Course Types
The courses offered fall into three groups: required, elective, and research courses.
There are six required courses. These courses cover core aspects of the field of library and information science. All required courses are offered every term.
Elective courses build upon the foundation of the required courses by furthering students' knowledge and understanding of specific areas of academic interest or professional practice. Electives may be taught either by full-time faculty or by skilled, experienced part-time instructors, many of whom have careers in the information professions. Elective courses normally are offered frequently and those that have not been taught within a three-year period are removed from the list of offerings.
Special Topic courses provide an opportunity to offer a course that is very specialized or unique in some way. Special Topic courses are intended to be offered only once, such as in the case of a visiting scholar, information professional or doctoral student who wishes to share his/her expertise while s/he is resident at the university.
Research courses are intended to provide an opportunity for individuals or small groups to explore or experiment with topics not covered in depth by existing courses. Note that MLIS students may also take PhD courses with the permission of the instructor in consultation with the Associate Dean; they may also take one or two graduate level courses from other programs at Western. PhD courses and courses from other programs may receive credit towards the MLIS degree.
Workload
The MLIS program consists of 15 courses (normally four or five courses per term for full-time students); each course consists of a minimum of nine hours of work per week, including 3 hours of class time, any additional lab time and preparation and assignments. Most of the remaining six or seven hours outside of class is normally spent in self-directed reading and other activities. However, in some courses, time may be devoted to laboratories directed by a faculty member; to tutorials or briefings for selected members of the class conducted by faculty members; to formal or informal demonstrations or audiovisual presentations; or to lectures conducted by students, faculty members, or support staff. The professor responsible for a course determines the precise combination of activities in any particular week of the course. The class may be shortened or lengthened according to the group's needs in a particular week, and timetabling is arranged so that the discussion may continue up to three hours if necessary.
A student seeking to take a course beyond the normal four or five course load must request permission from the Associate Dean, must have achieved an 85% overall average in previous MLIS courses, and must have completed one term with at least four courses before making this request.
Areas of Concentration
Areas of concentration (AOCs) are formally articulated and approved clusters of related elective courses on a particular topic or recognized area of professional expertise. AOCs enable students to conceptualize and plan their programs more easily and to highlight their interests to future employers if they wish to do so. To achieve an AOC, a student must take at least 5 of the specified electives in the AOC area (including any mandatory electives), achieving a minimum grade of at least 75% in each course. The AOCs for participating students will be noted on their FIMS academic record but will not appear on the official transcript, as per student request. Students attaining an AOC will be issued a FIMS certificate of achievement.
MLIS Research Week
The MLIS term has been standardized to 14 weeks, consisting of 13 weeks of instruction and a Research Week. Each term, a Research Week will occur in the 7th, 8th, or 9th week of term (to be determined by Graduate Student Services). During the winter term, Research Week will coincide with Conference Week. To account for statutory holidays in the 13 weeks of classes, make-up class(es) will be held during Research Week or scheduled at some other time. Co-op interviews may also be scheduled during Research Week.
Attendance at Classes
As there are generally no formal written examinations in the MLIS program (at the discretion of the instructor), participation in classes is an essential part of the learning experience and provides part of the basis for academic assessment of a student's knowledge. Students are therefore required to attend every class of each course in which they are enrolled.
Attendance at Conferences and Job Interviews
The MLIS program attempts to foster in students a sense of professionalism and interest in the activities of the profession and the development of the discipline. Students are therefore encouraged to take part in professional and scholarly conferences. Unfortunately, attendance at conferences is sometimes in conflict with the program's regulations on class attendance. Accordingly, MLIS faculty normally will be flexible in terms of attendance requirements and assignment deadlines in order to accommodate students in good standing who wish to attend appropriate conferences. Similar flexibility normally will be shown for students nearing graduation who are attending job interviews.