University of Pittsburgh School of Information Sciences
Coordinates: 40°26′50″N 79°57′10″W / 40.447332°N 79.952712°W
| University of Pittsburgh,School of Information Sciences | |
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| Established | 1901 |
| Dean | Ron Larsen (2004) |
| Academic staff | 36 |
| Students | 687 |
| Location | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA |
| Campus | Urban |
| Website | www.ischool.pitt.edu |
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The University of Pittsburgh - School of Information Sciences (or SIS) is one of the nation’s pioneering schools in the education of information professionals, with a history that reaches back more than a hundred years to the days of Andrew Carnegie. As of 2009, it is ranked 10th in the list of Top Schools of Library and Information Studies by US News & World Report[1] and is one of the original members in the list of I-Schools. Located on the University of Pittsburgh's main campus in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh, the school is led by its current Dean Ronald L. Larsen.
The School offers an undergraduate program in Information Science, as well as graduate programs leading to a Masters degree, PhD degree, and Certificates of Advanced Study in Information Science, Telecommunications, and Library and Information Science. The School also offers a distance education FastTrack program for earning a Masters degree in Library and Information Science.
The school was originally founded on October 1, 1901 as the Training School for Children's Librarians at the Carnegie Library. The School moved to the Carnegie Institute of Technology in 1930, and eventually to the University of Pittsburgh in 1961.[2][3] Specialized tracks of study currently range from areas such as School Librarianship Certification and Archival Studies to Digital Libraries to Geoinformatics and Information Security.
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[edit] Degree Programs
The Bachelor of Science in Information Science (BSIS) program is a 120-credit undergraduate program that offers concentrations in:
- Information Systems Concentration enables students to use object-oriented design tools to design, build, implement, and test web-based information systems.
- User Centered Design Concentration provides the visual and human-computer interaction skills needed to design and build prototypes of information systems interfaces, as well as to perform usability testing of these systems.
- Networks and Security Concentration offers skills needed to design, build and test LANS, WANS, Wireless, Internet and Web-based networks.
The Master of Science in Information Science (MSIS) program is a 36-credit program that offers the following specializations and areas of focus:
- Database and Web Systems Track
- Information Security Track
- Geoinformatics Track
- Telecommunications and Distributed Systems
- Cognitive Systems
- Human Computer Interaction
- Technology and Society
The School of Information Sciences also offers a joint-degree program with the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public and International Affairs (GSPIA). The joint-degree program allows students to complete both the MSIS and either a Master of Public Administration, Master of International Development, or Master of Public and International Affairs degree simultaneously.[4] This allows students to complete two graduate degrees in a shorter period of time than if the degrees were pursued independently. Under the joint degree agreement, the credit requirement for the MSIS is 30 credits at SIS and between 30-39 credits at GSPIA, depending on the chosen program of study. Students must be accepted by both SIS and GSPIA to be admitted into the joint-degree program.
The Master of Science in Telecommunications (MST) program is a 36-credit program that offers the following specializations:
- Telecommunications Systems
- Computer Networks
- Policy and Management
- Wireless
- Security
The Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) program is a 36-credit program that offers the following specializations:
- Academic Libraries
- School Library Certification Program
- Archival Studies Specializations
- Preservation Management Specialization
- Digital Libraries Specialization
- Medical Librarianship/Informatics Specialization
- Services to Children and Young Adult Specialization
The MLIS degree program was ranked seventh in the nation by US News & World Report in the magazine’s 2007 edition of America’s Best Graduate Schools.
In addition, the following specialities were ranked among the best in the nation according to the 2009 edition of US News' America's Best Graduate Schools:[5]
- Medical Librarianship/Informatics Specialization #1
- Archives and Preservation Management Specialization #2
- Information Systems #6
- School Library Certification Program #8
- Services to Children and Young Adult Specialization #10
- Digital Libraries Specialization was ranked #12
The Doctor of Philosophy program prepares students for advanced work in research and teaching. It provides research-oriented graduate study and professional specialization in the science of information. The program prepares students for advanced work in teaching and in conducting significant research with world-class resources befitting a top-tier research university. Some of the topics being explored by the research groups include geoinformatics, decision systems, spatial information, information security, usability engineering, and personalized adaptive systems. Completion of the program requires students to progress through three phases:
- Preliminary examination: The purpose of this exam is to "assess the breadth of the student's knowledge of the discipline, the student's achievement during the first year of graduate study, and the potential to apply research methods independently..."[6]
- Comprehensive examination: The comprehensive exam is designed to evaluate the student's mastery of the field; with an emphasis on both depth and breadth in the area of specialization chosen by the student.
- Candidacy: Once promoted to candidacy, the dissertation becomes the primary focus of the doctoral student. All coursework, the preliminary, and comprehensize examinations must be completed successfully before being promoted to candidacy.
The research and educational offerings at the PhD level cover a wide range of areas including:
- Computer and network security
- Advanced Database management
- Geoinformatics
- Human-Centered Computing
- Adaptive Web systems
- Decision support systems
- Cognitive systems
- Large scale and distributed systems
In addition, the program requires a minimum of 60 credits of course work. Most students are expected to complete the requirements for the Ph.D. degree within 6 years of full-time study.[7]
[edit] Faculty
The School of Information Sciences is home to 36 faculty members whose expertise ranges from wireless security and Web semantics to cyber-scholarship and record-keeping systems.[8] As of the fall 2011 semester, the School also had 27 adjunct faculty and eight teachers with joint appointments from fields as diverse as pathology, medicine and business.[9][10]
The chair of the undergraduate program is Robert Perkoski.
The chair of the graduate information science program is Paul Munro.
The chair of the telecommunications program is David Tipper.[11]
Some of the School’s more veteran academics – professors such as Roger Flynn, Michael Spring, Michael Lewis, Richard Cox and Stephen Hirtle – have been with the department for two decades or more.
Dean Ronald L. Larsen joined the School after having previously served as executive director of the Maryland Applied Information Technology Initiative and deputy director of the Maryland Information and Network Dynamics Lab. Before entering academia, Larsen had a nearly 20-year career as a mathematician, technologist and researcher for NASA.[12]
[edit] Research
The School is also recognized for its research. Located in its building are labs for Geoinformatics, Telecommunications, ULab and Personalized Adaptive Web Systems, along with LERSAIS, an acronym for the Laboratory of Education and Research on Security Assured Information Systems.[13] There are also a bunch of research groups working on various fileds like IR@Pitt, Spatial Information Research Group, Group for Research on Idealized Neural Systems
In 2010 alone, the School’s faculty had its work featured in nearly 120 publications.[14]
As of late 2011, ongoing research projects included:[15]
- study by Mary K. Biagini to assess public school library resources and services available to Pennsylvania students in kindergarten through grade 12,
- evaluation by Cory Knobel and Geoffrey Bowker of best practices in collaborative cyber-science and engineering,
- and exploration by Peter Brusilovsky to use social data to model and visualize latent coherent communities that exist within social systems.
[edit] iSchool Caucus
The School of Information Sciences is also a member of the iSchool Organization. This organization was founded in 2005 by a collective of Information Schools dedicated to advancing the information field in the 21st Century.[16] The iSchool consortium is closely governed by iCaucus. SIS has not yet hosted an iConference.
[edit] Building
Originally the American Institutes for Research Building, the University purchased the 1965[17] Tasso Katselas designed Brutalist style structure [1] in 1968[18] and it has since then served as the primary facility housing the School of Information Sciences.[2] In 1975, a renovation was completed that enclosed the building's lower levels to create additional classrooms and offices.[19]
[edit] Library
The School of Information Sciences Library is located within the School of Information Sciences Building and contains over 70,000 volumes and 470 journal titles.[3]
The Information Sciences Library is also the home to the Elizabeth Nesbitt Room which houses several special collections on the history of children and children's books and media, rare editions of children's books, and some unique furnishings and artifacts. The room, dedicated on October 29, 1976 and located in Room 305, was founded by former Professor Emerita Margaret Hodges.[20] The room was named in 1976 to honor Nesbitt, an internationally known expert on children's literature.[21] Totaling more than 12,000 books and magazines dating from the 17th century to the present, the collection contains such rare books as a signed special printing of Winnie the Pooh books, a first edition of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit,[22] and a 1719 edition of Robinson Crusoe.[20] The room also contains the Mister Rogers' Neighborhood Archives which includes a collection of more than 900 videotapes and scripts from the popular children's television program along with other promotional materials produced by Rogers or his production company.[23] A panoramic tour of the Elizabeth Nesbitt Room is available here.
[edit] References
- ^ "America's Best Graduate Schools 2009". U.S. News & World Report. 2009. http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-library-information-science-programs/items/28040. Retrieved 2009-09-21.
- ^ Bleier, Carol (2001). Tradition in transition : a history of the School of Information Sciences, University of Pittsburgh. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 081084088X.
- ^ Alberts, Robert C. (1986). Pitt: The Story of the University of Pittsburgh 1787–1987. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press. p. 287. ISBN 0-8229-1150-7. http://digital.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=pittmiscpubs;cc=pittmiscpubs;rgn=full%20text;idno=00c50130m;didno=00c50130m;view=image;seq=0307. Retrieved 2010-05-25.
- ^ "Joint Degree Programs at the School of Information Sciences". 2011. http://www.ischool.pitt.edu/ist/degrees/joint-degree-programs.php. Retrieved 2011-11-07.
- ^ Hart, Peter (2009-04-30). "U.S. News ranks graduate programs". University Times. http://mac10.umc.pitt.edu/u/FMPro?-db=ustory&-lay=a&-format=d.html&storyid=8679&-Find. Retrieved 2009=05-01.
- ^ "Regulations Pertaining to the Doctor of Philosophy". 2011. http://www.pitt.edu/~graduate/regphd.html. Retrieved 2011-11-09.
- ^ "PhD Program Details". 2011. http://www.ischool.pitt.edu/ist/degrees/phd-details.php. Retrieved 2011-11-09.
- ^ "Faculty By Name". 2011. http://www.ischool.pitt.edu/people/faculty-by-name.php. Retrieved 2011-11-10.
- ^ "Faculty Adjuncts". 2011. http://www.ischool.pitt.edu/people/faculty-adjunct.php. Retrieved 2011-11-10.
- ^ "Faculty Appointments". 2011. http://www.ischool.pitt.edu/people/faculty-joint-appointments.php. Retrieved 2011-11-10.
- ^ "Faculty By Program". 2011. http://www.ischool.pitt.edu/people/faculty-by-program.php. Retrieved 2011-11-10.
- ^ "Larsen Resume". 2011. http://www.sis.pitt.edu/~rlarsen/resume.html. Retrieved 2011-11-10.
- ^ "Research". 2011. http://www.ischool.pitt.edu/research/. Retrieved 2011-11-10.
- ^ "Publications". 2011. http://www.ischool.pitt.edu/research/publications.php. Retrieved 2011-11-10.
- ^ "Active Grants". 2011. http://www.ischool.pitt.edu/research/active-grants.php. Retrieved 2011-11-10.
- ^ "About the iSchools". 2011. http://www.ischools.org/site/about/. Retrieved 2011-11-13.
- ^ Toker, Franklin (1986). Pittsburgh: an urban portrait. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press. pp. 113. ISBN 0-271-00415-0.
- ^ "Pitt Purchases AIR's Building". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 1968-09-02. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ya4nAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Y2wDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2666%2C204376. Retrieved 2010-02-01.
- ^ Rieker, Richard, ed. (1975-01). "Part Two: An Index To University Programs". Pitt (Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh) 29 (4): 18. http://digital.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=pittalumni;idno=31735062134790;seq=20. Retrieved 2011-04-29.
- ^ a b Mims, Greg (1976-10-27). "Pitt Dedicates Historical Collection of Children's Books" (Press release). University of Pittsburgh Department of News and Publications. http://digital.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/t/text/pageviewer-idx?xc=1;cc=pittpressreleases;idno=pittpressreleases19760221;seq=0001. Retrieved 2011-05-21.
- ^ The Inside Story of the Elizabeth Nesbitt Room: Speech by Margaret Hodges (May 10, 1991), accessdate=2008-11-04
- ^ Commencement Visitors Campus Tour
- ^ Sharon S. Blake, Paying Tribute to Fred Rogers. Pitt Chronicle, March 10, 2003, accessdate=2008-11-03
[edit] Further reading
Bleier, Carol (2001). Tradition in Transition: A History of the School of Information Sciences, University of Pittsburgh. Lanham, MD: The Scarecrow Press. ISBN 081084088X.
[edit] External links
| Preceded by Frick Fine Arts Building |
University of Pittsburgh Buildings School of Information Sciences Building Constructed: 1965 |
Succeeded by Hillman Library |
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