It is I-Fest in October 2016. The day is packed with presentations and demos from the senior projects of the first cohort of BSIS students who were admitted into the 4-year BSIS degree in Fall 2013 directly from high schools. I-Fest is supported by companies such as Apple, Microsoft, and Google and additionally serves as a shadow career fair with a number of local and national, small and large companies with representatives present in various capacities – as advisors to the iSchool’s BS program, sponsors of i-Fest, or sponsors of the senior projects. A unique feature of the senior projects is that the projects are looking at solutions to real world information related problems. Graduating seniors are expecting to be hired in various capacities such as information managers, librarians, graphic system analysts, information architects, network analysts, information analysts, application developers, and data modelers.
Since 2013, top graduating high school students have applied, been admitted, and successfully enrolled in Pitt’s BSIS program with total number of BS students hovering around 300. Pitt’s BSIS program is known for its excellence in managing, securing, storing, archiving, retrieving, curating, and transporting massive amounts of information in almost all areas of life.
These students are mastering one or more overlapping areas of information science:
1. User centered design
a. Graphics
b. User-centered design
c. Web programming
d. Art, media, and technology
2. Information Handling and Management
a. Records and information management
b. Data mining and analysis
c. Information visualization
d. Librarianship
3. Information Systems
a. Information systems design
b. Geographic information systems
c. Mobile applications and cloud computing
4. Information Assurance
a. Computer and information security
b. Network Security
c. Securing digital records and data provenance
5. Networks
a. Applications of computer networks
b. Computer networking laboratory
c. Network management
d. Social, biological, and other networks
These specializations are built on a strong analytical foundation in mathematics, programming, databases, networks, and human factors. There is an emphasis in the program on values, ethics, and impact of technology on society by inculcating these in many classes and through a required class. Classes are taught by a mix of research active faculty, who bring state of the art research ideas into the classroom, and faculty practitioners with extensive industry and library experience, who bring the ability to teach the right skills to enter the workforce. The program benefits from a state-of-the art computing lab and a state-of-the art network and infrastructure lab. In the former, students get hands on experience in visualizing and analyzing massive amounts of data, in media and arts in technology, in managing digital archives, and in programming skills as needed. In the latter, students learn to build, deploy and manage the infrastructure needed to transport, store, and secure information.
The day after i-Fest, the iSchool board of visitors and some members from the companies that sponsored i-Fest attend a research symposium with a mix of posters and short 5 minute presentations and demos from doctoral students in the three Ph.D. programs in the school. Many of these posters and presentations have themes cutting across two or all of the traditional areas of library science, information science and networking where students from each area are working on a common collaborative project spanning these disciplines. Research projects in single areas also exist but illustrate the innovations that can emerge from an iSchool. There is a palpable energy in the room as doctoral students, faculty, members of the board and companies exchange ideas and potential solutions for information problems of the future. The doctoral students are publishing in highly selective conferences with a majority funded on research projects. The school is known for three signature areas of research with foundations again in managing, securing, storing, archiving, retrieving, curating, and transporting massive amounts of information. Research active faculty teach doctoral seminars and advanced classes in various areas in support of the three doctoral programs. The Ph.D. programs are supported by research labs where research work is implemented and doctoral students interact and are administered by faculty members in Library and Information Science, Information Science, and Networking focus areas. I quote from Dean Larsen's vision here: “The exceptional diversity of iSchool faculty provides the exciting opportunity and the means to conduct scholarship in new and creative ways, and this is explicitly explored, encouraged and facilitated through colloquia, workshops, and interdisciplinary research proposals, and augmented with investment in post-doctoral research fellows.”
The iSchool also offers a Master of Arts and a Master of Science in Information. Both degrees cater to students seeking to enter professions in the Information field. While there are some classes specifically at the Masters level, students typically take upper-level BS classes, obtain hands on laboratory experience, and take some introductory Ph.D. level classes to complete their Masters degrees.
Prashant Krishnamurthy
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