By Darden College of Education and Professional Studies Staff
Old Dominion University's Darden College of Education and Professional Studies will offer a new Master of Library and Information Studies (MLIS) degree beginning fall 2019. The university will be the only higher education institution in the Commonwealth to offer the MLIS degree to professionals seeking careers in various library settings, including academic, school, public, and special, well as other information settings. The new program will:
Equip students with the knowledge, skills and dispositions they will need for careers in a complex information and technology-based society.
Engage students with their communities by providing project-based learning and internships in real-world settings.
Focus on the preparation of culturally responsive librarians who can provide resources and services for increasingly diverse communities for the Commonwealth of Virginia, the nation, and the world.
Connect students to library and information professions.
"We believe understanding how to access, evaluate, and share information and ideas are more important today than ever before," said Dr. Sue Kimmel, graduate program director of the MLIS. "Our faculty is ready to educate students for exciting careers in the library and information profession."
Coursework in the new program will be offered online and asynchronously, providing the flexibility desired by many students today. Courses will include significant project-based, practical experiences in library and information workplaces with an internship as a capstone course for the degree.
Continuing the ODU tradition of excellence in the preparation of school librarians, the MLIS will also be offered with a concentration in school librarianship. Other plans of study will be available for students interested in particular types of libraries - such as academic, public, or special - and particular areas of librarianship, such as youth services or assessment and evaluation.
For more information, visit the program website or email libraryscience@odu.edu.
Old Dominion University has been granted pre-candidacy status by the Committee on Accreditation of the American Library Association. Pre-candidacy status is an indication that Old Dominion University has voluntarily committed to participate in the ALA accreditation process and is actively seeking accreditation. Pre-candidacy does not indicate that the program is accredited nor does it guarantee eventual accreditation of the program by ALA.