Information technology industries have been growing at more than double the rate of the economy over the past 10 to 15 years. Online journalism and digital media are an important part of this growth. In response to the need to prepare students to be leaders in these industries, IU has created the School of Informatics, the first new school in more than 25 years. Approved by the Indiana Commission for Higher Education in November, the school is headed by philosophy and computer science professor Michael Dunn. I will be an associate dean for graduate studies on the Bloomington campus and will also be responsible for the promotion of research in social informatics.
Many people are confused about the content of an informatics curriculum.
Informatics is a far ranging term referring to the creation, recognition, representation, collection, organization, transformation, communication, evaluation and control of information in various systems. Computers are at the core of all types of informatics. IU defines informatics as the art, science and human dimensions of information technologies. An Internet search on the term reveals that informatics programs of study have been combined with linguistics, communications, new media, biology, medicine, psychology, engineering and sociology. The IU School of Informatics will capitalize on the hybrid nature of the fields of study by combining courses in informatics with a variety of undergraduate programs on campus.