Undergraduate programs in information science: a survey of requirements and goals.

Part of a special issue providing papers from the 2002 Association for Library and Information Science Education annual conference. A study examined the requirements and goals of undergraduate programs in information science (IS). Data were gathered from 21 Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE)-affiliated programs and 11 non-ALISE-affiliated programs. Results indicated that these programs tend to have a unified core group of courses, combined with more specialized courses that reflect the identity of the program; filling the niche between the human and the technical is an essential characteristic and need satisfied by these programs; maintaining and managing a multidisciplinary approach is achieved by many programs; foundations of library and information science can serve as a key underpinning to programs; and integrating real-world experience in such things as real-world tasks or internships further bridges the gap between the technical and the human.