The UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) is a professional school at the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

offering a bachelor's degree in information science, master's degrees in library science and information science, a professional science master's degree in digital curation, and a doctoral degree in information and library science as well as an undergraduate minor, graduate certificate programs, and a post-master's certificate. The school was founded by

Louis Round Wilson Louis Round Wilson (December 27, 1876 – December 10, 1979) was an important figure to the field of library science, and is listed in “100 of the most important leaders we had in the 20th century,” an article in the December 1999 issue of ''Am ...

and opened in the fall of 1931. Currently, the '' U.S. News & World Report'' ranks the School of Information and Library Science third among information and library science programs nationwide, as well as first in digital librarianship and health librarianship. Both professional degree programs in

library science Library science (often termed library studies, bibliothecography, and library economy) is an interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary field that applies the practices, perspectives, and tools of management, information technology, education, and ...

and

information science Information science (also known as information studies) is an academic field which is primarily concerned with analysis, collection, Categorization, classification, manipulation, storage, information retrieval, retrieval, movement, dissemin ...

are accredited by the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members a ...

(ALA). The Master of Science in Library Science (MSLS) has maintained its ALA accreditation since 1934, and the Master of Science in Information Science (MSIS) program has maintained accreditation since its inception in 2000. There were 26 full-time teaching faculty members and about 17 adjunct and visiting faculty members at SILS in 2017.

History

Library science classes were initially offered at UNC-Chapel Hill starting in 1904; however, the university would not offer library science as a major until 1931, when the School of Library Science opened its doors to welcome 37 students and five faculty members in

Wilson Library The Louis Round Wilson Library is a library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Completed in 1929, it served as the university's main library until 1984. Today, it houses several special collections. The dome rises 85 feet over the ...

, now named after

, the university's first librarian, the SILS' first dean, and advocate for library science at the university.University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, School of Information and Library Science (2007). Illuminating the Past: A history of the first 75 years of the University of North Carolina's School of Information and Library Science. Minneapolis, MN: PhotoBook Press. The school opened in part because of a $100,000 grant from the

Carnegie Corporation The Carnegie Corporation of New York is a philanthropic fund established by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 to support education programs across the United States, and later the world. Carnegie Corporation has endowed or otherwise helped to establis ...

given to the University to establish a school of library science. In 1932, the school was provisionally accredited by the ALA Board of Education for Librarianship, the same year that the first class of students would graduate from the school. Two years later, the school became fully accredited for undergraduate library training by the ALA Board of Education for Librarianship. The Carnegie Corporation gave SILS another $100,000 grant in 1940. Starting in 1950, the school offered master's courses in library science leading the way for the university to approve the school's program, leading to the creation of the school's MSLS program. Two decades after the launch of its MSLS program, SILS moved out of its original home, Wilson Library, and into its current home, Manning Hall, the former home of the UNC School of Law. In 1974, the school began offering library services to the

Environmental Protection Agency A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...

Library at

Research Triangle Park Research Triangle Park (RTP) is the largest research park in the United States, occupying in North Carolina and hosting more than 300 companies and 65,000 workers. The facility is named for its location relative to the three surrounding cities ...

. The school officially changed its name from the School of Library Science to the School of Information and Library Science in 1988 after a faculty vote in 1987, recognizing the growing role information management would have on society. Now, SILS offers an undergraduate major and minor, two master's of science degrees, professional science master's degrees, dual master's degrees with both their own undergraduate degree and other programs at the University, several graduate certificates, and a doctor of philosophy in information and library science. One of SILS' newest degrees, a professional science master's (PSM) in digital curation, is the first master's degree in the nation focused on digital curation and is offered entirely online. In the fall of 2017, SILS had 160 undergraduate students either pursuing a major in information science or a minor in information systems, with an additional 254 graduate students enrolled.

Deans

(1931-1932) *

Susan Grey Akers Susan Grey Akers (April 3, 1889 – January 30, 1984) was an American librarian and the first woman to hold an academic deanship at the University of North Carolina. Biography Akers was born on April 3, 1889, in Richmond, Kentucky, to Clara El ...

(1932-1954) *Lucile Kelling Henderson (1954-1960) *Carlyle J. Frarey (1960-1964) *Margaret Ellen Kalp (1964-1967) *Walter A. Sedelow Jr. (1967-1970) *Raymond L. Carpenter Jr. (1970-1971) * Edward G. Holley (1972-1985) *Evelyn H. Daniel (1985-1990) *Barbara B. Moran (1990-1998) *Joanne Gard Marshall (1999-2004) *Jose-Marie Griffiths (2004-2009) *Barbara B. Moran (2009-2010) *

Gary Marchionini Gary Marchionini is an American information scientist and educator at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1998-present). Work Gary Marchionini is a leader in defining theory of human information interaction and exploratory search ...

(2010–present)

Facilities

In 1995, Manning would undergo renovations, including updating its large lecture hall and the information and technology resource center. Today, SILS classrooms are equipped with computer projection and instructor workstations. SILS also maintains a wireless network with access points throughout the building. Since 2016, SILS has offered students the opportunity to experience virtual reality, expanding to offer an entire virtual reality room in 2017. SILS also has a 3D printing station, where students can submit designs of 3D models to be printed. Additionally, SILS offers a Digital Media Lab with access to professional video and audio recording equipment, a teleprompter, green screen, audio mixer, and video and audio editing software. As part of the university library system, the SILS Library features advanced electronic capabilities and an extensive collection of materials. The Information and Technology Resource Center integrates a computer lab and electronic classroom area with extensive library collections and services.

Library

The SILS Library consists of over 100,000 volumes and approximately 1,300 serials titles are checked in every year. One of the collections SILS houses is the professional collection (Library of Congress classification), which consists of materials in information and library science, and related fields. The juvenile collection (Dewey Decimal classification), designed to support courses in children's literature, school librarianship, and children's librarianship in public libraries, consists of the Easy collection, juvenile fiction, juvenile non-fiction, juvenile historical (non-circulating), pop-up books, and audio-visual materials. It is the only full-service children's collection on campus.

Projects

Digital Project Repository

The SILS Digital Project Repository was created by information and library science graduate students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (originally developed by SILS students Matthew Bachtell and Ying Zhang for Dr. Gary Marchionini's Digital Libraries course). The DPR serves as an archive and showcase of student work. The “Pathfinder Digital Library”, as it was then called, housed two archived pathfinders and provided organized lists of externally linked pathfinders. The project was later taken over by SILS students Becca Cahill, Adam Webb, and Kristen Wilson, who renamed it the SILS Digital Project Repository (DPR) and expanded its scope to include portals, digital archives, and other HTML format projects. These students archived about sixty pathfinders and other projects during their administration of the site in hopes of preserving projects housed on impermanent student webspace. In spring 2006, the DPR was adopted by Lori Eakin, Emily Riley, and Ellen Whisler, who worked to collect detailed metadata for projects housed on-site and off-site in preparation for future development of the DPR.

ibiblio.org

ibiblio ibiblio (formerly SunSITE.unc.edu and MetaLab.unc.edu) is a "collection of collections", and hosts a diverse range of publicly available information and open source content, including software, music, literature, art, history, science, politic ...

, a collaboration between the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the

Center for the Public Domain The Center for the Public Domain was a charitable foundation created in 1999 by Bob Young as the Red Hat Center. It provided free online legal resources, sponsored public domain spaces on the Internet, and campaigned for copyright reforms. *

, information scientist *

Tressie McMillan Cottom Tressie McMillan Cottom is an American writer, sociologist, and professor. She is currently an associate professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Information and Library Science (SILS), and is also an affiliate of t ...

, sociologist *

Helen Tibbo Helen Ruth Tibbo (born 1955) is an American archivist, professor and author writing about digital preservation in the archival profession. At the University of North Carolina, she created and directed the first American master's degree on digital ...

, archivist *

Zeynep Tufekci Zeynep Tufekci ( tr, Zeynep Tüfekçi; ; ) is a sociologist and a writer who is a columnist for ''The New York Times''. Her work focuses on the social implications of new technologies, such as artificial intelligence and big data, as well as soc ...

, techno-sociologist

References

External links

UNC-SILS Homepage
{{Authority control 1931 establishments in North Carolina American Library Association accredited library schools Educational institutions established in 1931 Information schools Information and Library Science