What is Information Science?

Information science addresses three kinds of problems:

INFORMATION CREATION

  • Where does information come from?
  • What are the conditions for information creation? What are its forms?
  • What is its nature (what is it)?

INFORMATION FLOW

  • How does information flow within and among entities, people and organizations?
  • What tools and techniques support this flow?
  • How is information managed and preserved?
  • How do we find it?

INFORMATION USE

  • How is information used and reused?
  • How are relationships formed to synthesize information into knowledge?
  • What tools and techniques support use and reuse?

SILS educates information professionals on the effective use of information; our graduates then design and develop systems and services to help people find information and create new knowledge in a variety of settings. Information professionals help people filter vast arrays of data and information that streams to them every minute and evaluate the usefulness of information sources. Information professionals manage collections of text, code, imagery and other forms of data in large and small organizations and businesses.

Sometimes the easiest way to understand what information professionals do is to read about what they’ve done. Check out our alumni profiles to discover where a SILS degree can take you.