Additionally, many of our graduates continue to enter the field of librarianship, filling positions in academic institutions, K-12 schools, public libraries, and a wide variety of special libraries in business, medical facilities, law firms, research, and governmental organizations.
Objectives
Our MSIS degree is a terminal professional degree for information professionals. Students completing a master's degree at the School of Information will build knowledge and skills to prepare them for a wide variety of employment, research, and publication options throughout their professional careers.
Curriculum
Our curriculum is designed to support both general and specific educational goals, allowing students to tailor the program to their interests or to follow a prescribed curriculum for specific certification. It is impossible to list all the specialist roles that may be filled by graduates of our program, but we do emphasize general areas of research and practice within the School of Information:
- Archival Studies
- Digital Libraries
- Human-Computer Interaction & Information Architecture
- Organization and Retrieval of Knowledge and Information
- Preservation and Conservation of Physical and Digital Artifacts
- Development, Management, and Evaluation of Collections and Services
- Cultural Heritage Development and History and Management of the Cultural Record
- Information Policy, Ethics, and Advocacy
- User Behavior
- Health Informatics
- Information Work and Workers
- Social Informatics,
- and Digital Media
Three Elements of the MSIS
- Core Courses - 9 Hours
- Electives - 27 Hours
- Capstone Experience - 4 Hours
Overview of Degree Requirements
The master's degree program entails 40 semester hours of coursework. All students must take nine semester credit hours of core courses during their first year of studies. Twenty-seven credit hours of electives are to be taken from the range of courses offered by the School of Information and/or a mix of courses within the School of Information and elsewhere at UT Austin.1 Finally, each student must complete his or her Capstone Experience under one of the Capstone Experience Courses.
Complete MSIS Degree Requirements, Policies, and Curriculum
Accreditation and Credentials
The University's program for the degree of Master of Science in Information Studies has been accredited by the American Library Association. (The ALA does not concern itself with accrediting programs in information studies in levels other than the master's degree.) The programs for certification of learning resources personnel have been accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education and approved by the Texas Education Agency. Our MSIS is recognised by the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society for appropriate professional preparation in HCI and Human Facors, and by numerous professional associations as a terminal academic credential in information science.
The following information details information on admission, curriculum, and completion of the master's program.
- 1. For more information on the specific curriculum requirements and policies of the School of Information, please refer to the complete MSIS degree requirements, policies, and curriculum