Welcome!
And thank you for your interest in Southern's Department of Information and Library Science (ILS)
ILS offers programs at the undergraduate, master's and sixth year levels.
The Master of Library Science (MLS) has been accredited by the American Library Association since 1972. (The ALA-accredited MLS is often the entry-level credential for many professional library/information positions.) Since 1999 a large array of courses in the MLS program have been offered through Web-based learning, allowing students with at a distance from campus or with work, family, or other obligations that make on-campus study challenging. Today MLS students come together from across America and around the world in Web-based courses that lead to the ALA-accredited Master of Library Science degree. The online MLS program has been licensed and accredited by the Board of Governors, Department of Education, State of Connecticut since 2000.
All ILS faculty hold advanced graduate degrees and over eighty percent hold a Ph.D. or equivalent.
ILS maintains the tradition of offering a strong foundation in the core skills of librarianship while offering a wide array of electives that permit students to prepare of professional positions in all types of library work and also other cultural institutions as well as non-traditional positions.
As you begin to explore the degrees offered by the Department of Information and Library Science, you may want to learn as much as you can about the broader information and library field.
You may want to begin with a general overview of library and information science Education & Careers (American Library Association).
A number of information organizations (ALA, ASIS&T, ACM, ALISE) maintain extensive websites that will help in gaining a broader perspective of the information field:
- AAM Home American Association of Museums
- ALA Home American Library Association ("The Voice of American Libraries")
- ASIS&T Home American Society for Information Science & Technology ("The Information Society for the Information Age")
- ACM Home Association for Computing Machinery ("The First Society in Computing")
- ALISE Home Association for Library and Information Science Education ("Promoting excellence in library and information science education")
- AAMC Home Association of Art Museum Curators
- ACM Home Association of Children's Museums
- ALA-APA Home ALA-Allied Professional Association
- NPS Home National Parks Service
- SAA Home Society of American Archivists
Computer Skills Prerequisite
The Department assumes that students have basic computer skills, abilities, and knowledge of the type that are normally acquired through a college-level computer literacy course. The skills, abilities, and knowledge encompass the use of word processing, email, and web-browser software and a basic understanding of computer hardware, software and telecommunications capabilities. Some familiarity with personal computer operating systems and interfaces is also assumed.
All incoming graduate students must have the following computer skills prior to taking any courses in the Department of Information and Library Science: Windows; MS Office including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and basic Access (table creation, queries on a single table); e-mail; Internet; any drawing tool. To acquire these skills, students can take courses at a community college, a university, or a computer training center. These skills can also be self-taught with the help of a textbook or instruction manual.
Undergraduate students should plan to achieve these skills in their freshman year.
Many ILS courses are offered online. Currently WebCT/Vista courseware is used to deliver online courses. Tutorials about WebCT/Vista are available so you can be prepared before a class begins.
Pre-matriculation Course Work
ILS permits non-matriculated students to take up to 9 credits (3 courses) before being admitted to the MLS degree program (ILS 501 Introduction to Information Science and Technology and ILS 503 Foundations of Librarianship and perhaps ILS 504 Reference or ILS 506 Cataloguing). Taking courses prior to applying does not give the applicant an advantage in the application process. The university permits advanced high schools to take some undergraduate courses while they are still attending high school (or in the summer during the high school years).
It is, however, strongly recommended that you begin the application process as soon as you enroll in a first course, if not before.
New students and students who are not currently enrolled at SCSU must fill out a QUICK ADMIT form to be able to register online for courses (whether offered on campus or online). After completing the Quick Admit form, students will be notified via email with instructions on how to register for a class. It is very important to give a current and valid email address in order to receive this information. Requests are processed in approximately 2 to 3 business days.
