Northern Kentucky University continues to push educational boundaries with a new online bachelor’s degree in Library Informatics. It’s part of the new Center for Informatics at the Highland Heights university.
The program, starting this fall, marries technology and convenience. Courses will be offered totally online and are geared toward those with associate degree. It is designed for students to “better understand the relationships among people, information and technology,” according to NKU. The 60-credit-hour program can be finished in two years.
“The new BSLI degree program opens a new market to NKU, which should result in further growth to the University,” said Arne Almquist, assistant provost for library services at NKU. “The profession is in need of additional librarians and the program will help us to attract younger people who may not currently be aware of the profession. Again, by providing a direct link with high school graduates, it should help to increase the diversity of the profession.”
This degree is the 5th undergrad degree and the 11th NKU program to be offered online. It was developed by NKU faculty for the university’s Steely Library.
“This program fills a serious need for education and training of both library professional and paraprofessional staff,” said Wayne Onst, Kentucky’s state librarian and commissioner of the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives. “Having this program available through distance learning means that students from every area of the state can participate in class work leading to a Bachelor’s degree. Library users across Kentucky will be the beneficiaries.”
Graduates can compete for a number of jobs with the degree including library paraprofessional, online researcher, end-user trainer, market research and electronic public relations.
Construction on the highly anticipated Center for Informatics at Northern Kentucky University started in May with a groundbreaking.
The state-of-the-art center seeks to combine technology, available data and real world application to a wide variety of occupations. NKU’s College of Informatics, the only such college in the state, was created by an act of the Kentucky Legislature. In the fall of 2006, 1,057 entered the college under various disciplines.
In addition to new offerings like informatics, the college puts a number of NKU’s existing disciplines under one roof. It includes four departments: Business, Communication, Computer Science and Infrastructure Management. It includes such diverse disciplines as journalism, healthcare, computer programming and research development design. It’s one of less than a dozen such colleges dedicated specifically to informatics study in the United States.
Writer: Feoshia Henderson
Source: Chris Cole, Northern Kentucky University director of media relations and communications
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