Information Science student.

  • Connect communities, advance equity and promote justice.
  • Learn to discover, manage and organize information resources.
  • Gain knowledge and skills in user services, data privacy and protection, and information literacy.
  • Focus on information justice and equity, engagement, and technology use in your community.
  • Put your training to work through experiential learning opportunities in a variety of settings.
Quick Info

Next term starts Spring 2025

12 Courses / 36 Total Credit Hours

This program is also available online.

What can I do with a master’s in library and information science?

A master’s degree in library and information science opens doors to careers in a variety of settings, from community libraries to college and university libraries, museums, non-profits, school districts, and more.

SAMPLE JOB TITLES
  • Instruction Librarian
  • Children’s Reference Librarian
  • Photo Archives Manager
  • Director of Special Collections
  • Digitization Librarian
  • Research Data Archivist
  • Data Visualization Specialist
  • Metadata Information Architect
  • Content Management Analyst
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Courses & Curriculum

The 36-credit LIS curriculum is designed to prepare librarians who have the broad range of knowledge and skills needed for exemplary practice in the library and information profession. Students in the School Media specialization should consult the School Media specific curriculum.

View Full Course Catalog

Core Knowledge and Skills: 15 credits

LIS core courses provide a solid grounding in the knowledge, skills, and values of the library and information profession. The 15-credit LIS core has three parts:

Introductory Core: 3 credits

IST 511 | 3 CREDITS
Survey of the professional, social, ethical, and legal issues affecting information service professionals and organizations and prepares students to deal with these issues and work with a diverse community.

Information Resources Core: 9 credits

IST 605 | 3 CREDITS
The discovery and use of print and electronic resources and delivery of services in libraries to meet information needs of varied patron communities in a broad range of contexts.

IST 613 | 3 CREDITS
User-focused planning, marketing, and assessment of activities that support core functions of libraries, such as collection development, systems, and public services.
PREREQ IST 605

IST 616 | 3 CREDITS
Introduction to theories, tools, and standards for information organization and access, including cataloging rules and formats, content analysis, indexing, classification, and fundamentals of information retrieval systems.

Management Core: 3 credits

IST 717 | 3 CREDITS
Management of academic, public, and special libraries. Relationship between library and its parent institution; internal organization and operation; library information policies; library financing; legislation affecting libraries.

Electives: 18 credits

The 18 credits of electives allows students to extend their core knowledge and skills in directions of their choice. Students can select any graduate-level course in the iSchool, including those from the MS Information Systems or MS Applied Data Science programs. Up to six credits may be taken from other approved graduate programs.

Exit requirement

IST 773 should be taken in the final term of the MSLIS program. This course is intended to facilitate a holistic, comprehensive, and reflective demonstration of the competencies students have learned in the program by allowing them to reflect on their body of work and make explicit connections among coursework and experience.

IST 773 | 3 CREDITS
Creation of an online reflective portfolio that demonstrates successful achievement of all program learning outcomes for the MSLIS degree.

Professional Pathways

The MSLIS program strides to cultivate leaders in the library and information profession who will become implementers and advocates for information justice and equity, community engagement, and technology use in their communities of practice. It is designed to prepare library and information professionals with a broad range of knowledge and skills needed for exemplary practice and leadership in the library and information profession.

Whether working in a college or university library or a cultural institution such as a public library or museum, user services and community engagement is one of the core functions of libraries and cultural institutions of all types. User services librarians are responsible for information literacy instruction, reference, collection management, and outreach to diverse communities to assure equal access to library and information resources.

Institutions handling historical materials offer job opportunities for a graduate holding an MSLIS degree, including special collections within large academic institutions, small historical societies, museums, and even zoos. Courses in this pathway are suitable for careers in cultural heritage, archives, and special collections.

Digital curation has become an increasingly important part of library operations. Digital library work includes the management, curation, and preservation of digitized and born-digital resources, including data, in libraries, archives, and museums. These librarians develop policies and workflows, help users locate digital information and data for business or academic use, and organize digital resources for retrieval. Students interested in the digital curation pathway will gain knowledge of digital data systems, metadata theory and practices, programming and markup languages, and data services to the communities they serve.

Libraries, archives, and museums are central places for the acquisition, organization, management, and dissemination of information and knowledge. Organizing and managing information and knowledge of all types, formats, and forms is the core function that supports information organizations to achieve their goals and enact their values. This career pathway has a wide range of employment potentials, ranging from libraries, archives, museums, government agencies, businesses, and almost any organizations that need professionals to perform functions of organizing, managing, retrieving, and use/reuse information resources.

Libraries strive to facilitate lifelong learning. When is a better time to provoke a permanent passion for curiosity than childhood and adolescence? Children and youth services librarians focus on early literacy, information literacy, readers’ advisory, and the use of emerging technologies by young people. Librarians focusing on children and youth services build relationships that support the learning of young people as well developing sustaining relationships with parents, caregivers, and teachers in the local community.

Modern libraries run on digital data and information systems to provide services anywhere and anytime that require technically savvy librarians to innovate, support, and maintain. Digital information systems in libraries and other types of organizations play a key role in making data and metadata findable, accessible, interoperable, and usable/reusable. Knowledge and skills in this pathway can lead to jobs not only in non-traditional positions in libraries but also in non-library settings such as corporate and government.

Whether you are conducting research on community profiles for building a new library branch, gathering data and information on emerging trends for market research, or collecting information about products or companies for competitive intelligence, the skills and knowledge in research methods and data science can go a long way in developing a career as a research librarian.

Delve Deeper, Explore Farther.

In addition to getting practical, on-the-job experience, students have opportunities to join a research lab or collaborate with faculty on their academic work, exploring the role of information in furthering social justice.

Explore Research

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Pursue Your Interests.

Explore topics that interest you most. Our flexible program offers focus areas and the opportunity to solidify your expertise with a Certificate of Advanced Study in Data Science or pursue another professional pathway.

Data Science Certificate

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Grow Your Potential.

The iSchool’s tight-knit community, coupled with Orange pride, means that you’ll become part of a vibrant and active professional network when you graduate. That’s how we’re able to place nearly all of our graduates into a variety of roles, from school districts to libraries to universities, to museums, and beyond.

Explore Careers

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iSchool alumni offer mentoring and jobs
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Our LIS program has been accredited by the American Library Association (ALA) since 1928. We currently hold continued accreditation status through 2030.

Meet us in Syracuse, or virtually.

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American Library Association Accreditation Logo

The American Library Association’s Office of Accreditation regularly reviews library and information programs that wish to be accredited by ALA. Accredited MSLIS programs meet or exceed the Standards for Accreditation of Master’s Programs in Library and Information Studies, which were established by the Committee on Accreditation (COA) and adopted by ALA Council. The standards address systematic planning; curriculum; faculty; students; administration, finances and resources.

The American Library Association’s Committee on Accreditation has been evaluating LIS programs since 1924. The Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) recognizes the ALA COA as the authority for assessing the quality of education offered by graduate programs in the field of library and information studies.

In order to maintain accreditation, an MSLIS program must submit to a regular process that involves rigorous, ongoing self-evaluation. The results of that evaluation are verified through an external review conducted by the Committee on Accreditation. In addition, every program submits data to ALA on an annual basis and submits regular biennial reports.

ALA Accredidation self-study produced by the MSLIS program (2015)

2023 COA Biennial narrative report

2021 COA Biennial narrative report

2019 COA Biennial narrative report

2017 COA Biennial narrative report

The MSLIS program at Syracuse University is accredited by the American Library Association Committee on Accreditation, with the status of Continued accreditation. The next comprehensive review visit is scheduled for Fall 2023.

Our guiding council carefully reviews competencies and course offerings to ensure that the iSchool is a leader in library and information science education, and you can find more information on the guiding council in its bylaws.

Learn More About Our Guiding Council

View detailed information about graduation rates and testing success rates, showing what graduates of our program go on to achieve.

View consumer information.