University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
WELCOME
Graduate School of Library and
Information Science (GSLIS)
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Master of Science
Doctor of Philosophy
Certificate of Advanced Study
+ Informatics Minor and
Community Credit
 ~800 students
MS
 Flexible curriculum-- 40 credit hours with
options to specialize in areas including K-12
librarianship, community college librarianship,
digital libraries, data curation, special
collections, community informatics,
bioinformatics, and more.
LEEP - GSLIS online option
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MS since 1996
CAS since 2002
Community credit since 2003
Emphasis on communication and
collaboration
 Hybrid model:
synchronous, asynchronous, and
residential components
New opportunities to connect faculty
and students, engage in research,
and enhance teaching and learning.
LEEP Connections
LEEP students have lived in all 50
states, Argentina, Bahamas,
Belgium, Canada, China, England,
France, Germany, Ireland, Italy,
Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New
Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Saudi
Arabia,Thailand and the Virgin
Islands.
LEEP Retreat Themes
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Collaboration & community
Interaction (many to many)
Instructor dethroned
Spontaneity and surprise
New experiences
Personalized learning
24/7
Reflection
What makes LEEP work?
The LEEP Retreat identified five key effective
practices:
● Orientation, also known as ‘boot camp’
● On-campus sessions (brief residencies
each semester)
● Group work
● Synchronous sessions
● Order and organization
“It’s the people...!”
PhD
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Oldest program in the US (62 years)
Research-oriented and interdisciplinary
~ 60 students; highly competitive admissions
Minimum two year residency; typically 5
years of study
 Areas of emphasis include: history, social
informatics, uses and users of info, youth
literature and services, info org and access;
economics and policy, info storage and
retrieval
 Range of scholarly expectations
Recent Dissertation Titles
 Scientific Data Collections: Use in Scholarly
Communication and Implications for Data Curation
(Cragin)
 Building Civic Literacy for Democracy: Russian
Libraries and Civil Society (Knutson)
 A Trail of Stones and Breadcrumbs: Evaluating
Folktales Published for Youth in the 20th Century
(Del Negro)
 Measuring Information Quality (Stivilia)
 Automating Semantic Markup of Semi-Structured
Text Via an Induced Knowledge Base: A CaseStudy Using Floras (Cui)
GSLIS CPD: Networking, Collaboration
and Lifelong Learning
 Foster community of professionals and opportunities
for continuing professional development
 Increasing demand (alumni; options to stay
connected)
 Need for technological competencies
 Engagement in community development efforts
 Includes workshops, CPLA, credit courses, study
tours, certificates, etc.
http://www.lis.illinois.edu/academics/programs/cpd
Once again-welcome!
About UIUC
History
◦ One of the original 37 public land-grant institutions created
within 10 years of the signing of the Morrill Act by Abraham
Lincoln in 1862
◦ Chartered in 1867 as the Illinois Industrial University;
opened in 1868
Location
◦ 1,468 acres (286 major buildings) located in the twin cities of
Champaign and Urbana (combined population: 100,000)
◦ 7.7 square miles situated about 140 miles S of Chicago, 120
miles W of Indianapolis, and 170 miles NE of St. Louis
Budget
◦ Total Budget FY2009: $1.7 billion
People @ UIUC
Students
･ 41,917 total: 31,209 undergraduate and 10,708
graduate and professional
Faculty
･ 3,087 tenured/track members
Full-time Equivalent Employees
･ 3,920 academic; 4,498 support staff
Alumni
･ 607,825 living graduates
22 Nobel laureates and 20 Pulitzer Prize
winners affiliated with UIUC