| FSU Homepage | Office of the Registrar | On-Line Registration | 1997-1999 Graduate Bulletin | Table of Contents |
The field of information studies includes some of the most diverse, fascinating and expanding professional opportunities available today. The field is dedicated to providing answers and solutions to questions arising from the behavior of the user and from the interaction of the user with products, services, and organizations. The fields ultimate concern is how to most effectively link the best available information with the users information products, the satisfaction of users information needs, and the analysis of information content.
Graduates of programs in information studies are employed in a variety of public and private sector positions that serve to link information users with information products and services. Current graduates work as information product and service designers and manufacturers, and as independent information service providers.
Information professionals are found in such areas as:
This important and fascinating field has experienced tremendous growth in recent years. As such, it offers diverse and challenging opportunities for working with emerging technologies from a humanistic point of view.
The school offers a bachelor of science (BS) degree in information studies, a master of science (MS) degree in information studies or library science, a specialist (S) degree, and a doctor of philosophy (Ph.D.) degree.
The program in information studies offers opportunities to blend basic concerns for human information needs with cutting-edge technology and systems for acquiring, storing, organizing and delivering information.
The School of Information Studies at The Florida State University was established in 1947 as a professional school and has been one of the top-ranked programs in the nation for many years. The masters degree program is accredited by the American Library Association and the school is a member of the Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE).
Students are eligible to major in information studies after completing a program of liberal studies with an overall grade point average (GPA) of 2.0 or above. All students of The Florida State University must fulfill the Liberal Studies Program requirements set forth in the Undergraduate Degree Requirements section of the General Bulletin.
Transfer students who have earned an associate of arts (AA) degree from a Florida public community college or state university will be considered to have met the liberal studies requirement.
To major in information studies, a student must complete a minimum of thirty-six (36) semester hours in information studies, including the prerequisite courses:
| LIS | 3232 | Information Needs and Preferences (3) |
| LIS | 3267 | Information Science (3) |
| LIS | 3342 | Technologies for Information Services (3) |
| LIS | 3602 | Information Sources and Services (3) |
| LIS | 4276 | Quantitative Methods in Information Studies (3) |
Note: One additional course for the core program was under review at the time this document was printed and may be required. Please see the department for details.
With the approval of the Dean of the School of Information Studies and with the consent of the major department, a minor in information studies may be obtained upon completion of at least three (3) of the six (6) core courses required for the major. All courses must be completed with a minimum grade of C-.
The School of Information Studies resides in the Louis Shores Building which houses classrooms, computer laboratories and administrative offices. The Mary Alice Hunt Learning Laboratory is open to students and provides the use of PCs and Macintosh computers with a full array of commercial software (word processing, spread sheets and database management) as well as full access to the Internet and student e-mail accounts. The New Technology (NT) Laboratory includes small-scale Local Area Networks, experimental servers, digital video equipment, and other cutting-edge technology. It provides students an opportunity to gain hands-on experience in network administration, UNIX server administration, multimedia resource production, and is used for special independent and group projects under the supervision of information studies faculty and staff. Made possible in part by a grant from the Kellogg Foundation, the Usability Center is a fully-equipped usability laboratory used to conduct, observe, record and analyze usability evaluations. The Harold Goldstein Library on the main floor includes professional and reference materials as well as the juvenile and young adult literature collections. The library holds a book collection of approximately 85,000 volumes, a serials and journals subscription list of over 400 titles, audio-visual items, and computer resources for on-line searching.