Master of Library and Information Science Program earns reaccreditation
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Governor Ige proclaims LIS Program Week in September 2015.
The UH Mānoa program leading to the degree of Master of Library and Information Science (LIS) has received Continued Accreditation status for the maximum seven-year period from the American Library Association’s Committee on Accreditation (COA). The decision was made at the COA’s meeting in Boston on January 10, 2016, according to COA Chair Joan Howland of the University of Minnesota Law School.
Said LIS Chair Rich Gazan, “We received both praise for our uniqueness and constructive suggestions for improvement. But, in my final meeting with the Committee on Accreditation, they mostly wanted to talk about how impressed they were with the level of engagement of our students, alumni, faculty, administration and the local LIS community.”
LIS is 50 years old, and has graduated over 1,600 information professionals working in Hawaiʻi and throughout the world. There are currently 59 ALA-accredited LIS programs, with the UHM LIS Program’s School Library Media Specialization ranked in the Top 10 by U.S. News and World Report.
On Friday, September 11, 2015, at the state Capitol, Governor David Ige and Lieutenant Governor Shan Tsutsui proclaimed September 13-19 to be “UH Mānoa Library and Information Science Program Week” in honor of LIS’ 50th anniversary.
Background
Founded in 1965, the Graduate School of Library Studies (GSLS) set out to prepare professionals for work in libraries and other types of information-handling agencies by offering the Master’s in Library Studies degree. In June 1987, the school recognized the rapidly changing world of libraries and information technologies and the role of information in society, by officially changing its name to the School of Library and Information Studies (SLIS), offering the Master’s in Library and Information Studies degree simultaneously.
Effective Fall 1997, SLIS merged with the Department of Information and Computer Sciences (ICS) in the College of Natural Sciences, and changed its name to the Library and Information Science (LIS) Program.
The Master of Library and Information Science Degree Program was first accredited by the American Library Association in 1967 and gained reaccreditation under new standards in 1974, 1980, 1986, 1994, 2000 and 2009.
The COA’s next comprehensive review visit is scheduled for Fall 2022.
To visit the LIS website, see https://www.hawaii.edu/lis/