Information Science Major

Notice of Addendum: The description and requirements for this program were updated effective Spring 2024 and have been published on ADDENDA TO THIS CATALOG.

Program Directors: Pamela Duffy (College Park), Galina Madjaroff Reitz (Shady Grove)

The field of information science, particularly in the iSchool, is a field concerned with the intersections of information, people, and technology. Information science is an interdisciplinary field, drawing from other areas of study such as computer science, management, social science, education, and the humanities, but with a focus on individual and institutional users of information and their information needs. In our program students gain the knowledge and the skills for creating information systems, resources, and services that help address society’s pressing needs in a variety of contexts and in a variety of private and public sector positions, ranging from financial services to healthcare; from information technology to consulting; and from education to cultural institutions.

Admission to the Major

Students who are accepted to the university and list Information Science (InfoSci) as their preferred major will start directly in our program. Students currently in the university who are interested in declaring Information Science must complete our Change of Major process. For more information please visit the InfoSci website or email InfoSci@umd.edu. 

Program Objectives

InfoSci students gain the knowledge and the skills for creating information systems, resources, and services that help address society’s greatest needs. Through coursework, internships, extracurricular projects, and networking, InfoSci students build careers that will place them in leadership roles in information management, information technology, user-centered design, and data analytics.

Program Learning Outcomes

At the completion of this program, students will be able to:

1. Articulate, discuss and critically analyze information design and management: the interrelationships among information consumers or creators, information content, and the conduits through which information flows.
2. Apply basic principles to the design, development and management of information to meet the needs of diverse users.
3. Assess the impact of existing or emerging technologies on information practices and the flow of information.
4. Employ state-of-the-art tools and techniques to create, manage, and analyze information.
5. Articulate, discuss and critically analyze critical issues including the security, privacy, authenticity, and integrity of information.
6. Explain and discuss how information technologies, processes, and practices are situated in, and may reflect, reenact and reinforce broader social and organizational structures, and the ethics, diversity, equity, and inclusion issues engendered by those structures.
7. Critically evaluate information technologies, processes, and practices to identify biases they involve, and design technologies and processes that minimize those biases.

Notice of Addendum: The requirements for this program were updated effective Spring 2024 and have been published on ADDENDA TO THIS CATALOG.

Students must earn a "C-" or better in all major requirements and an overall average of 2.0.

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Other courses exist which fulfill this requirement. Please check with your advisor to make sure that a particular course fulfills this requirement before registering.

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Check Testudo for currently available INST elective courses.

DATA SCIENCE Specialization

The original specialization in the InfoSci program allows students develop understanding and skills for managing, manipulating, and mobilizing data to develop insight, create value, and achieve organizational goals in a wide range of sectors. The two career streams students aim for after completing this specialization are data analysts - focusing on analyzing and reporting data - and data stewards - focusing on extracting, manipulating, and preparing data for quicker and more efficient analysis.

CYBERSECURITY AND PRIVACY Specialization

This specialization is based on the perspective that a comprehensive and effective understanding of issues surrounding cybersecurity should encompass both technological and human aspects. In the hyper-connected world of today, cybersecurity and privacy are fundamentally problems of human interaction with technology, rather than purely technical problems to solve. As a result, the science and technology deployed to protect and defend our information and critical infrastructure must consider human, social, organizational, economic and technical factors, as well as the complex interaction among them. This specialization helps students equip themselves with human-centered cybersecurity skills and perspectives, and prepare to launch careers in the cybersecurity field with particular emphasis on management, policy, and governance-related functions.

DIGITAL CURATION Specialization

This specialization prepares students for jobs where they collect, digitize, appraise, curate, and disseminate information assets effectively and efficiently. Information is at the heart of our society's ability to learn, conduct business, recreate, and manage complex scientific, technological, industrial, and information infrastructures. It is critical that there are qualified professionals with the technical, intellectual, and social awareness required to manage large and complex collections of digital information in a variety of organizational settings. Students finishing this specialization will play critical roles in preserving a vast and varied body of information for posterity.

Click here for roadmaps for four-year plans in the College of Information Studies.

Additional information on developing a four-year academic plan can be found on the following pages:

• http://4yearplans.umd.edu
• the Student Academic Success-Degree Completion Policy section of this catalog