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The Syracuse University School of Information Studies is a center for research and education in the policy, systems, service, and technology aspects of information science and library science. After 70 years as a library school, the school's name was changed to reflect the growing information field, and new programs were added throughout the 1970s, 80s, and 90s. The school aims to merge technology and management skills with an emphasis on human needs and behavior.
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The School of Information Studies offers an undergraduate degree, three master’s degrees, and two doctoral degrees, as well as several certificates of advanced study.
The school also offers certificates of advanced study in school media, information security management, information systems and telecommunications, and digital libraries.
The first library science courses were offered at Syracuse University in 1896 at the University’s von Ranke library, with university librarian Henry Orrin Sibley and his wife as the first and only instructors. In 1907, the program moved to the Carnegie Library, and, in 1908, it received accreditation from the American Library Association. The program eventually broke off from the College of Liberal Arts in 1915 and began granting graduate degrees in 1934.
The School of Information Studies emerged in 1974 when Dean Robert Taylor suggested the School of Library Science adopt a name that would signal a new direction. Throughout the 1970s, he updated the library science curriculum to keep pace with the changing times. In 1977, the Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) Clearinghouse was launched at the school,[citation needed] and, in 1980, the country’s first master’s degree in information resources management (IRM) became the second program to join the curriculum.[citation needed]
The 1980s marked an increase in faculty research and grants that established the School of Information Studies as a leader in the field.[citation needed] During this time, the undergraduate program in information management and technology was introduced. In 1983, the school moved from its old home in several large houses on the edge of campus to Huntington Hall. The school moved again in 1989 to the Center for Science and Technology. In 2005, it moved to a new location on the campus Quad.
The 1990s brought many innovations to the school, including the telecommunications and network management program; AskERIC, one of the first online reference services; and a distance learning program.[citation needed] Several new research centers opened, including the Convergence Center, the Center for Digital Commerce, and the Center for Natural Language Processing.
The iSchool at Syracuse was a founding member of what today is called the iCaucus, which represents 19 iSchool members from the United States and Canada that focus on the interaction between information and people.[citation needed]
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