Program Goals & Learning Outcomes

The mission of the master’s and doctoral programs in Library and Information Science (LIS) is twofold. First, the graduate programs strive to contribute substantively to the development of the discipline of LIS through the strong and ongoing research and scholarly work of our internationally renowned and recognized faculty members. To this end, the graduate programs recruit faculty from a wide range of academic backgrounds who are intellectually rigorous, pursue theoretically-informed research, foster interdisciplinary connections and develop links to LIS-related professional communities. Second, through courses, teaching and mentoring, the LIS graduate programs emphasize critical enquiry, knowledge of the discipline and the information professions, creative thinking, the interplay between theory and practice, ethical practices, and social responsibility.

Approved by FIMS Faculty Council, August 2011

Goal 1. To provide a high quality education at the master’s level in the discipline of Library and Information Science through course work, independent research and experiential learning that fosters scholarly and critical approaches to the understanding of issues and practices in LIS.

• Objective: To educate MLIS graduates capable of taking scholarly and critical approaches to understanding issues in Library and Information Science and related fields,
• Objective: To prepare graduates to explain, analyse and interpret professional and scholarly literature, research data and information resources to articulate their implications for LIS and related fields of knowledge and practice
• Objective: To educate professionals who are prepared to lead in the discipline and profession and who are committed to lifelong learning

Goal 2. To prepare students for the challenges of contemporary information workplaces who feel confident in their knowledge and abilities through consistent engagement and both formal and informal partnerships with information professionals and librarians maximizing student opportunities for professional development, leadership and growth with a variety of academic, professional and extracurricular options.

• Objective: To educate LIS professionals capable of relating the practices and roles of individual librarians and information professionals to broader organizational, professional, political, economic, social and technological contexts.
• Objective: To prepare graduates to select, evaluate, and use current and emerging information and communication technologies in constantly changing information workplaces
• Objective: To prepare graduates to navigate, evaluate, and use information in a range of different information environments.
• Objective: To educate LIS professionals capable of applying their knowledge of the broader organizational, professional, political, economic, social and technological contexts to the development and evaluation of effective and appropriate user-centered information systems, services, and resources
• Objective: To educate LIS professionals who are confident in their knowledge of various areas and specializations in LIS practice and scholarship and able to communicate this knowledge effectively in formal and informal settings, across media, to a variety of audiences.

Goal 3. To graduate new librarians and information professionals who demonstrate a critical capacity to apply and evaluate LIS competencies consistent with values, standards, ethics and practices of progressive information services for the public good.

• Objective: To educate librarians and information professionals who are capable of critically applying and evaluating LIS competencies consistent with values, standards, ethics, and practices of progressive information services for the public good.

A successful graduate of The University of Western Ontario’s MLIS program will:

1. Value and support critical engagement with issues and practices in LIS and related fields through diverse approaches to independent ongoing learning.
   
   
2. Explain, analyse and interpret professional and scholarly literature, research data and information resources to articulate their implications for LIS and related fields of knowledge and practice.
   
   
3. Exercise and enact the values and principles of the field and its specialisations with an awareness of overarching social responsibility associated with progressive public service for the public good.
   
   
4. Discriminate among current and emerging information and communication technologies to judge effective management and use in constantly changing information workplaces.
   
   
5. Relate the practices and roles of individual librarians and information professionals to broader organizational, professional, political, economic, social and technological contexts.
   
   
6. Navigate, evaluate and use multiple elements of a range of information environments, including those associated with data curation, information visualization, databases and information architectures.
   
   
7. Identify and explore opportunities to engage in experiential learning and to participate, advocate, and lead in professional development and training in professional organizations relevant to emerging specialisations and career paths.
   
   
8. Evaluate and demonstrate the effectiveness of user-centered information systems, services and resources for individual users and diverse communities in a networked global society within which information organizations and information professionals operate.
   
   
9. Differentiate among the numerous areas of LIS practice and scholarship, and demonstrate a facility across media when speaking, writing and presenting about them to diverse audiences in formal and informal professional and scholarly domains.

Approved by the MLIS Program Committee 5 February 2014.