Course Requirements for the MA Program in Library and Information Studies
Practicum: In addition to the courses listed below, students are required to complete a 120 hour practicum. Most students fulfill the practicum requirement by taking LIS 620, Field Placement in Library and Information Agencies. For more information see the Practicum page and the MA Program Planning Guide (Students who began their MA program prior to fall 2012 should see MA Guide 2011)
E-Portfolio: Completion of the e-portfolio is a graduation requirement for all students who started the program during or after fall 2012. Portfolios will be assessed on a pass/fail basis. See the MA Program Planning Guide (p. 8), and read more information about the eportfolio. You can also view portfolios created by current students.
The curriculum is divided into three tiers. All courses are three credit courses.
Tier One: Required courses
All students will take the following three courses:
- 450 Information Agencies and Their Environment
- 451 Foundations of Reference
- 551 Organization of Information
Tier Two: Students must choose at least three courses for a minimum of 9 credits. All these courses are strongly recommended.
- 635: Reference and Information Services
- 639: Information Literacy Pedagogy
- 644: Digital Tools, Trends, and Debates
- 651: Cataloging
- 654: Management
- 655: Collection Management
- 661: Information Ethics and Policy
- 710: Research and Evaluation Methods
- 734: Archives Administration
Tier T: Technology. Students must complete at least one course for a minimum of 3 credits. Taking more T courses is recommended.
- 644: Digital Tools, Trends and Debates * double counts as Tier 2
- 652: XML, Document Structures and Metadata
- 751: Database Design and Management
- 855: Digital Curation
- 861: Information Architecture
- 879: Digital Libraries
Electives
All other courses. Students may take up to 3 credits of approved non LIS courses electives. All non LIS electives must be approved by the student's advisor.