I-Schools Form iCaucus To Brand the Field

Norman Oder -- Library Journal, 08/21/2007

In a sign of further potential divergence between more traditional library schools and those also identified as information schools, a group of 19 I-schools in the United States and Canada—14 of them with programs accredited by the American Library Association—today announced themselves as the "iCaucus," with a major branding and marketing communications program. "We intend to… elevate its perception as a field of study offering huge promise and potential for both students and organizations that rely heavily upon information and information professionals," said Ronald L. Larsen, dean of the School of Information Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh. "Few people realize that information management is key to all disciplines."

The iCaucus, he said, will aim its outreach to prospective students, business leaders, employers, funding entities and other constituencies. The effort, initially facilitated by the branding company MBS Associates, will contain educational components, graphic identifiers and common language aimed at positioning the field as a preferred area of study and a potentially lucrative and rewarding career choice. The press release noted that starting salaries for graduates average more than $47,000.

Member listing

A listing of the members is below. Those marked with # do not have programs accredited by the ALA. Those marked with * do have accredited programs. ALA has accredited a total of 57 programs. The 2006 ratings of LIS schools by U.S. News & World Report, which are of course subject to criticism, ranked the University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign and the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill in the top spots, followed by Syracuse University, the University of Washington, the University of Michigan, Rutgers University, and then three tied for seventh: Indiana University-Bloomington, the University of Pittsburgh, and the University of Texas-Austin.

 #University of California, Berkeley
 School of Information Management and Systems

 #University of California, Irvine
The Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences

*University of California, Los Angeles
 Graduate School of Education and Information Studies

*Drexel University
College of Information Science and Technology

*Florida State University
College of Information

#Georgia Institute of Technology
College of Computing

*University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
The Graduate School of Library and Information Science

#Indiana University
School of Informatics

*Indiana University
School of Library and Information Science

*University of Maryland
College of Information Studies

*University of Michigan
The School of Information

*University of North Carolina
School of Information and Library Science

#The Pennsylvania State University
School of Information Sciences and Technology

*University of Pittsburgh
School of Information Sciences

*Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey
School of Communication, Information, and Library Studies

*Syracuse University
School of Information Studies

*University of Texas, Austin
School of Information

*University of Toronto
Faculty of Information Studies

*University of Washington
Information School