School of Information and Library Science

We foster creativity and innovation for the digital world.

Located at 144 West 14th St, Manhattan is our campus. In our global information society, culture, communication and digital technology are at the heart of library and information science.

Our diverse programs across libraries, museum, archives, and the IT sector, prepare students for exciting and challenging careers in the information professions and as leaders in the digital age.

                                                                  

Distinguished as the only ALA-accredited graduate school of information and library science based in Manhattan, and the oldest LIS school in North America, Pratt-SILS was established in 1890 and has been continuously accredited since 1923, when accreditation was first introduced.

 

Building upon Pratt's national reputation as a leading school in art and design, we bring creativity and innovation to LIS education through our focus on Cultural Informatics and World Information, Society & Environments (WISE).

A truly interdisciplinary field, information science (IS) makes digital technology and computing usable and useful to people and guides the design of systems that meet people’s information needs and benefit the societies and cultures in which they live and work. IS principles define the information professions and underlie the fields of knowledge organization, information, architecture, usability and interaction design and importantly, form the basis for research and development in the digital world of the Internet, Web, personal digital assistants and the global digital landscape of systems and networks.

We offer students exciting and cutting-edge programs and courses from archives and digital libraries to special libraries and library media specialist. In addition to the Master of Science in Library and Information Science (MSLIS), Pratt offers a dual degree program with Pratt's History of Art Department (MSLIS/MS in History of Art), and a joint degree with the Brooklyn Law School (MSLIS/JD) as well as certificate programs in archives.  New York's great libraries and museums serve as site locations for students to gain professional work experience through the practicum course, NYPL Research Libraries and the Metropolitan Museum of Art and special fellowship opportunities are available under the SILS Fellows program.

For more information on our exciting educational opportunities at Pratt SILS, please visit our websites for: degree programs, dual degree programs, advanced certificate programs, program concentrations, international programs, scholarship opportunities, student groups and admissions.