Master of Library and Information Science
master's degree in library and information science
The Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) is a master's degree that combines two interdisciplinary academic disciplines. Library science is applied information science and a subfield of information science. This degree focuses on information management. It is also the most common degree for professional librarian positions in the United States. The MLIS was created after the older Master of Library Science (MLS) was reformed to reflect the information science and technology needs of the field. According to the American Library Association (ALA), "ALA-accredited degrees have [had] various names such as Master of Information Studies, Master of Arts, Master of Librarianship, Master of Library and Information Studies, or Master of Science. The degree name has been determined by the program. The [ALA] Committee for Accreditation evaluates programs based on their adherence to the Standards for Accreditation of Master's Programs in Library and Information Science, not based on the name of the degree."
Admission to MLIS programs normally require holding a bachelor's degree in any academic discipline and library schools encourage applications from people with diverse academic backgrounds.
In the United Kingdom, it is more common for a vocational degree in library and information science to bear the standard designation MA or MSc. In most Commonwealth universities, bachelor's and master's programs have been merged to create the MLIS/MLISc degree.
The public source identifies “Master of Library and Information Science” as master's degree in library and information science. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Master, Library and Information.
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This entry incorporates text from “Master of Library and Information Science” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.