Department of Information Studies

Vision:

At the UCLA Department of Information Studies, we believe that information, data and knowledge, and associated networks, technologies and practices are central to the transformation and betterment of society. Motivated by a vision of social justice, we strive to make these visible, accessible, accountable, and sustainable for today and for the future.

Mission:

Our work enriches public awareness of the pervasiveness and role of information in our lives, and confronts issues of trust, validity and equity. It advances the essential and enduring roles played by information institutions such as libraries, archives and museums as social, cultural, educational, memory and intellectual centers in our society, as well as the complementary and critical roles played by other forms of community organizations. It is also situated at the forefront of scholarship on digital society and the Internet.

Through our research, academic, and professional education programs and public service, we build, shape and promote state-of-the art knowledge, skills and ethics relating to how information, data and knowledge in all forms and media support people as actors in their worlds; communities as spaces of belonging that foster agency and the construction of identity; and cultures as resources for cultivating and organizing people’s capacities and as manifestations of beliefs, values and lived experiences. We interrogate and manage information artifacts and networks as means through which culture is represented, transmitted, preserved, reproduced and re-imagined; and design and critique human- and humanitarian-centered information technologies, systems, and practices.

We integrate humanistic, scientific and social scientific, computational, critical, and arts and design approaches as well as wide-ranging professional, institutional and policy perspectives. We produce graduates with the knowledge, skills and values to assess, develop, apply and teach appropriate standards, techniques and ethics in the design, management, preservation and dissemination of information resources and systems.

• Develop and invest in initiatives for recruiting a diverse cohort of exceptional students into our academic and professional programs
• Develop and implement specific mechanisms, measurements and schedules for regular evaluation of all academic and professional programs with respect to program goals, academic rigor, pedagogy, learning outcomes, emerging scholarly and professional trends, and consistency with departmental mission, vision and values
• Revisit and redesign program curricula as necessary to reflect rapidly changing information environments and needs, emerging opportunities, faculty profiles and program evaluation findings.
• Formalize placement resources and expand the ways in which students are prepared for the job market and existing and emerging career paths
• Track the realizable and concrete value of and return on student investment in our degree programs in terms of employability, salary, job satisfaction, and career advancement

With Specializations in Archival Studies, Informatics, Library Studies, Media Archival Studies and Rare Books/Print and Visual Culture.

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The Ph.D. program is rigorous and rewarding, with a strong research focus. It is structured so that students can gain maximum benefit from a cohort experience; a has purpose-designed program of coursework coupled with research apprenticeships; and provides strong faculty mentoring. Our students are strongly encouraged to present and publish their research in academic, professional and community venues.

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California Rare Book School, Senior Fellows Program and Post Master’s Certificate of Specialization in Information Studies.

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The Department of Information Studies encourages students to join and support the activities of the student chapters of the American Library Association, the Society of American Archivists, the Special Library Association, the Association for Information Science & Technology, the Association of Moving Image Archivists, and the Student Governing Board, as well as other organizations that fit their interests.

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