MEDIA RELEASES
ContactJessica Mackinnon
jmack@dom.edu
(708) 524-6289
July 2, 2009
Dominican University announces its first PhD program in library and information science
Dominican University has announced the offering of the first PhD program in its 108-year history. The Doctorate of Philosophy in Library and Information Science, to be administered through the university’s nationally recognized Graduate School of Library and Information Science (GSLIS), will accept its first cohort of students during the fall 2009 semester.“Achieving this academic milestone communicates the maturity, breadth and quality of graduate professional education at Dominican University,” said President Donna M. Carroll. “That we have the level of faculty and depth of programs to sustain a PhD is heartening.”
One of only 50 schools in the country to be accredited by the American Library Association, Dominican’s graduate library school is particularly distinguished in the areas of children’s and youth literature, community informatics, cultural heritage/archival studies and the management of public libraries.
The new three-year professional doctoral program in library and information science will be the first in the Chicago metropolitan area and will answer an expressed need for well-educated leaders in this rapidly changing profession. As the third largest employer of degreed librarians in the country, Illinois offers a strong potential market for the new doctoral program. Statistics gathered by the Association of Library and Information Science Education indicate that within the next five to seven years there will be a shortage of librarians in the practice.
“The mission of the doctoral program is to educate dynamic leaders in the field of library and information science that are poised to bridge the theory-practice divide and be the field’s creative innovators in the 21st Century,” said Susan Roman, dean of the GSLIS.
With 36 credit hours over two years of coursework, including summers, the PhD program is designed to offer a short, defined period of study with classes that fit a working person’s schedule. The program operates on a cohort model, in which a group of students start together and keep the same pace over the duration of the program.
The program will be directed by Associate Professor Tonyia Tidline, formerly of the University of Alabama’s School of Library and Information Studies. Tidline received her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from The Ohio State University and a master’s degree in library and information science from Kent State University.
Founded in 1930, Dominican University’s Graduate School of Library and Information Science has grown to be one of the nation’s largest master’s degree-granting programs. For more information on Dominican University’s doctoral program in library and information science, please call the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at (708) 524-6845.
Jessica Mackinnon
Director of Public Information
jmack@dom.edu
(708)524-6289
Kristin Peterson
Public Relations Coordinator
kpeterson@dom.edu
(708)524-6452