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 SIS announces a new specialization
in its MLIS degree program, enabling students to focus
their studies in Academic Libraries, a growing field
with numerous opportunities for employment and career
development. SIS and the University Library System
(ULS) have collaborated to develop a specialization
that will educate librarians for positions in academic
libraries of all types and sizes, with an emphasis
on work related-learning experiences for students.
The new Academic Libraries track builds on the strengths
of both the SIS faculty and the ULS, a top-quartile
Association of Research Libraries library system consisting
of more than 20 libraries and collections. The
Library System offers SIS faculty and students the
opportunity to work with more than 50 faculty librarians
from a wide variety of units in a laboratory-like setting
to develop practical applications of the theory of
librarianship.
Students specializing in this 36-credit track will
follow a sequence of courses, with opportunities for
electives for developing individual interests. Students
will take courses including Understanding Information,
Retrieving Information, Introduction to Information
Technologies, Reference Resources and Services, Organizing
Information, Managing Libraries, Government Documents,
Issues in Academic Libraries, The Library’s Role
in Teaching and Learning and Collection Development.
The Academic Libraries Track incorporates the highly
successful ULS Interns Program which calls for interns
to work approximately 10 hours/week as student assistants
assisting with a variety of academic library functions.
In addition to those duties, interns participate in special
projects that focus on the connections between their
job duties and the broader roles and operations of academic
libraries. Interns participate in training sessions in
their respective libraries to learn more about reference
service processes and other aspects of academic librarianship. The
interns also develop personal portfolios over the course
of the year that includes descriptions of each of their
job areas and reflections on how those activities relate
to the overall operation of an academic library.
Internships have been available at Bevier Engineering
Library, Chemistry Library, Frick Fine Arts Library,
Hillman Library Reference, Music Library, SIS Library,
and the University of Pittsburgh Archives Service Center
Students interested in the Academic Libraries track
also have the option of doing the program part-time
and completing internships in other academic libraries
in the Pittsburgh region. Students who work part-time,
for either 10 or 20 hours a week, in paid positions
in academic libraries also will have the opportunity
to participate in the Partners Program, for which the
LIS Program offers tuition scholarships of three or
six credits and the library provides an hourly wage
depending on hours worked. |
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