Master of Science Curriculum

To complete the Master of Science, students must take a core program and select a concentration. All three concentrations share a 5-course, 15-credit hour core. The program's core courses provide a cross-section of the information-related disciplines.

Program Core
15 credit hours (3 credit hours each)

• IAKM 60001 Information Architecture and Knowledge Management I
  • Overview of Information Architecture, Information Use, and Knowledge Management. Basic skills and understandings in information literacy, organization of knowledge, information sources and searching. Information sciences, systems, and professionals in the information society.
• IAKM 60002* Information Architecture and Knowledge Management II
  • Prerequisite: IAKM 60001 Introduction to various types of knowledge organization systems / services / structures (KOS) used in the networked environment. Understanding of the functional, philosophical, logical, and linguistic fundamentals of KOS . Explanation of design options, features of KOS , and procedures to be used in the thesaurus, taxonomy, and ontology construction.
• IAKM 60005 Information Technologies
  • The course will encompass five themes associated with information technologies (IT): IT in the Organization; The Web Revolution; Organizational Applications; Managerial and Decision Support Systems; and Implementing and Managing IT. Topics range from systems infrastructure, competitive advantage, data warehousing, evaluation methods and IT economics.
• IAKM 60006 Strategic Information Management
  • Fundamental concepts of strategy, resource management, and systems theory are explored and then applied to diverse problems in information technology (IT) management. Specific IT studied includes information systems analysis and design, telecommunications, data management, and emerging artificial intelligence resources. Both theory and technologies are examined with a particular emphasis on their relevance to the emerging problems of electronic commerce.
• ECON 62015 Economics of Information
  • Introduction to microeconomic theory and decision-making and its applications to the information economy. Overview of the economics of information. Consumer behavior and production theory; the demand for information; information as a factor of production; information cost and pricing. Case studies in the information industry.

*Denotes a course with pre-requisites.

Concentration of Study
Three program concentrations offer flexibility for students to tailor a course of study to suit their interests or career objectives. This flexibility is essential to the nature of the program because of the transdisciplinary character of information, the emerging and evolving roles for information professionals, and the rapid and dynamic growth of information technologies, products, systems, services and networks.

Information Architecture
Information Use
Knowledge Management

Students will be expected to take four (4) core courses (12 credit hours) in their major concentration, plus four (4) electives (12 credit hours) from within that same concentration. Students may replace one of those electives with one from the other concentrations.

Completing the Degree
As a final component to the MS, students are required to complete either a master's project (IAKM 60198) or thesis (IAKM 61199). These capstone options provide the student with the opportunity to combine all of the knowledge gained through coursework into one complete package.