Program Overview

Rural Librarian Management Certificate

Program Overview

The Graduate Academic Certificate in Rural Librarian Management provides students with advanced knowledge of concepts, theories, and techniques in rural librarianship. This program is designed for two audiences:

• Library and Information Science Professionals: Master's degree library and information science professionals who want to develop expertise in management in rural and small libraries by taking additional graduate-level courses to receive an academic credential.
• Other Professionals: Bachelor's or Master's degree individuals who want to develop or enhance their knowledge of management in rural and small libraries to receive an academic credential.

Program Highlights

• Special lectures hosted by the college and the department feature renowned scholars who provide different perspectives and insights into the information science field.
• Students and faculty are active members of different professional associations and learned societies, such as the iSchools consortium, the American Library Association, the Association for Information Science and Technology, and the Knowledge & Information Professional Association.
• Information science students can study in a variety of concentrations, such as information organization, information architecture, human information behavior and use, knowledge management, librarianship, modern information processing, and retrieval systems, digitization, and digital libraries.
• Students who earn a graduate certificate can use their hours to later use their hours as part of a Master's degree in Information or Library Science.
• Instruction is offered in a variety of formats, including face-to-face, online, and blended, that allows students to balance classes with full-time or part-time employment.

Program Details

Format

• Online
• Hybrid

Estimated Time to Complete

• 1 year

Credit Hours

• 12

Courses

• Electronic Databases and Information Services (3 hrs)
  • Development and use of online information services. Study of available databases in different fields. Conducting online searches; client interviews; developing, promoting, and evaluating online services; current trends. Supervised practical experience.
• Library Partnership and Community Outreach (3 hrs)
  • Covers basic skills to build collaboration among libraries and community units they serve; designed for students interested in outreach, marketing, and community-centered library practice.
• Introduction to Digital Libraries (3 hrs)
  • Introduction to conceptual, practical, and technical issues for developing and managing digital libraries. Theoretical foundations; technical infrastructures; digital objects (including born-digital objects and digitized objects); digital collection; organization and representation of information; user and service evaluation; and social, cultural, and policy issues are discussed.
• Topics in Rural Libraries (3 hrs)
  • Covers topics on concepts, theories, and techniques on rural librarianship; resources available to support and assist staff and managers working in small and rural libraries; as well as real-world problems and advanced topics of rural public libraries.

Why Earn a Rural Librarian Management Certificate?

• There is an impending wave of library director and/or manager retirements in small and rural libraries that will create thousands of open positions.
• Few existing programs are aimed at preparing practitioners to move into management positions in small or rural libraries.

Who Needs This Certificate?

• Potential librarians who foresee being in a management position in a small or rural library.
• Practicing librarians who foresee being in a management position in a small or rural library.