Curriculum
The following 11 courses cover the competencies required by the Illinois State Board of Education for the Library Information Specialist. The core concepts of information access and delivery, teaching and learning, communication and program administration are addressed within the context of the required courses. Special focus is placed on the philosophies of elementary, middle and secondary schools, along with the developmental psychology of PK-12 students.
Completion of the first three required core courses during the first nine hours of enrollment is highly recommended:
- LIS 701 Core Values, Ethics, and Issues in the Library and Information Professions
- LIS 702 Facilitating User Learning and Information Needs
- LIS 703 Organization of Knowledge
- LIS 707 Leadership, Marketing, and Strategic Communication
- LIS 708 Evidence-Based Planning, Management, and Decision Making
- LIS 721 Library Materials for Children
- LIS 722 Library Materials for Young Adults
- LIS 724 Integrating Technology into Programming, Services and Instruction (meets the technology course requirement)
- LIS 725 Curriculum and School Libraries
- LIS 773 School Libraries
- LIS 820 Clinical Practice
Clinical Experience in School Libraries
Clinical experience enables School Library Media Program students to apply the knowledge gained from coursework in a variety of school library settings.
The field experience coordinator works closely with each student to secure placements in school libraries that will afford effective learning experiences. Many of our placements are in schools staffed by Dominican University alumnae/i.
Students With an Active Professional Educator License
Those students who already hold an active Illinois Professional Educator License (PEL) can earn the PK–12 Library Information Specialist (school librarian) Endorsement by passing the content-area test for Library Information Specialist and completing 18 course hours from the following list of courses:
- LIS 701 Core Values, Ethics, and Issues in the Library and Information Professions
- LIS 702 Facilitating User Learning and Information Needs
- LIS 703 Organization of Knowledge
- LIS 721 Library Materials for Children
- LIS 722 Library Materials for Young Adults
- LIS 724 Integrating Technology into Programming, Services and Instruction (meets the technology course requirement)
- LIS 725 Curriculum and School Libraries
- LIS 773 School Libraries
Any student seeking the LIS endorsement on an existing PEL should contact the program director upon starting the program for advising on which courses to take and then again upon completing the requirements. The program director will contact the licensure officer with authorization for the endorsement. The licensure officer will complete the endorsement application and contact the candidate with instructions for securing the LIS endorsement.
Students Without Valid Illinois Professional Educator Licenses
Students without a valid Illinois professional educator license will visit a variety of school library settings for a total of at least 100 pre-clinical observation hours. School librarians and school library aides may apply a maximum of 25 hours from their current work experience.
Students without a valid Illinois professional license enroll in LIS 785 Clinical Practice in order to complete a non-paid, supervised clinical experience in two different school library media settings (elementary, middle, or secondary) for 200 hours (approximately five weeks) each.
MLIS Electives
Electives may be chosen from the following courses:
- LIS 711 History of the Text: Early Books and Manuscripts up to the Printing Press
- LIS 713 Introduction to the Preservation and Conservation of Library and Archival Materials
- LIS 718 Storytelling for Adults and Children
- LIS 719 History of Children's Literature from Western Europe to the United States
- LIS 720 Picture Books and Early Literacy
- LIS 723 Services for Children and Young Adults
- LIS 726 Learning Theories, Motivation, And Technology
- LIS 730 Descriptive Cataloging
- LIS 731 Subject Analysis
- LIS 732 Indexing and Abstracting
- LIS 734 Learning Theories and Instructional Designs
- LIS 737 Library and Data Management Systems
- LIS 740 Advanced Reference Services
- LIS 744 Government Information Resources
- LIS 745 Searching Electronic Databases
- LIS 748 Collection Management
- LIS 749 Crisis Informatics
- LIS 750 Information Storage and Retrieval
- LIS 751 Database Management
- LIS 752 Networks
- LIS 753 Internet Fundamentals and Design
- LIS 754 Systems Analysis and Design
- LIS 755 Information Policy
- LIS 756 Organizational Analysis and Design
- LIS 758 Community Informatics
- LIS 759 Digital Libraries
- LIS 760 International Libraries
- LIS 761 Marketing and Public Relations
- LIS 763 Readers Advisory Services
- LIS 764 Teaching in the Information Professions
- LIS 768 Social Media and Emerging Technologies
- LIS 769 Research Methods
- LIS 770 Management of Libraries and Information Centers
- LIS 771 Public Libraries
- LIS 772 Academic Libraries
- LIS 774 Special Libraries
- LIS 775 Introduction to Archival Principles, Practices, and Services
- LIS 777 Issues of Access, Advocacy, and Policy in Youth Services
- LIS 778 Theological Librarianship
- LIS 779 Planning and Design of Library Space
- LIS 782 Seminar in Health Sciences
- LIS 786 Advanced Web Design
- LIS 791 Organizational and Multicultural Communication
- LIS 796 Special Topics: International Book Fairs
- LIS 799 Practicum
- LIS 801 Independent Study in Library and Information Science
- LIS 804 Special Topics
- LIS 805 Special Topics
- LIS 808 Seminars
- LIS 820 Clinical Practice
- LIS 845 Data Librarianship
- LIS 880 Knowledge Management
- LIS 881 Advanced Archival Principles, Practices and Services
- LIS 882 Metadata for Digital Resources
- LIS 884 Big Data and Competitive Intelligence
- LIS 885 Cultural Heritage Resources and Services for Diverse Populations
- LIS 886 Records and Information Management
- LIS 888 Cultural Heritage/Archives Fieldwork
- LIS 889 Digital Curation
- LIS 890 E-Portfolio Requirement