In May 1995 the Regents of the University of California approved the creation of the School of Information Management and Systems. We believe that the University of California, Berkeley, has an opportunity to pioneer in the development of an emerging professional field of critical importance.
Information is now one of the world's most important and rapidly changing resources.
Rapidly growing capabilities in computing and telecommunications, the increasing importance of information in the professions, in scholarship and research, and in daily life, the expanding and multidimensional information industry, and the developing information infrastructure have created major new challenges and opportunities. The issue now is often less the availability of information than its overabundance, and access to quality information for diverse users and uses. The goal is to provide, not simply data, but information that enhances understanding. We propose a program that will advance, through teaching and research, the organization, management and use of information and information technology, and enhance our understanding of the impact of information on individuals, institutions, and society. This mission has both a technical component, concerned with the design and use of information systems and services, and a social sciences component, concerned with understanding how people seek, obtain, evaluate, use, and categorize information.