CNs will be more effective organizations if the skills of information professionals are applied to them. CN developers often fail to recognize that librarians as information professionals are equipped to make strong contributions to CNs. The School of Information embraces a vision that harmonizes people, information systems, and organizations to improve the quality of life. Our mission is to discover the principles and concepts that will enable society to realize this vision, to design the technologies, systems, and practices that will substantiate the vision, and to educate new generations of professionals who will put that vision into place. The SI Mission statement, part of which appears above, frames the discussion of approaches to responding to the needs of communities which are described below.
Initiative is designed to develop information professionals capable of adding value to CNs.
The University of Michigan School of Information is in the midst of a major curriculum change, seeking to develop and apply principles and approaches that will enable information professionals to lead in the information age. The School's aim is to integrate this larger community tightly into its instruction. This fundamental integration of practice and theory is unprecedented in both what we want to teach and how we want to teach it. In SI's new curriculum each student will complete between six and fifteen credit hours of practical engagement as part of the 48 credit hour program. This requirement can be met through a variety of options.