[MNASIS-L] UIUC Digital Library CAS program and fellowships

[Janet Arth]

University of Illinois Offers Advanced Degree and
Fellowships in Digital Librarianship

URBANA-CHAMPAIGN, IL—The Graduate School of Library and Information
Science (GSLIS) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is
now accepting applicants for its Certificate of Advanced Study (CAS)
in Digital Libraries program. Five one-year, non-renewable
fellowships will be available to CAS and MS degree students wishing
to focus on digital libraries in the 2006-2007 academic year. The
program aims to give students a thorough and technically focused
background in digital libraries that will enable them to serve as
designers, decision-makers, and creators of digital collections.

Students may choose to enroll in the CAS program either on campus at
Urbana-Champaign or at a distance via GSLIS's LEEP online education
option. The core courses for the program will be offered via LEEP,
while elective courses may be completed via LEEP or on campus, as
offered. By making use of the LEEP option, GSLIS will be able to
offer classes taught by distinguished practitioners from other
institutions in the field of digital librarianship.

The CAS degree is a program of advanced course work intended for
those who hold a master's degree in library and information science
or a related field. Librarians, information scientists, and others in
information management can enroll in the program to refresh and
update their skills and gain greater specialization in digital
librarianship and related issues. To earn the degree, students will be 
required to complete 40 hours of course work, including 8 hours focusing on 
an
individual project related to digital libraries.

Students may focus their studies in one of many directions, including
theory and implementation, information organization and access tools,
learning environments, community information exchange, and more.
Students will gain advanced-level knowledge of digital asset
management, information and collection modeling, design of
human-centered, digitally mediated information services, and metadata
schema. The program assumes existing MS-level knowledge of Library
and Information Science, including basic information organization,
indexing and cataloging, information needs and uses, reference and
user services, and the role of libraries in society.  It also assumes
knowledge of basic programming and information retrieval theory
(students may complete coursework in programming and information
retrieval at GSLIS to achieve basic competency in these areas if they
have not been exposed to them previously).

With support from the Institute of Museum and Library Services
(IMLS), GSLIS will be recruiting and placing a total of five fellows
to pursue digital librarianship studies in the 2006­2007 academic
year. To apply for the fellowships, students must apply for either
the CAS degree program in Digital Libraries, or the MS degree program
in Library
and Information Science. While applications for the MS degree program
have closed for the year, the deadline for applications to the CAS
degree program has been extended to March 17, 2006.  After being
accepted to the program, students will be encouraged to write an
essay explaining their interest and goals in the study of digital
librarianship. Students who are offered and accept the fellowship
positions will be required to fulfill their fellowship requirements
at the Urbana-Champaign campus.

GSLIS, the number-one ranked LIS degree program by U.S. News and
World Report, is the first in the nation to offer an advanced degree
targeted at professionals in the growing field of digital
librarianship. The program will be conducted in close partnership with
the University's world-renowned libraries, including Grainger
Engineering Library Information Center, which is home to
groundbreaking research in digital libraries and metadata harvesting.

Additional information about applying to the program can be found at
http://www.lis.uiuc.edu/programs/cas-dl.html; information about
digital projects of the University Library can be found at http:// 
www.library.uiuc.edu/digproj/digprojt.html.

Contact for questions regarding the degree programs and fellowships:
Jerome McDonough, Asst. Professor, jmcdonou at uiuc.edu


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Jerome McDonough, Asst. Professor
Graduate School of Library & Information Science
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
501 E. Daniel Street, Room 202
Champaign, IL 61820
(217) 244-5916
jmcdonou at uiuc.edu