Dual MSIS/MAH and MSLS/MAH Programs

Dual MSIS/MAH and MSLS/MAH Programs

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Revised

Fall 2015

The School of Information and Library Science (SILS) and the Department of Art (ART), agree to create dual programs of study leading to two professional degree combinations: the Master of Science in Information Science (MSIS) and the Master of Arts in Art History —MSIS/MA, and the Master of Science in Library Science (MSLS) and the MA. The programs are designed to be completed in three academic years.

BACKGROUND

School of Information and Library Science (SILS)

In its 84th year, the School of Information and Library Science provides an outstanding combination of cutting-edge research and scholarship. Meeting the challenge of the Internet, as well as dealing with information in its multiple formats will provide ongoing challenges for librarians, archivists, records managers, and information systems professionals. SILS provides high quality educational opportunities in an interdisciplinary learning environment related to all of these areas of professional information practice.

The curriculum provides solid grounding in both the traditional and emerging areas of information and library science. SILS provides programs of study at all levels, ranging from an undergraduate major in information science (BSIS) to a Ph.D. in information and library science. Most of our students (approximately 300 each year) are enrolled in one of our two professional master's degree programs in either information science or library science. The school also offers certificate programs in defined specializations as well as post-Master’s certificates.

SILS has long been recognized as one of the best library and information science (LIS) programs in the world. The UNC program ranked number two in U.S. News' last ranking of library science programs in 2013. Six of the school's specialty programs rank among the nation's top 10: digital librarianship (first), health librarianship (second), archives and preservation (tied for first), information systems (sixth), school library media (tied for tenth) and services for children and youth (tied for eighth).

The American Library Association (ALA) accredits the Master of Science in Library Science and the Master of Science in Information Science degrees, and SILS is an institutional member of the Association for Library and Information Science Education. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools accredits the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The MSIS and MSLS degrees received seven-year accreditation (longest possible period) from the ALA in January 2014.

Mission Statement

SILS educates innovative and responsible thinkers who will lead the information professions; discovers principles and impacts of information; creates systems, techniques, and policies to advance information processes and services; andadvances information creation, access, use, management, and stewardship to improve the quality of life for diverse local, national, and global communities.

This mission is rooted in the values of our field, our university, and our school and has four components: 1) Our educational mission is manifested in our degree programs, in field studies and internships, and in the collaborative research our students do with faculty and other students. 2) Our basic research mission is rooted in the recognition that data, information, and knowledge are the engines of science, industry, and the human experience. We study how information is created and flows among people and organizations, and how it is used and reused, managed, and preserved. 3) Our design and development mission manifests in interacting systems that include computational components (hardware and software), organizational components (indexes, metadata, ontologies), access components (user interfaces), and policy components. We develop and evaluate these interacting components in principled and systematic projects and investigations.4) Our engagement mission is motivated by the recognition that information is socially embedded in culture and that real world problems are solved by people armed with knowledge of the past, contemporary information, and tools for exploration and decision making. Engagement means not only leveraging information and tools beyond the campus, but also that protocols, practices, rights, and responsibilities be defined and defended and that people learn about them in context.

Master’s Degree Programs

Degree Requirements for the Master's Programs

There are twomaster’s degree programs at SILS: the Master of Science in Information Science and the Master of Science in Library Science. The following requirements must be fulfilled within five years from the date of enrollment.

  • 48 semester hours of graduate-level course work (including completion of a master's paper or project.)
  • Two semesters of residence, as described in the Graduate School Record
  • Application for graduation, filed early in the final semester of course work

Completion of a satisfactory comprehensive examination

Continued enrollment in the school is dependent upon satisfactory course work performance. A master's student becomes academically ineligible to continue upon receipt of one failing grade ("F") or nine or more hours of "L" (low pass). Students with six or more credit hours of "IN" (incomplete) or "AB" (absent from final exam) will have the number of courses for which they may register in subsequent semesters restricted. A student in this situation may not exceed nine combined credit hours of outstanding "incompletes" and registered credit hours.

Both programs also requiresatisfactory completion of the SILS Information TechnologyCompetency Requirement prior to the start of your first semester.In addition, all master’s students, regardless of degree program, must take the following core set of courses totaling 16.5 credits:

INLS 500 Human Information Interactions (3)
INLS 520 Organization of Information (3)
INLS 581 Overview of Research Methods (3)
INLS 585 Management for Information Professionals (3)
INLS 781 Proposal Preparation and Presentation (1.5)
INLS 992 Master’s Paper (3)

Additional courses are required for each degree program as well as specializations within the program and are listed in the following sections.In planning a course of study, students should consult the course description list on the SILS website to determine which prerequisites are required for advanced courses in their chosen specialization.

Master of Science in Information Science

The goal of the MSIS program is to enable students to contribute to the design, development, and maintenance of information systems and networks; lead the development of new technologies and new applications relating to the delivery of information; and demonstrate a theoretical knowledge of information science, including the theory of information storage and retrieval, systems science, and social, political, and ethical implications of information systems.

In addition to the core requirements, MSIS candidates must take the following four 3-credit courses:

INLS 509 Information Retrieval (3)
INLS 523 Databases I (3)
INLS 560 Programming for Information Professionals (3)
INLS 582 Systems Analysis (3)

The remainder of the 48 required semester hours (19.5 credits) is available for elective courses that build upon the required courses areas and allow students to concentrate their studies. Students select courses in consultation with their faculty advisor and may specialize according to their interests and career objectives. Specializations within the MSIS include:

  • Archives and Records Management
  • Database Design and Development
  • Digital Humanities
  • Digital Libraries
  • Human-Computer Interaction
  • Information Retrieval
  • Information System Design and Development
  • Organization of Information and Materials
  • Special Libraries and Knowledge Management

Courses for these specializations draw from the school's course offerings and, as appropriate, from related areas such as computer science or journalism and mass communication. In addition, faculty frequently offer courses in special topics not otherwise covered in the curriculum. Examples of recent offerings (numbered 490 and 890) are given at

For a complete listing of suggested and highly suggested courses for these specializations, see the SILS website at:

Note: All course work will be reviewed and approved by the student's faculty advisor.

Master of Science in Library Science

The Master of Science in Library Science program prepares students for professional employment in information and library service in areas such as library administration, archives and manuscript collection administration, records management, documents librarianship, cataloging, public and reference services, acquisitions and collection management, children's librarianship, access and manipulation of database information, special collections, and subject areas. The degree is designed to educate students for work involving the collection, organization, storage, and retrieval of recorded knowledge for a variety of individuals and groups. Graduates of the program are ready to practice within various settings: academic, public, or special libraries, information centers, or school library media centers.

In addition to the core requirements, MSLS candidates must take the following two 3-credit courses:

INLS 513 Resource Selection and Evaluation
INLS 501 Info Sources and Services

The remainder of the 48 required semester hours (25.5 credits) is available for elective courses that build upon the required courses areas and allow students to concentrate their studies. Students select courses in consultation with their faculty advisor and may specialize according to their interests and career objectives. Specializations within the MSLS include:

  • Academic Libraries
  • Adult Services in Public Libraries
  • Archives and Records Management
  • Children and Youth Services
  • Digital Libraries
  • Organization of Information and Materials
  • Reference
  • School Library Media
  • Special Libraries and Knowledge Management

For a complete listing of suggested and highly suggested courses for these specializations, see the SILS website at:

Note: All course work will be reviewed and approved by the student's faculty advisor.

Students not having extensive practical experience are encouraged to enroll in the Professional Field Experience course (INLS 795). This structured practicum provides the opportunity for students to apply theoretical knowledge to an individually selected work environment.

Department of Art (ART)

One of three departments in the Division of Fine Arts, the Department of Art was founded in 1936. The department offers Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees in both Studio Art and Art History as well as a minor in Art History and a Masters of Fine Arts in Studio Art degrees, and the Ph.D.

The department also offers many opportunities for student growth through annual lecture series: the Hanes Visiting Artist Lecture series, the Bettie Allison Rand lecture series as well as other lectures such as the Frey lectures. The John and June Allcott Gallery and the Undergraduate gallery provide many exhibition opportunities for students and classes.

Mission Statement

Engaging both local and global communities, the Department of Art is a place for creative endeavors and scholarly investigations through faculty research, graduate student training, undergraduate programs and public events. We are an integral part of the interdisciplinary community dedicated to the arts and sciences. We produce works of art and scholarly research in multiple forms and seek to promote visual literacy, the process of critical and creative thinking, and the primacy of the arts as goals for the entire University.

Facilities

The Art Department is housed in the Hanes Art Center, next door to the Ackland Art Museum, just off Franklin Street on South Columbia Street. Opened in January 1983, the Hanes Art Center is home to the Joseph C. Sloane Art Library with its collection of 100,000 volumes, which is supplemented by the University's Academic Affairs Libraries with holdings of over 7 million volumes, the Visual Resources Library which currently has a collection of 270,000 slides and around 60,000 images in our online collections in ARTstor. Art history, painting, printmaking, drawing, and design classrooms as well as faculty offices and studios for faculty and graduate students are also housed in the Hanes Art Center. Ceramic and sculpture classrooms, shop facilities, and additional graduate student and faculty studios are located in the Art Lab Building, one mile north of campus on Airport Drive.

The Ackland Art Museumopened its doors in 1958 and provides students with the opportunity to study original works from the museum's collection of over 17,000 art objects. The Ackland is host to many traveling exhibitions and loans from other institutions. There are many cooperative efforts for the classroom with the Ackland Museum.Through income from the Ackland Trust and the Whitaker Fund, as well as gifts from private donors and the Ackland Associates, this large collection is both broad in scope and excellent in quality. The Hanes Art Center is also home to the John and June Allcott Galleries, where works of undergraduate and graduate students, the Hanes Visiting Artists series, and the teaching Artists-in-Residence are exhibited.

In addition, students in the department have ready access to the collections of the Duke’s Nasher Museum of Art, in nearby Durham, and the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh. The library at Duke University has important and extensive holdings in art and archaeology from which students may borrow. Duke, UNC, and North Carolina State University also have inter-institutional agreements for attending classes on their campuses. The North Carolina Museum of Art, the Nasher Museum of Art, the Durham Arts Council, the Durham Arts Guild, Chapel Hill's Ackland Museum, and other smaller galleries and alternative spaces help to generate an active regional arts community. In addition The Weatherspoon Art Gallery and the Green Hill Center for North Carolina Art in Greensboro, the Mint Museum of Art in Charlotte, and the Wake Forest University Art Gallery and the nationally prominent Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art in Winston-Salem are all a short driving distance from Chapel Hill. Washington, DC is a four and a half hour drive, while Atlanta is a six-hour drive and New York a mere ten. As a result, Chapel Hill provides students with an environment in which to focus on their studies and artwork, while still enabling easy access to the professional art world.

Art History.

Statement of Purpose of the Programs in Art History.

The program in Art History at UNC-Chapel Hill is the primary center for teaching, research, and graduate education in this field in the southeastern United States. Teaching is fundamental to our mission. We encourage all undergraduates to take an art history course as an essential part of their university education. For those students with a special interest in art history, the department offers both major and minor concentrations. For all undergraduates we seek in our teaching to open the artistic world of “visual ideas” to them in our increasingly visual and technological society, and thereby to enhance their personal and professional lives and their usefulness to society. Essential to our mission is a faculty active in research and scholarship, professors who are teacher/scholars and “whose teaching is transformed by discovery and whose service is informed by current knowledge.” We seek to transmit the insights and excitement of research findings through our teaching and through our publications. We endeavor to shape the future of our discipline by training teacher/scholars for productive professional lives in academe, the museum world, or the commercial art world. Finally, we aim to improve the quality of life for all North Carolinians by conveying to them an appreciation for and ciritcal understanding of the visual arts through community outreach programs, knowledge-based services, and visual and library resources.

The MA in Art History aims to provide students with several key learning outcomes: acquiring broad knowledge of world art and key texts, which they will be able to address in their respective cultural and historical contexts; mastering theory and methods employed in the discipline of Art History; and attaining a level of research skills appropriate for writing a thesis on a specialized area of Art History. The MA prepares students to begin a PhD program and/or to enter appropriate professional employment or other professional programs.

The joint MSIS/MA and MSLS/MA degree program draws on the shared interests of librarians and art historians, including the preservation and documentation of created works, and combines the Master of Science in either library science or information science and the Master of Art in Art History. The program is designed to prepare graduates for professional positions as art librarians in colleges, universities, and art museums. This degree also provides an excellent preparation for those interested in careers as museum registrars or as curators of digital image, slide, and photograph collections.

Admissions

All applicants for graduate study in art history are admitted to the program as candidates for the Master of Arts degree unless they have already received or expect to receive the M.A. degree in art history from another institution. An undergraduate major in art history is not required for M.A. candidacy; however, entering candidates, as a rule, have taken an average of twenty-one semester hours in art history. Courses in archaeology, cultural anthropology, and aesthetics are also considered in the admission process.