The PhD Program at SLIS

The PhD program at the University of Wisconsin School of Library and Information Studies is a research intensive program that prepares graduate students for university-level careers as researchers and educators in LIS programs around the globe.

The program requirements address six major areas:

  1. Information use, users and context
  2. Information organization and access systems
  3. Cultural histories, philosophies and debates
  4. Information policy, management and institutions
  5. Theoretical approaches
  6. Research methodologies

Students must also develop a minor in an area of interest outside the school (For example: educational psychology, science and technology studies, political science).

Faculty in the program have broad expertise in the study of information systems, practices, and agencies in social, political, economic, and historical context. Areas of shared faculty interest include: intellectual property and intellectual freedom; hidden labor supporting archives and information systems; information needs and strategies of disadvantaged social groups; history of print culture and reading; children's literature and school librarianship; and government information.

Requirements in brief:

The SLIS PhD degree requires a minimum of 42 credits. 32 credits must be completed on the UW campus. The school prefers full time PhD students and will only rarely permit part time status. No distance education program is available. The program requires a minimum of three years, and normally a minimum of four years, of full-time study.

Before students are permitted to undertake a dissertation, they must complete all required coursework, pass three mastery demonstration papers that provide evidence of the ability to conduct independent research and prepare scholarly manuscripts, and prepare and defend a program portfolio which demonstrates their mastery of four required subject areas and research methodologies. More detailed information about requirements is available in the 41-page SLIS Doctoral Student Program Planning Guide and the University of Wisconsin Graduate School Academic Guidelines.

The faculty is especially interested in working with PhD students who plan to conduct research in areas of faculty expertise - see faculty web pages for an overview of current faculty projects and publications.

The Doctoral Students Association represents PhD students in the School and provides a forum for networking and social support.

Recent graduates:

  • Nahyun Kwon, Dissertation (2002) "Community Networks: Needs Assessment and Community Co-orientation."
  • Chang Suk Kim, Dissertation (2002) "Predicting Information Searching Performance with Measures of Cognitive Diversity."
  • Susan Davis, Dissertation (2003) "Leadership in the Archival Profession: A Case Study."
  • Yunkeum Kim, Dissertation (2003) "Measuring and Assessing Internet Service Quality in Public Libraries."
  • Andrew B. Wertheimer, Dissertation (2003) entitled "Public Libraries Behind Barbed Wire: Japanese American Readers During World War II."
  • Sook Lim, Dissertation (2004) "Power of Systems Offices in Academic Library Organizations."
  • Athena Salaba, Dissertation (2004) entitled "Semantic Relationships and Subject Access: Which Subject Relationships are Useful to the User?."
  • Eun-Young Yoo, Dissertation (2004) entitled "Middle-Aged Women's Health Information Seeking on the Web."
  • Shen Yi (2006) "Digital Information and Communications Networks and Scientific Research Substance: An Investigation of Meteorology."
  • Terrance S. Newell (2006) "Rethinking Information Literacy Learning Environments: A Study to Examine the Effectiveness of Two Learning Approaches."
  • Ming-Hsin "Phoebe" Chiu (2007) "Making Sense of Organizational Socialization: Exploring Information Seeking Behavior of Newcomer Digital Librarians in Academic Libraries."
  • Lynne C. Chase (2007) "Getting in on the Front End of Information Systems Development: Records Management/Systems Analyst Interactions in State Government Agencies."
  • Chi-Shiou Lin (2007) "The Conceptualization of Government Publications on the World Wide Web: A Genre Theory Inspired Investigation."
  • Patricia A. Lawton (2006) "Make New Mistakes: An Analysis of ARL Member Digital Libraries".
  • Sei-Ching Joanna Sin (2009) "Structural and Individual Influences on Information Behavior: A National Study of Adolescents' Use of Public Libraries".

Admissions:

SLIS has a January 15th deadline for admissions materials.

The deadline for international student admissions materials is December 15th due to VISA requirements

All materials must be in place by January 15th for full consideration. Late applications may be considered only if the incoming class is not full.

All applicants must complete two sets of applications materials by the above due dates: one from the School of Library and Information Studies (SLIS) and one from the University of Wisconsin Graduate School. Links to both sets are provied below.

  1. SLIS Application Forms
  2. UW Graduate School Applications Forms

Questions?

  • Questions about the PhD program and admissions to the PhD program should be directed to the PhD Committee chair Professor Kristen Eschenfelder. (eschenfelder at wisc dot edu)
  • Questions about receipt or status of SLIS applications materials should be directed to Ms. Gayle Nimmerguth, Student Status Examiner. (phone) 1-608-263-2904 (email) nimmerguth@wisc.edu.