SIGIA-L Mail Archives: Re: SIGIA-L: IA/HCI Education (summary)
Re: SIGIA-L: IA/HCI Education (summary)
From: Michael Fry (mfry_at_drexel.edu)
Date: Mon Feb 04 2002 - 21:31:41 EST
Dan Saffer said:
> To go after a MLIS seems, well, limiting [because it doesn't include things like] design, usability, cognitive psych, programming, and
lots of other good stuff...that this list talks about every day].
Perhaps this is because I see a lot more of our skills being used
towards interaction design than information architure these days...Feel
free to try to convince me I'm wrong."
Kristen Truong replied:
> I think you should not blanket MLIS programs as not providing the right curriculm. I think you have to look at each program individually and make an assessment.
I agree with Kristen, Dan. Your understanding of MLS programs is a bit
too narrow. MLS programs aren't all limited to "traditional"
library-related subjects like public librarianship, collection
development and children's literature. Like Kristen, I've been able to
tailor my degree to my own interests--HCI, usability, information
retrieval, IA, etc--the same way that most of the other more
"traditional" MLS students lean toward all that other stuff. (And I know
that Kristen and I aren't the only members of SIGIA who have taken the
road less traveled.)
The nice thing about going to a reasonably large university--and most
library schools I can think of fall into that category--is that you
don't have to limit yourself to what's offered by the MLS program. My
college, for example, gives credit toward the MLS degree for courses
such as Cognitive Psych, Technical Communication and Organizational
Behavior, all of which are offered outside the department. This is in
addition to what's offered within the department, including several
courses each in DB design, programming and HCI/usability, as well as
project management, artificial intelligence and requirements
engineering.
I'm not at all trying to sell you on an MLS, Dan. I just want you to
come to fully informed conclusions. ;)
mf
--
Michael Fry
Graduate Student
College of Information Science & Technology
Drexel University
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