CAS in Digital Libraries
The Digital Libraries Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAS) program prepares students to be leaders in the library and information profession. Organized collections of digital information—whether text, images, numbers, or sound—are fast becoming society’s new libraries, places to go for organized information on a wide variety of topics. These new digital “libraries” are springing up in many organizational structures and under many auspices including, but not limited to, established libraries. Calling these digital collections “libraries” draws attention to components that organize the collections and services that contribute to their use. This certificate can be tailored to meet the needs of those who want to work with organizing and managing collections of digital information, either within or outside of established libraries.
Development of digital libraries is moving rapidly. Challenges exist that will make the arena of digital libraries a fertile environment for innovation and creative implementation for many decades. These challenges include technical and information architecture, metadata, optimal retrieval engines, user-friendly design and display of information, institutional repositories for data and research outputs, archiving and preservation, and machine and human mediated services for using the collections.
Three themes run throughout courses in the Digital Libraries program:
- Understanding users and their efficient access to information
- Effective management of information and information organizations
- Appropriate and effective use of information technologies
The Certificate of Advanced Studies is offered to both campus and online full-time and part-time students.