Master of Library & Information Science (MLIS)
About
The Master of Library & Information Science (MLIS) program at UCLA provides students with a blend of conceptual and theoretical knowledge and practical experience. In the classroom, students acquire a solid foundation in contemporary library, archival, and information science theory, information seeking and retrieval skills, and information technology expertise.
Outside the classroom, the internship program, involving over 250 organizations across Southern California, extends classroom learning by giving students the opportunity to apply their theoretical insights and practical skills in a professional environment.
Our students are mentored for leadership in whatever field of information work they choose to enter. The program has near 100% work placement within six months of graduation. We do this by providing:
- Face-to-face classroom instruction;
- A wide choice of specializations and course offerings;
- Internship opportunities;
- Individual advisors;
- Mentoring programs;
- Teamwork experience;
- Support for student participation in professional organizations; and
- The opportunity for students either to compile a portfolio in which they assess and present their career-related activities to date, or to write a thesis presenting the results of original research.
The UCLA MLIS program is accredited by the American Library Association (ALA) and is one of the most innovative and comprehensive in the country. Our graduates are highly successful and accomplished information professionals who work in a wide variety of institutions after graduation.
Goals
Goals
The goals of the UCLA MLIS program include:
- To provide students with a coherent program of study that includes broad preparation in foundational knowledge and skills as well as opportunities to cultivate more specialized areas of interest;
- To ensure that students have the cultural competency to engage with and advocate for a diverse range of information environments;
- To provide students with the technological and intellectual fluency, ethics, skills and knowledge necessary to thrive, innovate and critically intervene in a diverse range of information environments; and
- To ensure that all students are enabled to take advantage of a broad array of professionally appropriate internship and field experience opportunities.
Graduates
What Our Graduates Do
Lauren Trujillo (’19, MLIS)
Trujillo created an online archive of mourning for the victims of the Isla Vista shootings which took place near the University of California, Santa Barbara in May of 2014. Trujillo earned her MLIS with a specialization in Media Archival Studies. She has served internships at the Santa Barbara Mission Archive Library, IV Memorial Project, the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, La Casa de la Raza, and the Self Enquiry Life Fellowship.
Jesse Erickson (’14, MLIS; ’16, PhD)
Erikson serves in three interconnected positions at the University of Maryland: coordinator of special collections and digital humanities at the University of Delaware Library, Museums, and Press; assistant professor in the Department of English; and associate director of the Interdisciplinary Humanities Research Center.
Eva Mitnick (’89, MLIS)
Mitnick serves as director of the Los Angeles Public Library’s Engagement and Learning Division, creating, overseeing, and supporting a wide range of LAPL programs throughout the system’s 72 branches and the Central Library on 5th Street. Her career at the LAPL began when she served as a children’s librarian at various branches from 1989 to 2005.
Our Students
Visit the student directory and see what they are working on.
Specializations
Program Specializations
Internship
MLIS Internship Program
The UCLA Department of Information Studies operates a dynamic and progressive internship program.
This program provides students enrolled in the MLIS or Ph.D. degree programs with a wide range of opportunities to apply their knowledge and skills in a structured professional environment under the supervision, guidance and mentoring of current practitioners in the information profession.
The internship program has been in place since the 1970s and has grown to include nearly 250 sites. Our Los Angeles location allows us to offer an exciting and diverse range of local internship sites. Our program is highly regarded among local organizations and companies. Among those working with UCLA to offer internships to our students are:
- Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
- The Getty
- Los Angeles County Museum of Art
- Los Angeles Public Library
- Huntington Library
- Statewide California Electronic Library Consortium (SCELC)
More than 20 internships are also available within UCLA such as:
- UCLA Special Collections
- UCLA College Library
- UCLA Ethnomusicology Archive
- UCLA Digital Collections Services
- UCLA Film and Television Archive
- Fowler Museum
For a complete list of current and past sites hosting MLIS Interns, see the MLIS Internship Sites page.
People
Our Faculty
Ramesh Srinivasan
Professor of Information Studies and Design Media Arts
Robert Montoya
Assistant Professor of Information Studies and Director, California Rare Book School.
Miriam Posner
Assistant Professor of Information Studies and the UCLA Program in Digital Humanities
Johanna Drucker
UCLA Breslauer Professor of Bibliographical Studies
Curriculum
MLIS Core Curriculum
The MLIS core curriculum provides a coherent program of study for all MLIS students. Each core course is taught face-to-face by a member of regular faculty. Each course includes the needs and perspectives of every MLIS specialization, and each addresses issues relating to ethics and values.
After completing the MLIS core, students will be able to articulate key concepts, advocate fundamental values, formulate policies, and demonstrate the advanced intellectual, technological, and managerial skills needed to practice, lead, and innovate in the information professions. They will also be able to apply the highest ethical standards in their professional information practice. They will appreciate the needs of diverse communities and be able to design and provide systems and services that are appropriate in a multicultural society. Every core course is offered every year. Full-time MLIS students are normally expected to complete all of the core courses during their first year.
Admissions
MLIS Admissions
Learn More about applying to the MLIS program and view Admissions Statistics
Current Student Resources
- Fall 2023 Schedule
- 2023-24 Student Handbook
- Dates and Forms for Student Interns and Internship Sites (coming soon)