Information schools have the primary goal of helping prepare professionals who not only understand technology, but also how people interact with technology, and how to apply and integrate it into any system. Trained in theory, behavioral foundations and applications, I-School people examine the interrelationships among people, information, and technology. This is characterized by a commitment to learning and understanding the role of information in human endeavors. The I-Schools take it as given that expertise in all forms of information is required for progress in science, business, education, and culture. This expertise must include understanding of the uses and users of information, as well as information technologies and their applications.
Next follows the analysis from the perspectives of research and student training. From the angle of research, IST scholars focus their research on the interrelationships among people, technology, and information. Projects range from solving the technical problems of security to developing tools to better store, retrieve, and use information; from investigating how technology affects the workplace to determining how IT can foster community networks that address health care, education, and public policy. From the angle of training, IST help students gain a formidable array of skills and knowledge and want to make sure they understand the linkage between the creators of technology in any organization and the users of those technologies. The IST programs also are individualized, with students designing a mix of courses based on their research interests.
Finally, we should note that IST studies IT problems and issues from multiple disciplines such as information systems, sociology, computer science and engineering, and psychology. They are complex problems and challenging issues and IST tries to resolve them using integrative research theories and methodologies, which are developed from the theories of other areas. On the other hand, because multidisciplinary research can open up new issues and provide new ways of thinking about issues, IST can have a great impact on science, practice, and education. Empirical observations have told us, many of today's challenges - health care, aging, digital inequality, knowledge management, systems integration, and design of complex computing environments - can best be solved with a multidisciplinary approach.
Next follows the analysis from the perspectives of research and student training. From the angle of research, IST scholars focus their research on the interrelationships among people, technology, and information. Projects range from solving the technical problems of security to developing tools to better store, retrieve, and use information; from investigating how technology affects the workplace to determining how IT can foster community networks that address health care, education, and public policy. From the angle of training, IST help students gain a formidable array of skills and knowledge and want to make sure they understand the linkage between the creators of technology in any organization and the users of those technologies. The IST programs also are individualized, with students designing a mix of courses based on their research interests.
Finally, we should note that IST studies IT problems and issues from multiple disciplines such as information systems, sociology, computer science and engineering, and psychology. They are complex problems and challenging issues and IST tries to resolve them using integrative research theories and methodologies, which are developed from the theories of other areas. On the other hand, because multidisciplinary research can open up new issues and provide new ways of thinking about issues, IST can have a great impact on science, practice, and education. Empirical observations have told us, many of today's challenges - health care, aging, digital inequality, knowledge management, systems integration, and design of complex computing environments - can best be solved with a multidisciplinary approach.
I have to learn a lot from you. :D