The Aberystwyth MScEcon/Diploma in Information Governance and Assurance

The Aberystwyth MScEcon/Diploma in Information Governance and Assurance will equip you with the highly desirable skills employers need to manage their most valuable assets in our global ‘information economy’. You will be able to identify, organise, retrieve and make accessible information across paper, digital and multimedia formats. The Aberystwyth University course in Information Governance and Assurance will equip you to fulfil the essential role that companies and professional bodies need to compete effectively in a fast-moving national and international business environment.

The Department of Information Studies at Aberystwyth has an impressive track record. In the department’s forty years of teaching, we have produced some of the UK's, and indeed the world's, leading librarians and information professionals. Our alumni include two national librarians (Wales and Scotland), the newly appointed first black national librarian in South Africa, and the Director of the Bureau for Library and Information Services at the United Nations.

This course will enable you to engage with the developing professional and academic specialism of Information Governance and Assurance, relating closely to the disciplines of information management and human resource management, from which it draws some of its foundations. This vocational course of study is directly relevant to the career needs and aspirations of students on information management courses and would be highly topical for students on courses in the broader management environment.

This highly practical course is built around a variety of reports, essays, presentations, and case studies which will enable you to relate theoretical knowledge to the workplace. These challenges will also encourage you to improve your ICT, personal management and interpersonal skills, making you into a well-rounded, competent and highly employable individual.

The minimum entry requirement for the MScEcon/Diploma in Information Governance and Assurance is a strong honours degree (in any discipline) plus a minimum of 6 weeks experience in a related information environment (or suitable experience for a relevant period of time, dependent on level of responsibility and breadth of activity).

Overview

Aberystwyth University’s MScEcon/Diploma in Information Governance and Assurance will introduce you to the challenges and best practice methods that determine the flow of information within and between organisations and their users. You will study the core concepts, theories and models of knowledge management and apply your learning in the use of principal tools for knowledge management application in a variety of organizational contexts, both in the public and private sectors. In doing so, you will acquire skills that are highly desirable to all employers in every sector which prizes information flow.

The course is a full-time programme, taught over one year, and is divided into two parts over three semesters. In part one, you will study a number of crucial core modules whilst directing your own study by choosing specialist modules, together worth a total of 120 credits. In part two, you will apply your learning in the individual dissertation worth an additional 60 credits. If you do not wish to complete the individual dissertation then you can obtain the Diploma in Information Governance and Assurance.

In the written project, you will explore an approved topic in a dissertation totalling 15,000 words. You will engage with the central concepts, methods and techniques of information management and research, and in doing so aim to contribute to the national understanding of data handling and information flow. Subject to the satisfactory completion of the dissertation, the MSc Econ in Information Governance and Assurance is awarded. The descriptions relating to this dissertation and all the study modules can be found on the 'At a Glance' tab.

In addition to the teaching input from this leading department, you will take full part in a highly practical simulation of how information governance impacts companies today. You will design a decision support system to provide senior management reports and evaluate management information systems using a tool-box of measurement criteria. You will understand the principles behind systems developed to use information in decision support and the use of information as a resource in organisational decision-making. In short, you will master the method for evaluating and controlling the direction of that most valuable of resources: information.

Upon graduation from the MScEcon/Diploma in Information Governance and Assurance, you will have demonstrated the academic excellence, personal rigor and interpersonal adaptability required by recruiting corporate bodies, government agencies and research institutes alike. As someone with a wealth of up-to-date theoretical knowledge and practical experience, you will be on the cutting edge of the subject. In a competitive jobs market, your particular skills set, proven through highly relevant business, education and health applications, will make you highly desirable to employers from a range of industries.

Fact File

Duration:	One year full-time or two years part-time. The academic year (September to September) is divided into three semesters: September to January; January to June; June to September.
Contact Time:	Approximately 10 hours a week in the first two semesters. During semester three you will arrange your level of contact time with your assigned supervisor.
Assessment:	The taught part of the course (Part 1) is delivered and assessed through lectures, student seminars, practical exercises, case studies, course work and formal examinations. Successful completion allows the award of a Diploma. The subsequent successful submission of your research dissertation (Part 2) leads to the award of an MScEcon.
Entry Requirements:	A good honours degree at undergraduate level plus a minimum of 6 weeks experience in a relevant information resource environment. Candidates with equivalent experience and qualifications will be considered.
English Language Requirements:	If you have a Bachelor’s degree from a UK University, you do not need to take an English proficiency test. Non-native English speakers who do not meet this requirement must take a University-recognised test of academic English language proficiency: IELTS or TOEFL. The required IELTS minimum proficiency level is 6.5. For TOEFL, the minimum scores are as follows: 580 for the paper-based test; 237 for the computer-based test (with an essay rating of 5.0); and a score of 93 for the internet-based test. More information on IELTS can be found here [Link: www.ielts.org] and, for TOEFL, here [Link: www.ets.org/toefl/]
Course Fees:	The fee for this course for 2011-2012 is £3,550 for UK and EU students and £9,500 for international students. For details of other students’ fees, please view this page. [Link: http://www.aber.ac.uk/en/postgrad/funding-fees/eu-taught/tuitonfees/ There are a number of Aberystwyth Scholarships and International Excellence Scholarships (AIES) to help fund the studies of students who meet specific criteria. In addition, accommodation is guaranteed to all international students.

At a Glance (P116)

Year 1 Core (100 Credits)

The following modules are core and must be taken

Semester 1

ILM5220

Studies In Management

Semester 2

ILM1110

Research In The Profession

Year 1 Options

You must take 20 credits from the following modules.

Semester 1

ILM0500

Publishing And The Web:exploring New Technologies

Semester 2

ILM0520

Publishing And The Web:exploring New Technologies

ILM4810

Management Information Systems [ol]

ILM5610

Business Information Management

ILM5710

Marketing Of Services

ILM7510

Digital Information: Discovery To Delivery

ILM9610

Knowledge Management

Further scheme details

Career Development

Qualification: MScEcon/Diploma in Information Governance and Assurance

Accreditation

The Master's degree is accredited by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP); formerly known as The Library Association, and Institute of Information Scientists. Master's graduates will have a qualification which is recognised for admission to the Register of Chartered Librarians (subject to the Institute's chartership regulations). Please note that the Diploma qualification is not recognised as an accredited course. Those exiting with a Diploma will be eligible for the 'Route B' entry to the Register of Chartered Librarians.

This degree will suit you:

If you wish to obtain a Master’s degree or Diploma from one of the UK’s leading departments;
If you wish to gain the knowledge and skills for professional work within fields relating to Information Management;
If you wish to understand the impact of Information Governance on global access to everything from cultural artefacts, government information, education resources and business activities;
If you wish to continue your studies to a more advanced level through undertaking further postgraduate level research.

Employability

Every aspect of the Aberystwyth University’s MScEcon/Diploma in Information Governance and Assurance programme is designed to enhance your employability. This degree balances subject expertise with readily applicable management systems and thinking processes which will support you in any one of many chosen career paths. You will graduate with a significantly enhanced array of knowledge, abilities and skills.

As a graduate, you will possess a thorough understanding of how good management, necessary processes and best practise affect the flow of information. You will also be confident in the use of system and their tools used to order, store and retrieve information for analysis and application. These skills, which are fundamental to the subject, are applicable across a diverse array of workplaces where organisational abilities and analytical rigour are prized. Likewise, the study skills, research methods and interpersonal awareness that you will learn within the context of study can be applied in any place of work where people and systems meet. In such situations, you will be at a tremendous advantage over your competitors.

In addition, companies which acknowledge the value of information also benefit from our graduates’ information skills when applied to the areas of management, sales, production or marketing. To further enhance your employability in a highly competitive market place, your study programme includes a module called ‘Marketing of Services’ which is directly relevant to today’s industry. Service producers and managers have to be sure increasingly that they are producing the right services in the right places at the right time for the right price. You will be one of the few graduates in Information Governance and Assurance nationwide tutored in the importance of marketing within the service sector, a significant advantage for any graduate entering competition for employment.

As information is increasingly recognised as a core resource for organisations of all kinds, the range of posts to which our graduates progress widens all the time. In addition to the traditional library and information service sector, our graduates also go on to work as Information Officers, Information Managers, Information Systems Officers, Information Analysts and Computer Systems Officers. The most prestigious of our alumni include two national librarians (Wales and Scotland), the newly appointed first black national librarian in South Africa, and the Director of the Bureau for Library and Information Services at the United Nations.

Study in a Practical Context

The content of this MScEcon/Diploma is weighted in favour of mastering the practical applications of Information Governance and Assurance. The University of Aberystwyth boasts library resources which are amongst the best in Europe. The Department’s specialist Thomas Parry Library, is one of the leading libraries for Information Studies. As a student, you will have access to this exceptional resource where you can apply your learning in activities which will convert the purely academic theory into the proven know-how of experience.

In addition to this, you will also have access to the University's Hugh Owen Library which houses more than 700,000 volumes and subscribes to more than 3,500 current periodicals. Also, the National Library for Wales next to the campus is one of the UK's five copyright libraries housing more than 6,000,000 volumes. In addition to the University's computing facilities, you will also have access to the Department's own extensive computer workstation rooms, all housed in a purpose built Department on the attractive Llanbadarn campus.

Skills in Management of Systems and Stakeholders

The MScEcon/Diploma is designed to give you a broad knowledge of a range of transferable skills that you can apply in a variety of research interests, particularly in your Master’s dissertation. A significant proportion of postgraduate jobs demand management abilities; this course aims to support your progression into professional employment beyond by including such training.

You will become well versed in contemporary management theory and practice of relevance to the management of the relationship between information and organisations. You will learn to analyse and control how information is transmitted to users, including access to information and measurement of use. The monitoring an analysis of data, and reporting to senior management, is crucial to the success of business organisations and initiatives. Mastering it will enable you to manage within a changing and turbulent environment and provide you with an understanding of the inter-relationship of the organization with its customers and stakeholders.

As business relies on meeting needs, this training will be a significant advantage to you when you enter the jobs market.