University of Pittsburgh School of Information Sciences
Encyclopedia
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 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 1962. Specialized tracks of study currently range from areas such as School Librarianship Certification and Archival Studies to Digital Libraries to Geoinformatics and Information Security.
program is a 120-credit undergraduate program that offers concentrations in:
The Master of Science in Information Science (MSIS)
program is a 36-credit program that offers the following specializations and areas of focus:
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. 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:
The Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS)
program is a 36-credit program that offers the following specializations:
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:
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:
The research and educational offerings at the PhD level cover a wide range of areas including:
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.
and Web semantics to cyber-scholarship and record-keeping systems. 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
.
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.
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
.
, Telecommunications, ULab and Personalized Adaptive Web Systems, along with LERSAIS, an acronym for the Laboratory of Education and Research on Security Assured Information Systems.. 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.
As of late 2011, ongoing research projects included:
Organization. This organization was founded in 2005 by a collective of Information Schools dedicated to advancing the information field in the 21st Century. The iSchool consortium is closely governed by iCaucus. SIS has not yet hosted an iConference.
Originally the American Institutes for Research Building, the University purchased the 1965 Tasso Katselas designed Brutalist style
structure http://images.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/i/image/image-idx?xc=1;g=imls;q1=Information%20Sciences%20building;rgn1=dc_su;sid=1226b0433d4552061c3ed6efc01f5444;c=accd;c=aerial;c=allegob;c=chatham;c=cma;c=cmaharris;c=consol;c=cp;c=darlfamily;c=fairbanks;c=fcox;c=fwag;c=gn;c=gret;c=gt;c=hjhz;c=iks;c=jal;c=jben;c=ka;c=kauf;c=lysh;c=mest;c=pghprints;c=pghrail;c=pps;c=rr;c=rust;c=shourek;c=smoke;c=spencer;c=stotz;c=switch;c=trim;c=uapitt;c=ue;c=unionarcade;c=urban;size=20;lasttype=boolean;view=entry;lastview=thumbnail;subview=detail;cc=uapitt;entryid=x-air01.ua;viewid=AIR01UA.TIF;start=1;resnum=1]in 1968 and it has since then served as the primary facility housing the School of Information Sciences.http://digital.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=pittfact;cc=pittfact;g=documentingpitt;xc=1;xg=1;q1=Central%20Blood%20Bank;rgn=full%20text;idno=1979a073698;didno=1979a073698;view=image;seq=0076 In 1975, a renovation was completed that enclosed the building's lower levels to create additional classrooms and offices.
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. The room was named in 1976 to honor Nesbitt, an internationally known expert on children's literature. 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
, and a 1719 edition of Robinson Crusoe
. 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. A panoramic tour of the Elizabeth Nesbitt Room is available here.
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...
main campus in the Oakland
Oakland (Pittsburgh)
Oakland is the academic, cultural, and healthcare center of Pittsburgh and is Pennsylvania's third largest "Downtown". Only Center City Philadelphia and Downtown Pittsburgh can claim more economic and social activity than Oakland...
section of Pittsburgh, the school is led by its current Dean
Dean (education)
In academic administration, a dean is a person with significant authority over a specific academic unit, or over a specific area of concern, or both...
Ronald L. Larsen.
The School offers an undergraduate program in Information Science
Information science
-Introduction:Information science is an interdisciplinary science primarily concerned with the analysis, collection, classification, manipulation, storage, retrieval and dissemination of information...
, as well as graduate programs leading to a Masters degree, PhD degree, and Certificates of Advanced Study in Information Science
Information science
-Introduction:Information science is an interdisciplinary science primarily concerned with the analysis, collection, classification, manipulation, storage, retrieval and dissemination of information...
, Telecommunications, and Library and Information Science
Library and information science
Library and information science is a merging of the two fields library science and information science...
. The School also offers a distance education FastTrack program for earning a Masters degree in Library and Information Science
Library and information science
Library and information science is a merging of the two fields library science and information science...
.
The school was originally founded on October 1, 1901 as the Training School for Children's Librarians at the Carnegie Library
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh
The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh is the public library system in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Its main branch is located in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, and it has 19 branch locations throughout the city...
. The School moved to the Carnegie Institute of Technology
Carnegie Institute of Technology
The Carnegie Institute of Technology , is the name for Carnegie Mellon University’s College of Engineering. It was first called the Carnegie Technical Schools, or Carnegie Tech, when it was founded in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie who intended to build a “first class technical school” in Pittsburgh,...
in 1930, and eventually to the University of Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...
in 1962. Specialized tracks of study currently range from areas such as School Librarianship Certification and Archival Studies to Digital Libraries to Geoinformatics and Information Security.
Degree Programs
The Bachelor of Science in Information Science (BSIS)Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
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)
Master of Science
A Master of Science is a postgraduate academic master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is typically studied for in the sciences including the social sciences.-Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay:...
program is a 36-credit program that offers the following specializations and areas of focus:
- Database and Web Systems Track
- Information SecurityInformation securityInformation security means protecting information and information systems from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, perusal, inspection, recording or destruction....
Track - GeoinformaticsGeoinformaticsGeoinformatics is the science and the technology which develops and uses information science infrastructure to address the problems of geography, geosciences and related branches of engineering.-Overview:...
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 Public Administration
The Master of Public Administration is a professional post-graduate degree in Public Administration. The MPA program prepares individuals to serve as managers in the executive arm of local, state/provincial, and federal/national government, and increasingly in nongovernmental organization and...
, Master of International Development, or Master of Public and International Affairs degree simultaneously. 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)
Library science
Library science is an interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary field that applies the practices, perspectives, and tools of management, information technology, education, and other areas to libraries; the collection, organization, preservation, and dissemination of information resources; and the...
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:
- 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
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
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..."
- 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.
Faculty
The School of Information Sciences is home to 36 faculty members whose expertise ranges from wireless securityWireless security
Wireless security is the prevention of unauthorized access or damage to computers using wireless networks.Many laptop computers have wireless cards pre-installed. The ability to enter a network while mobile has great benefits. However, wireless networking is prone to some security issues...
and Web semantics to cyber-scholarship and record-keeping systems. 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
Pathology
Pathology is the precise study and diagnosis of disease. The word pathology is from Ancient Greek , pathos, "feeling, suffering"; and , -logia, "the study of". Pathologization, to pathologize, refers to the process of defining a condition or behavior as pathological, e.g. pathological gambling....
, medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
and business
Business
A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
.
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.
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
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
.
Research
The School is also recognized for its research. Located in its building are labs for GeoinformaticsGeoinformatics
Geoinformatics is the science and the technology which develops and uses information science infrastructure to address the problems of geography, geosciences and related branches of engineering.-Overview:...
, Telecommunications, ULab and Personalized Adaptive Web Systems, along with LERSAIS, an acronym for the Laboratory of Education and Research on Security Assured Information Systems.. 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.
As of late 2011, ongoing research projects included:
- 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.
iSchool Caucus
The School of Information Sciences is also a member of the iSchoolISchool
An information school, I-School or iSchool is an emergent label of university departments or independent institutions committed to understanding the role of information in nature and human endeavors...
Organization. This organization was founded in 2005 by a collective of Information Schools dedicated to advancing the information field in the 21st Century. The iSchool consortium is closely governed by iCaucus. SIS has not yet hosted an iConference.
Building
Brutalist architecture
Brutalist architecture is a style of architecture which flourished from the 1950s to the mid 1970s, spawned from the modernist architectural movement.-The term "brutalism":...
structure http://images.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/i/image/image-idx?xc=1;g=imls;q1=Information%20Sciences%20building;rgn1=dc_su;sid=1226b0433d4552061c3ed6efc01f5444;c=accd;c=aerial;c=allegob;c=chatham;c=cma;c=cmaharris;c=consol;c=cp;c=darlfamily;c=fairbanks;c=fcox;c=fwag;c=gn;c=gret;c=gt;c=hjhz;c=iks;c=jal;c=jben;c=ka;c=kauf;c=lysh;c=mest;c=pghprints;c=pghrail;c=pps;c=rr;c=rust;c=shourek;c=smoke;c=spencer;c=stotz;c=switch;c=trim;c=uapitt;c=ue;c=unionarcade;c=urban;size=20;lasttype=boolean;view=entry;lastview=thumbnail;subview=detail;cc=uapitt;entryid=x-air01.ua;viewid=AIR01UA.TIF;start=1;resnum=1]in 1968 and it has since then served as the primary facility housing the School of Information Sciences.http://digital.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=pittfact;cc=pittfact;g=documentingpitt;xc=1;xg=1;q1=Central%20Blood%20Bank;rgn=full%20text;idno=1979a073698;didno=1979a073698;view=image;seq=0076 In 1975, a renovation was completed that enclosed the building's lower levels to create additional classrooms and offices.
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.http://www.library.pitt.edu/libraries/is/info_sci.htmlThe 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. The room was named in 1976 to honor Nesbitt, an internationally known expert on children's literature. 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
The Hobbit
The Hobbit, or There and Back Again, better known by its abbreviated title The Hobbit, is a fantasy novel and children's book by J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published on 21 September 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the New York Herald...
, and a 1719 edition of Robinson Crusoe
Robinson Crusoe
Robinson Crusoe is a novel by Daniel Defoe that was first published in 1719. Epistolary, confessional, and didactic in form, the book is a fictional autobiography of the title character—a castaway who spends 28 years on a remote tropical island near Trinidad, encountering cannibals, captives, and...
. The room also contains the Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, also known as Mister Rogers, is an American children's television series that was created and hosted by Fred Rogers. The series is aimed primarily at preschool ages, 2-5, but has been stated by Public Broadcasting Service as "appropriate for all ages"...
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. A panoramic tour of the Elizabeth Nesbitt Room is available here.