Museum

The Cultural Heritage Information Management (CHIM) course of study is designed to prepare students for careers in managing primary source materials in libraries' special collections, archives, and museums (AKA memory institutions). The CHIM course of study supports traditional and emerging practices of managing unique hidden collections and born-digital resources for preservation and greater access to the collections in today's digital information environment.

The Department of Information Sciences offers a variety of courses that focus on CHIM. Each student will take the four required core courses, plus highly recommended specialized courses for CHIM. Students also have options to choose courses that will prepare them for a variety of CHIM career paths. For example, students can choose LSC 677 and LSC 834 if they are interested in art and museum librarianship, LSC 747 and LSC 832 if they are interested in special collections and rare books, and LSC 646 and LSC 648 if they want to pursue a career as an archivist. Likewise, outside listed courses, there would be relevant courses to meet a student's interest. For example, students interested in digital archives can take data processing and web programming courses as recommended for professional digital archivists. Thus, it is strongly recommended that the student consult with his/her advisor to plan a course of study that will best meet the student's personal and professional needs.

Curriculum

LIS Core Courses (4 courses: 12 credits):

  • LSC 551 Organization of Information
  • LSC 553 Information Sources and Services
  • LSC 555 Information Systems in Libraries and Information Centers
  • LSC 557 The Information Professions in Society

Highly recommended courses for CHIM course of study (3-5 courses: 9-15 credits):

  • LSC 612 Foundations of Digital Libraries*
  • LSC 615 Metadata*
  • LSC 647 Preservation*
  • LSC 648 Digital Curation*
  • LSC 677 History and Theory of Cultural Heritage Institutions*
  • LSC 843 Public Programs, Outreach and Digital Exhibits in Libraries, Archives, and Museums*

Other recommended electives (3-5 courses: 9-15 credits):

  • LSC 565: Data on the Web
  • LSC 606 Cataloging and Classification
  • LSC 641: Collection Development and Management
  • LSC 643 Oral History*
  • LSC 645 History of the Book
  • LSC 646 Archives Management*
  • LSC 654 Database Management
  • LSC 695A Practicum
  • LSC 747 Special Collections
  • LSC 832 Rare Books
  • LSC 834 Art and Museum Librarianship
  • LSC 845 Religious Archives Institute
  • LSC 879 Visions of Italy (the Rome Program)
  • LSC 884 Copyright & Licensing Institute

*These classes have been preapproved by the Academy of Certified Archivists (ACA) as courses qualifying students to apply to take the Academy of Certified Archivists Certification Examination. For more  Practicum not categorizedinformation about the ACA Graduate Course Preapproval Program and the Preapproved Course List, please see: http://www.certifiedarchivists.org/get-certified/aca-graduate-course-preapproval-program/aca-approved-archival-programs-courses/ 

 Courses mapped to the areas of the DLIS Professional Competencies

Information Organization Resources/Services Information Technology Professional Identity/Management
Required Courses 551 553 555 557
Highly Recommended Courses 612
615		 647
648
843		 677
Electives 606

641
643
645
646
747
832
834
845

 565
654
879
884

Note: 695A Practicum not categorized

CHIM Informational Flyer
CHIM course of study checklist (.docx)
Digital archives course guideline (.docx)

Professional Associations of Interest to CHIM Students

Professional associations are important sources of information about the profession, including continuing education opportunities, scholarship support, and networking. They also provide venues for presenting research. Most have student membership rates and special programs. Associations of interest in this field include: 

Publications of Interest to CHIM Students

Page updated May 2021