Information is at the heart of Cornell. In the research endeavor it is, for example, the geneticist identifying sequences to understand a pathway, or the historian locating and studying texts to understand a revolution. Part of Cornell's educational mission is to graduate students capable of creating and using information. Computing innovations have resulted in powerful information technologies, which in turn have resulted in what is commonly referred to as the information revolution. The current information environment is a rich, dense, complex, and rapidly changing environment.
Information science studies the entire cycle of people's information activities.
The cycle spans the creation or discovery of information, its distribution and retrieval, people's use of that information, and the subsequent creation of new information. The computing and information science initiative will be most effective in returning Cornell to a leadership position if it includes support for the full 360 degrees of this circle. Cornell librarians and archivists are nationally and internationally recognized for their contributions to research, scholarship, standards development, and information science organizations. The IS subunit would be a locus for the theoretical and applied research and education programs in information science already underway in various campus academic units, and in particular would be the locus for the research and teaching efforts of the Library. We envision a unit in which CUL librarians with appropriate education or experience would have the opportunity for joint, adjunct appointments and would be able teach or co-teach courses in digital libraries and information management.