SU’s School of Information Studies to offer new Certificate of Advanced Study in Digital Libraries

Wednesday, January 7, 2004, By News Staff

SU’s School of Information Studies to offer newCertificate of Advanced Study in Digital LibrariesJanuary 07, 2004Edward Byrnesedbyrnes@syr.edu

In addition to its eight undergraduate and advanced degree programs, Syracuse University’s School of Information Studies (IST) recently added a Certificate of Advanced Study (CAS) in Digital Libraries to its palette of program offerings.

The CAS in Digital Libraries is an 18-credit program designed to prepare its graduates to meet the needs created by the ever-increasing amount of information created, disseminated and archived in the digital realm. It is ideal for practicing information professionals, librarians and students in IT management, law, the entertainment and digital imaging industries, and any other information-intensive fields in which the storage, organization and retrieval of large quantities of digital files is essential.

“Our School of Information Studies is an ideal venue for preparing for careers in the arena of digital libraries, whether in the institutional setting or in the many diverse settings that support digital collections,” says IST Dean Raymond F. von Dran. “Our faculty comes from many disciplines, including library and information science, information management, computer science, communications, economics, psychology, among others. In addition, our faculty includes internationally renowned researchers in digital libraries.”

Organized collections of digital information-whether they are a collection of text, images, numbers or sound-are fast becoming society’s new libraries. The development of these new “digital libraries,” while progressing and expanding rapidly, can still be considered in its infancy. Challenges remain that will make the arena of digital libraries a fertile environment for innovation and creative implementation for many decades. These include technical and information architecture, metadata, optimal retrieval engines, user-friendly interface and information display, data warehousing, archiving and preservation, and machine and human mediated services for using the collections.

The CAS in Digital Libraries is available in the distance-learning and on-campus formats, and can be tailored to meet the specific needs of those who want to work with organizing and managing collections of digital information, either within established libraries or in many other organizational structures.

The School of Information Studies at SU is a nationally ranked center for innovative programs in information policy, information behavior, information management, information systems, information technology and information services. The School offers an undergraduate degree, three professional master’s programs, and a Ph.D. program. For more information, visit the School’s web site at www.ist.syr.edu.

Officially chartered in 1870 as a private, coeducational institution of higher education, Syracuse University is a leading student-centered research university. Syracuse’s 12 schools and colleges share a common mission: to promote learning through teaching, research, scholarship, creative accomplishment and service while embracing the core values of quality, caring, diversity, innovation and service. The 680-acre campus is home to more than 18,000 full- and part-time undergraduate and graduate students from all 50 states and 90 countries.