SIS Curriculum Changes Approved by SIS Faculty
Submitted by Dania Bilal, Chairperson
SIS Curriculum Committee
Changes to UT Graduate Catalog, 2009-2010, p. 107
Current statement
“Applicants to the information sciences program must have a minimum undergraduate point average of 3.00 or a satisfactory graduate degree grade point average for admission as a potential candidate for the MS.”
Revised statement
“Applicants with a final undergraduate grade point average (GPA) of 3.25 and Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores above the fifty percentile willbe considered for admission to the MS program.” Applicants who have completed twelve hours of graduate coursework at an accredited American institution and have earned a3.0grade point average are not required to take the GRE examination.”
A. SISCourses to be eliminated/modified
IS536 The Information Society
Catalog description: (3) Competing theoretical positions and definitions regarding the existence and importance of the information society; historical evolution and selected key contributors of information society theories; issues of globalization including critical perspectives of economic, social, political, and cultural aspects.
IS538 Economics of Information
Catalog description: (3) Costing and pricing of information; value of information and value added services; cost-benefit analysis and tradeoffs; policy issues related to economic aspects of information exchange and transfer.
IS539 Information Policy
Catalog description: (3) Role of government in creation and exchange of information; review of key national and international policy areas relevant to information creation, production, and distribution; development of information policy for organizations.
Rationale for the elimination: The content of 536, 538, and 539 will be combined and offered as a special topic under the existing course IS590 (Problems in Information Science).
IS558 Library Services for a Diverse Society
Catalog description:(3) Examines the issues of diversity and multiculturalism in libraries and librarianship. Considers general issues affecting institutions in addition to libraries. Examines specific social characteristics and the social/cultural groups constructed around these characteristics. Considers the needs of such groups, and library responses to these needs, and how to create a more diverse library profession.
Rationale for the elimination: The course was offered in fall 2005 with 25 enrolled students. It was offered again in 2007, but had to be canceled due to low enrollment. Existing IS courses, IS 552 Academic Libraries and IS 554 Public Library Management and Services have content that overlaps with IS588. In addition, IS 559 Grant Development for Information Professionals, as an IS590 course that has recently been developed and offered in Fall 2008 contains content from IS588.
583 Information Systems Problems and Principles
Catalog description: (3) Use of systems theory and analytical tools for understanding and improving information systems. Emphasizes the interaction between technology, processes, and stakeholders. Focuses on problem identification and problem-solving techniques, system design representations, object-oriented system design, system prototyping, and project management.
Rationale for the elimination: Many topics covered in this course overlap with IS582, Information Systems Planning and Evaluation. The content of IS583 will be merged with IS582.
IS586 Information Retrieval Systems
Catalog Description: (3) Historical perspective on information retrieval research; statistical and probabilistic retrieval techniques; cognitive user modeling; expert intermediary systems; associations, relations, and hypertext.
Rationale for the elimination: The course has been cancelled several times due to low enrollment (6 students and below). Selected topics covered in this course will be included in IS535, Advanced Information Retrieval.
B. Course title and description change
IS582: Information Systems Planning and Evaluation
Current catalog description: (3) Information systems used in libraries and information agencies. Emphasizes planning, evaluation and system implementation. Covers usability engineering, system interface design, and human computer interaction.
New course title and description
New title and description
IS582:Information SystemsDesign and Implementation. (3) Information systems used in libraries and information agencies. System development life cycle (SDLC), usability engineering, human computer interaction, and project management.
Rationale for title change: The content of the current course overlaps with that of IS583. Since SIS faculty recommended that the content of IS583 and IS582 be combined (see IS583 under A. Courses to be eliminated), the new course title and description reflect the combined content of these two courses.