LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE NEWS, May 2005
The School of Information Studies at Syracuse University 
 
The Original Information School
 
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Digital Libraries:  Here, Now, Happening

Always abreast of the long term trends in librarianship, the School of Information Studies at Syracuse University has developed an 18-credit Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAS) in Digital Libraries. The CAS, as are all our master's degrees, is available via online and campus formats. 
Organized collections of digital information, whether text, images, numbers, or sound, are fast becoming society's new libraries-places to go for organized information on a wide variety of topics. These new digital "libraries" are springing up in many organizational structures and under many auspices including, but not limited to, established libraries. Calling these digital collections "libraries" draws attention to the components that organize the collections and the services that contribute to their use. 

This certificate can be tailored to meet the needs of those who want to work with organizing and managing collections of digital information, either within or outside of established libraries. 

Development of digital libraries, while moving rapidly, can still be considered to be in its infancy. Challenges exist that will make the arena of digital libraries a fertile environment for innovation and creative implementation for many decades. These challenges include technical and information architecture, metadata, optimal retrieval engines, user-friendly design and display of information, data warehousing, archiving and preservation, and machine and human mediated services for using the collections. 
The School of Information Studies, an interdisciplinary information school, is an ideal venue for preparing for careers in the arena of digital libraries-- whether in the institutional setting of current libraries or in the many diverse settings that support digital collections. As highlighted in our faculty profiles, our faculty come from many disciplines, including library and information science, information management, computer science, communications, economics, psychology, among others. In addition, our faculty includes internationally renowned researchers in digital libraries. 

The CAS in Digital Libraries is an ideal program for practicing information professionals, librarians, and students in IT management, law, the entertainment and digital imaging industries, and any other information-intensive fields that need to store, organize, and retrieve large numbers of digital files efficiently. Librarians who already possess a master's in library science can acquire, update, or intensify skills in the digital libraries arena through this certificate.  As well, the CAS in Digital Libraries provides a foundation for students who wish to pursue a master's of Library and Information Science.

The curriculum is comprised of three core courses:
*       IST 676 Digital Libraries
*       IST 677 Creating, Managing, and Preserving Digital Assets
*       IST 759 Planning and Designing Digital Libraries Services

The remainder of the 18 credits required for the certificate may be selected from a wide variety of courses ranging from Information Architecture for Internet Services to Digital Retrieval Services.

For more information on the Certificate of Advanced Studies at the School of Information Studies, visit our web site:  www.ist.syr.edu.  Or, contact our program director, Jian Qin:

Jian Qin
School of Information Studies 
Syracuse University 
4-187 Center for Science and Technology 
Syracuse NY 13244-4100 
Phone 315-443-5642 
Fax: 315-443-5806 
E-mail: [log in to unmask] 
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An IST profile:  Barbara Kwasnik
Professor Barbara Kwasnik teaches in the areas of organization of information-specifically the foundations, social impacts, and theory of classification.  Most recently she has been working on the problems of translating and mapping classifications from one language and culture to another, and on the nature and function of emergent classifications on the Web.  Kwasnik readily offers up her research interests and expertise to students: developing methodologies for studying information-related behavior and in the cognitive processes of browsing and the structure of classificatory systems.  

In a recent poster session for IST-655, Foundations of Information Science, her students created and articulated the visualization of information through timelines, concept maps, citation maps, and social network maps of the various fields of study that comprise the interdisciplinary traditions of the School of Information Studies.  Students were encouraged to explore the roots and future directions of the School and the information science and technology field.  
 
Professor Kwasnik joined the School of Information Studies in 1987, specializing in teaching research methods for information studies at the doctoral level as well as Library Science.  She completed her Ph.D. in Communications, Information and Library Studies at Rutgers University in 1989, her BA in English Literature (1969) and MLS (1981) at Queens College, City University of New York, and her MA in English Literature at SUNY, Binghamton in 1971.  At Syracuse University she has served as director of the MSLIS and Ph.D. programs

Kwasnik is one of the founding co-chairs of the annual American Society for Information Science and Technology SIG/CR Workshop on Classification Research, and is on the editorial board for the journal of the International Society for Knowledge Organization.  Currentl,y she is extending her research interest in classification to the study of genre as a form of knowledge representation.  Along with associate professor Kevin Crowston, Kwasnik has twice co-chaired the Minitrack on Digital Genres at HICSS, and she is co-chairing the track in 2006 with Natalia Levina and Dmitri Roussinov for HICSS 39. 

Presently, she and Kevin Crowston are working on an NSF-supported grant, How Can Document-Genre Metadata Improve Information-Access for Large Digital Collections? The project seeks to improve information-access systems for large digital collections by incorporating metadata about the documents' genres. Genre metadata facilitates information retrieval and use. 

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School of Information Studies & WISE
On the Road

Attending SLA or ALA?  Stop by our booth or one of our alumni receptions to chat, mingle and learn more about the School of Information Studies or WISE (Web-enabled Information Science Education).

Special Libraries Association (SLA)
Toronto
June 5-8, 2005
§     Monday, June 6th- IST Alumni Reception:  SLA Alumni and Student Connections, 
5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m., (location TBD)
§     Official launch of WISE:  Booth #1139

American Libraries Association (ALA)
Chicago
June 25-28, 2005
§     Sunday, June 26-IST Alumni Reception: 4:30 p.m.- 6:30 p.m. at Hyatt Regency Chicago Hotel, Grand Suite 2A & B
§     IST Booth: #3742
§     WISE Booth: #3844

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First-Year LIS Student Awarded SLA Scholarship

From hundreds of applicants, first year MS-LIS student, Megan Comey is one of five outstanding students from the United States and Canada to receive a Special Libraries Association (SLA) 2005 Scholarship.  The winners were chosen by the SLA Scholarship Committee and will be honored at the Annual Conference in Toronto, Ontario, June 5 - 8, 2005.
 
The SLA Scholarship is awarded for graduate study in librarianship leading to a master's degree at a recognized school of library or information science.  Applicants must have earned or be preparing to
receive a bachelor's degree with an interest in special librarianship. Other winners of this year's scholarships include Eugene Barsky and Terry Lynn Kline.
 
Megan is working toward an MS-LIS at the School of Information Studies at Syracuse University in New York State, where she is president of the SLA Student Group.  She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in History at Humboldt State University in Arcata, California.  Comey is from Glendale, California.

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For more information. . .
 
Amy Sloane-Garris
Director of Communications & Graduate Marketing
Syracuse University--School of Information Studies
Tel:  315.443.6885
Fax:  315.443.6886
[log in to unmask] 
www.ist.syr.edu 
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