Mission

The School of Information and Library Science educates professionals to be responsible leaders in the information professions and to purse careers across a broad range of information environments.

Our student-centered programs blend practice and theory and integrate emerging technologies into the curriculum, providing students a high-level academic experience. Interdisciplinary collaborations, partnerships, and internships enhance educational opportunities and serve as a bridge to professional practice.

Our academic programs imbue students with the values, skills, and knowledge of the LIS field and with the ability to practice high ethical standards, support intellectual freedom, and provide equal access to information. We emphasize excellence in teaching and learning, as well as research for and service to the community, so that our graduates become productive users of technology and advocates for libraries, literacy, and lifelong learning. Committed to reflecting the diverse nature of our global society in the digital age through creativity and innovation in LIS education, we inspire our students to develop their professional voice and to become a contributing member of the profession.

    A New Vision for the 21st Century

Building upon Pratt's national reputation as a leading school in art and design, we strive for leadership in LIS education through our focus on Cultural Informatics in the context of World Information, Society & Environments (WISE) - advanced by faculty and student research placed at the heart of our enterprise. Our programs celebrate the information professions as informed by the principles of a democratic and diverse society. We form strong ties with our professional community and with the wider arts and humanities community, collaborating with academic, research, corporate, and museum libraries to support student internships, mentoring, and career opportunities for our graduates.

The School is a recognized leader in LIS education and cultural informatics research. With programs distinguished by academic excellence, we have earned an international reputation that attracts outstanding students from around the world. Our programs is responsive to the needs and interests of students, and we make meaningful educational connections with our external community to benefit and enrich our student learning experience. Our international programs and community signals our commitment to diversity and to bein active participants and contributors to the global information society in the digital age.

We offer a master of science in Library and Information Science (MSLIS), accredited by the American Library Association, and dual-degrees: MSLIS/M.S. Art History, MSLIS and MFA Digital Arts and MSLIS/JD or LLM with Brooklyn Law School. We also offer post-masters Advanced Certificates in Library and Information Studies, New York State certification of Library Media Specialist with the MSLIS program, and two advanced certificates in archives and in museum libraries registered with NY State.

Program-Level Student Learning Objectives and Outcomes and E-Portfolio with Assessment Program

Beginning fall 2012, entering students will be required to create an e-portfolio and participate in SILS e-portfolio assessment program.  Working with their faculty advisors, students will select five of their assignments to represent their best work to demonstrate that they have mastered the five goals and student learning objectives, as described below, for the MSLIS degree program. As part of the e-portfolio work, students will write a one page reflection on each the 5 assignments that focuses on their learning outcomes.

e-Portfolios at Pratt run on the Mahara platform, an open source software, and are supported by the Office of Educational Technology and the Technology Advisory subcommittee on Teaching and Learning. We invite you to visit the e-portfolio Web site at http://eportfolio.pratt.edu/

 

 Updated 12/16/11

Program-level Student Learning Objectives and Outcomes 

Viewed through the lens of information studies in the digital age from digital libraries to global networks and social media, the SILS program learning objectives represent what students learn and what skills they have acquired at the completion of their MSLIS degree program.

1. Students carry-out and apply research

• Carry-out research, apply critical thinking, and use research methods such as qualitative and quantitative methods and data collection and analysis effectively to assess and evaluate information environments and issues

• Produce original work and make contributions to the field and demonstrate an understanding of information theory and philosophy

2. Students demonstrate excellent communication skills and create and convey content

• Communicate effectively as an information professional across digital media and produce professional writing for research, e-publication, and presentation and for teaching and learning

• Use social and digital media for outreach and interaction with users and to communicate meaning

3. Students use information technology and digital tools effectively

• Use digital tools and technology effectively for information organization, access, retrieval, use, and preservation and management of digital content and collections

• Apply technical skills in meaningful ways to investigate, analyze, and present information and express and reflect contemporary issues and trends in information technology through their work

4. Students apply concepts  related to use and users of information and user needs and perspectives

• Apply and represent user-centered perspectives and concepts of human information behavior and user-centered information services and systems

• Demonstrate knowledge of diverse of user communities, address diverse information needs, locate, assess, and use professional and research literature and select information products and services that best serve users

5. Students perform within the framework of professional practice

• Carry-out and produce professional-level work, advance and contribute to the LIS field, reflect ethical and legal practices in global contexts, and keep pace with current trends.

• Use leadership skills and work creatively with commitment, personal vision and purpose