School of Library and Information Studies

Windows in the Great Reading Room in Bizzell Memorial Library.

School of Library and Information Studies

Welcome to the School of Library and Information Studies (SLIS).
Our School and website are undergoing a transformation!

SLIS’ mission is to: 1) educate socially responsible, innovative leaders for the information society; 2) advance interdisciplinary knowledge and design creative solutions to information problems; and 3) contribute to the public good by engaging diverse communities through teaching, research, and service.

I invite you to explore the variety of graduate and undergraduate programs we offer to begin or enhance your career as an information professional. SLIS has two undergraduate programs that focus on people, information, and technology. The Bachelor’s of Arts in Information Science and Technology (BAIS) is an interdisciplinary degree that also offers a core of technology and data science coursework for students who plan to go into information technology or a variety of careers in cultural heritage institutions. The Bachelor’s of Science in Information Science and Technology (BSIST), will make your aspirations of a career in the information technology sector a reality. The BSIST is an applied Information Technology and Data Science degree that teaches students to design and build IT and data solutions with a user-centered approach. Graduates will have the skills to analyze users’ information problems, provide solutions, and create user-friendly information systems. Students can enroll in a wide variety of courses covering web technologies, databases, data analytics, user-centered system analysis and design, information architecture, and information literacy. We also offer an accelerated BAIS pathway to the Masters of Library and Information Studies (MLIS) to complete both the undergraduate BAIS program and graduate MLIS by sharing 12 credit hours between the two programs.

The SLIS programs also include three graduate program options which each prepare you for a variety of careers as an information professional. The MLIS program is the only American Library Association accredited program in Oklahoma that will prepare you to become an academic, public, school, or special librarian, archivist, data manager, digital asset manager, and a host of other information professional careers.

The Master’s of Arts in Museum Studies (MAMS), our newest addition to SLIS (as of July 1, 2023), provides a completely online museum studies program designed to prepare students for careers in a variety of museum environments. Whether your dream is to be a museum curator in a natural history museum, or to create digital exhibits in an arts museum, our program can start you on that path! We are also excited to have one of the newest doctoral programs in Information Science in SLIS. Our doctoral program began admitting students in fall 2018 and while it is a new program, we are steadily growing and have welcomed doctoral students from around the world from countries including Bangladesh, China, Iran, Kenya, Turkey, and of course the United States. Apply today to join our cohort of creative doctoral students.

SLIS is proud of our diverse, interdisciplinary faculty who are engaging in a variety of research projects to enact change in our society! Our faculty come from a variety of backgrounds, including library and information science, computer science, business and management information systems, learning sciences, psychology, and sociology. Our SLIS family also includes a host of adjunct faculty who are practitioners in libraries, archives, museums, and other information professions.

When you are ready to start your academic journey, contact us to learn more. We are happy to get you started on the path to becoming an information professional! Email us at slisinfo@ou.edu or me directly at: jmabbas@ou.edu.

June Abbas

Director and Professor of the School of Library and Information Studies, OU

Master's Program ALA Accredited

The Master of Library and Information Studies program at the University of Oklahoma is accredited by the American Library Association Committee on Accreditation, with the status of Continued accreditation. The next comprehensive review visit is scheduled for Spring 2029.

Following is a link to the 2022 self-study for the ALA Committee on Accreditation. Many links in the self-study go to a password-protected document archive. Those evidence documents are not available for the general reader. We apologize for the inconvenience.

2022 Accreditation Self-Study (pdf)

iSchools Affiliate Member

"The iSchools organization is a consortium of Information Schools dedicated to advancing the information field."