PROGRAMS OFFERED BY SLIS

Specialized courses for library and information science start at the second year.

They are organized as follows:

1. Required (All courses offered by SLIS at the second year, Research Method of Library and Information Science, Seminar: library and information science, graduation thesis) (22 credits)
2. Assigned elective (26 credits and over)
   1. Required courses for each of the three Major Courses (explained below)
   2. Elective courses for each Major Course
3. Elective (Specialized courses offered by other majors, departments and institutions) (24 credits and over)

The Second Year

All students at the second year must take the following required courses basic to further study in library and information science (2 credits each).

Library and Information Science: Basics
The Library: Basics 1, 2
Information Media: Basics 1, 2
Information Management 1, 2
Basic Readings in Library and Information Science Literature 1, 2

The Third Year

Each student belongs to one of the following three Major Courses and takes classes required by the Course.

1. Library Course
   To students interested in libraries and information management this Course offers classes discussing issues relating to services and management of libraries. Although all the students in this Course are granted Shisho (qualified librarian), it admits those students who do not want to be professional librarians.
2. Information Media Course
   This Course deals with issues on information media from the sociological and psychological points of view, as well as their functions, and problems relating to production and distribution of them.
3. Information Management Course
   This Course offers classes relating to information retrieval theories and techniques, basics of systems development and use.

COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

Basic readings in library and information science literature 1・2

Reading English textbooks to understand basic terms and concepts as well as the current status and research trends in library and information science.

The Library: Basics 1

Information services in modern society, necessity and rationale of libraries and other information service organisations, and user perspectives regarding a variety of information services.

The Library: Basics 2

Foundations of information services in every type of library and information centre, components of library and information services, information resources, information professionals, facilities and equipment for information services, and principles of information works.

Information Media: Basics 1

Characteristics, functions, and significance of various information media in modern society: books, journals, magazines, newspapers, and electronic media.

Information Media: Basics 2

Practicum. Searching methods of various media: organising materials and searching media by using databases and other tools.

Information Management: Basics 1

Basic knowledge of information storage and retrieval: cataloguing and classifying, indexing, information retrieval systems, databases, information seeking behaviour, and metadata.

Information Management: Basics 2

Practicum. Basic knowledge of computers and understanding the related ethics of using application software, internet services, and building web pages. Learn the basics of information management which include searching, obtaining, modifying, creating and presenting information.

Introduction to Library and Information Science

Major research topics in the field of library and information science, development of knowledge and skills in this area in the real world, and history of library and information Science.

Basic seminar: Library and Information Science

Introductory seminar.

Seminar: Library and Information Science

Seminar on library and information science for students who are preparing a graduation thesis.

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LIBRARY COURSE

Library Administration and Management

Laws, regulations, and politics of libraries, library administration, administrative activities, managerial resources, service plan ning, survey and assessment, and management form.

Information Media

Framework for understanding print and digital information media: social function, technical characteristics, and discourses of information media.

Organization of Information Resources

Theories and practices of information resource organisation: bibliographic descriptions (cataloguing), subject analysis and representation (classification and controlled vocabularies), and metadata creation and management in libraries and other related institutions.

Information Retrieval 1

Principles, structure, and techniques of information retrieval systems including libraries OPACs, bibliographic and other databases, and internet search engines. Information access technologies beyond information retrieval.

Research Methods for Library and Information Science

Planning of social surveys, designing questionnaires, sampling, data collection, statistical analysis, and content analysis.

Public Libraries

Significance of public library activities: its systems, philosophies, and roles; discussions on various services at public libraries, such as children’s services, services for the disabled, and multicultural services; and copyright law.

Research and Academic Libraries

Scholarly information services and its systems: education, research, and academic libraries; services, administration, and operation; and trends and future of academic libraries.

Reference and Information Services

Understanding the principles of reference and information services: selection and organisation of reference sources, reference process, exercises in reference work and information search, and information literacy instruction.

Lifelong Learning

Study of the principles of education and lifelong learning with discussions on cases in Japan and other countries to understand their development and characteristics, and examination of the roles of professionals who support lifelong learning based on related regulations and systems.

INFORMATION MEDIA COURSE

Library Administration and Management

Information Media

Organization of Information Resources

Information Retrieval 1

Research Methods for Library and Information Science

Print Media

Printed media: papers and printing, history of the publishing industry, culture of publishing, book design, typography, and reading.

Scholarly Communication

Function and characteristics of scholarly communication from the viewpoint of research activities: electronic journals, open access, and open science.

Information and Society

Understanding the establishment and development of different media as a part of organisations and mechanisms for the social distribution of knowledge in society.

Web Informatics

The foundation of WWW and its development, description methods and application of Web data in a computer processing environment, relationship between Linked Data and libraries, etc.

INFORMATION MANAGEMENT COURSE

Library Administration and Management

Information Media

Organization of Information Resources

Information Retrieval 1

Research Methods for Library and Information Science

Information Behavior and Practices

Understanding information behaviour in designing systems and services: basic concepts of information behaviour and theories, social backgrounds, and processes of information seeking.

Information Processing

Algorithms and source codes for processing textual, visual, and statistical data: Java.

Database Systems

Theories and practices of database systems, conceptual and logical design of databases, database management with relational database management systems (RDBMSs), and data encoding and management in XML.

Digital Archives

Understanding the current status of various digital archives, including books, web, and audio-visual; and exercises in character data processing, digitisation of materials, adding metadata, and making a database.

OTHER ELECTIVES

Library Internship 1・2

Two-week internship at various libraries and information centres (e.g. Keio University Libraries, school libraries in Keio, and other academic, public, and special libraries) during the summer vacation.

Library Services for Children

Literature for children according to their developmental stages: picture books, folk tales, works in various literary genres, and non-fiction books.

School Libraries

Topics relating to school library and media centre services, including the trends in their development, supervision, organisation and administration, and school and public library relationships.

Epistemology of information

Epistemological and ontological perspectives of information in relation to the transmission, service, and retrieval of information.

Analysis of Statistical and Textual Data

Data mining and text mining techniques, inkling machine learning methods, clustering algorithms, and processing of textual data based on natural language processing techniques.

Bibliography 1

Analysis, description, and preservation of Japanese and Chinese classical books.

Bibliography 2

Introduction to analytical and critical bibliography of Western printed books.

Information Retrieval 2

Information retrieval systems and services with special attention given to aspects of information technology.