• Philosophy, Structure and Theoretical Base

  Librarianship is, first and foremost, a service profession. Librarians are concerned with the organization of collections of documents (physical documents such as books, journals, manuscripts, musical scores, prints, etc.) and facilitating their use by clients. Their tasks concern continually selecting from the growing record, organizing and maintaining the collection (bibliographic control), developing and maintaining the tools enabling them and their clients to determine what is in the collection and where it is (increasingly as well determining what is available in virtual collections and how to obtain material not owned), and providing reference service to guide clients in their use of records in and beyond the library's collection.

  The Master of Science in Library Science program prepares students for professional employment in information and library service. 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. Analysis and design skills are emphasized.

• Curriculum Structure

  The curriculum of the Master of Science in Library Science is a 48-credit hour program, designed around five functional areas: organization, collection and retrieval, communication, design and evaluation, and management. Basic computing knowledge is an entrance requirement. Elective courses build upon required courses in each of these areas.

  Required courses include:

  Function	Required Courses
  Organization	INLS 151: Organization of Information I
  Collection and Retrieval	INLS 153: Resource Selection and Evaluation (INLS 242: Curriculum Issues is an alternative for school library media specialization) INLS 111: Information Resources and Services
  Communication	INLS 180: Communication Processes (NOTE: Course revised in Spring 99. New name: Human Interaction Processes. New Requirement: Must be taken in first 24 hours of program. Lab component in public speaking added -- INLS 180L (1 credit)
  Design and Evaluation	INLS 201: Research Methods (Taken after 12 hours)
  Management	INLS 131: Management of Information Agencies

  In addition, all students must complete a master's paper or project and must sign up for INLS 393 for 0 to 3 credits.

• Areas of Specialization

  This degree program is intended to prepare students for careers in library service in areas such as library administration, archives and 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. Graduates of the program are ready to practice within various settings: academic, public, or special libraries, information centers, or school library media centers. Some sample advising "grids" for reference, children's literature and services and a new cultural heritage specialization may be found in Appendix J: Advising Grids.

  Two specialization areas require state certification: public librarinship and school librarianship. To work in a public library in North Carolina, it is necessary to receive certification from the North Carolina Public Librarian Certification Commission. Completion of the MSLS, including the required course work in the areas of cataloging, reference, collection development, technology, and management, satisfies the North Carolina certification requirements.

  Students wishing certification as a school librarian have more complex requirements. They must either hold current certification as a teacher or take 18 hours of coursework in education in a specialized distribution pattern in addition to specialized library science courses and fieldwork in a school library media center. Candidates for the certification must also take and pass a specialized part of the National Teacher's Exam. An advisory sheet available to students describes the requirements and options (see Appendix K: School Library Media Program). Dr. Evelyn Daniel is the School Library Media Coordinator and advises all students seeking this specialization.

  SILS also offers the opportunity for graduates of prior years to return to prepare for certification as a continuing education student. Dr. Daniel advises these students as well -- about 10 a year.

  A cooperative archival program is described in the next chapter under interdisciplinary programs. An interdisciplinary Master's program in Medical Informatics is also described in Chapter 5.

• Evaluation of Program

  The evaluation of the program is carried out in a number of ways: through student course evaluations, through oversight by the Master's Committee, through peer observation of teaching, through periodic surveys of alumni and graduates and, of course, through Committee on Accreditation monitoring.

  This past year surveys of all the students (see Appendix L for a copy of the instrument with much of the response data provided and Appendix M: Student Opinions about the Curriculum). A random sample of alumni (see Appendix N) was conducted as well. These surveys requested opinions on various aspects of both Master's programs -- for example, advising, curricular offerings, quality of teaching, responsiveness of the administration and opportunities to participate in decision-making in the school, quality of student life, and satisfaction with the facilities, laboratories and equipment. The alumni responses are available in Appendix N: Survey of Alumni. Sections of survey responses have been analyzed separately and are available in Appendix O: Alumni Employment since Graduation, Appendix P: Relevance of Course Work to Jobs, Appendix Q: Alumni Opinion on Relvant Knowledge/Skills Needed, Appendix R: Alumni Continuing Education Activities.

  In general, both students and alumni(ae) appear satisfied with the programs. Few consistent complaints appear in the survey responses. A few issues relative to particular courses (specifically, problems with two of the core courses -- management and communication) have been addressed by the faculty and should not now be a concern.

Revised 10/25/99