Librarians perform a wide range of functions in many different types of organizations. While some students develop a strong interest in a specific career specialty, others prefer a more general educational preparation that will provide them with greater flexibility to pursue a variety of options. The Generalist Course of Study guides those students in the selection of a balanced program in the six competency areas defined by the faculty: Professional Identity, Management, Resources, Services, Information Organization, and Technology (see The Professional Competencies for Graduates of the Masters in Library Science Degree Program).
Curriculum
LIS Core 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 Generalist course of study:
- LSC 606 Cataloging & Classification
- LSC 612 Foundations of Digital Libraries
- LSC 615 Metadata
- LSC 635 Human Information Behavior
- LSC 641 Collection Development and Management
- LSC 650 Information Architecture and Web Design
- LSC 654 Database Management
- LSC 672 Management
- LSC 675 Research Methods in Library and Information Science
- LSC 695A Practicum
- LSC 616 Knowledge Organization Systems
- LSC 633 Information Retrieval and Analysis
- LSC 644 Information Literacy Instruction
- LSC 756 Systems Analysis and Evaluation
- LSC 881 The College and University Library
- LSC 887 Institute on Federal Library Resources
- LSC 888 The Special Library/Information Center
- LSC 889 The Public Library
Generalist course of study checklist rev. May 2020 (.docx)
Courses mapped to Professional Competency Areas
| Information Organization | Resources /Services |
Information Technology | Professional Identity /Management |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Required Courses | 551 | 553 | 555 | 557 |
| Highly Recommended Courses |
606 615 |
635 641 |
654 |
672 695A |
| Electives | 616 | 633 644 |
756 | No more than one of: 881 887 888 889 |
*695A, Practicum, is highly recommended for students without prior library and information services experience, and for those who wish to gain first-hand experience in a type of library that they are not familiar with. The practicum can be related to any of the competencies.
**It is recommended that no more than two may be substituted for highly recommended courses.
If you prefer online courses, you can complete the Master’s program, specialized in the Generalist course of study, with online courses. Below is an example of the Generalist course plan with online courses only. You can find more information about online courses at https://lis.catholic.edu/academics/online/
|
Semester |
Courses |
|
1st Fall semester |
· LSC 551 Organization of Information · LSC 557 The Information Professions in Society |
|
1st Spring semester |
· LSC 553 Information Sources and Services · LSC 555 Information Systems in Libraries and Information Centers |
|
1st Summer semester |
· LSC 641: Collection Development and Management · LSC 654: Database Management |
|
2nd Fall semester |
· LSC 606: Cataloging and Classification† · LSC 675: Research Methods in Library and Information Science |
|
2nd Spring semester |
· LSC 635: Human Information Behavior · LSC 650: Information Architecture and Web Design |
|
2nd Summer semester |
· LSC 612 Foundations of Digital Libraries · LSC 672: Management |