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Information Studies degrees

Information Studies degrees: VP31; P101; P110 (all 3 years); P110D (Distance Learning, 3-5 years)

Undergraduate Information Studies degrees at Aberystwyth

Information & Library Studies

Information & Library Studies (Distance Learning)

Information Management

Historical & Archival Studies

Information and its management is central to modern society. Organisations, private and public, national and international, have recognised that information is a key resource and that its management is critical for success. As a student on an Information Studies degree at Aberystwyth, therefore, you will learn about all aspects of the production, organisation and communication of information. Our Information Studies degree programmes draw on the expertise of staff in other faculties to create for you a range of degrees which are generally not available elsewhere in Britain, covering all the different fields within the growing information industry, which is now recognised as a significant part of the British economy. The Department's links with industry and commerce reflect this, so that you will find studying one of our Information Studies degrees not only academically rewarding but practical and vocationally relevant. Your degree will also be professionally accredited by the Chartered Institute for Library and Information Professionals (CILIP)

The Department of Information Studies at Aberyswyth has an impressive track record. Our teaching was awarded an 'excellent' in the last Teaching Quality Assessment. We have recently celebrated our 40th anniversary and during that time we have helped produced some of the UK's, and indeed the world's, leading librarians and information professionals. Included amongst our graduates are 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, to mention just a few.

Teaching and Assessment

All courses consist of a series of core and optional modules. Teaching is a mixture of lectures, seminars, practicals, and directed private study. You will be assessed through formal written examinations and assessed course work. In addition to offering courses by traditional full-time mode of delivery, we are also the leading provider of distance learning degrees in Information Studies (for further information on the Department's distance learning programmes, please see our website). The Department's philosophy of student centred, flexible, open learning has proved popular not only with our distance learning students, but also with our full-time, campus based students. Some of the full-time modules draw upon open learning material including the Department's electronic conferencing facilities to provide you with an innovative and rewarding academic experience. Our students also participate in one month's work placement at the end of the second year, further enhancing the vocational relevance of their studies and career prospects at the end of their course.

Facilities

The library resources offered to our students are amongst the best in Europe with the Thomas Parry Library on our own campus being one of the leading libraries for Information Studies in its own right. In addition to this, students 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, students also have access to the Department's own extensive computer workstation rooms, all housed in a purpose built Department on the attractive Llanbadarn campus.

Information Studies Degree Schemes

In addition to our three single honours courses, students can opt to combine Information and Library Studies or Information Management with other subjects in three different ways: as part of a Joint Honours degree, whereby you complete 50% of your course in Information and Library Studies and 50% in another subject; as a major whereby you complete two thirds of your course in Information Management and one third (a minor) in another subject; and finally as a minor whereby you complete one third of your course in Information Management and two thirds in another subject.

Career Opportunities related to your Information Studies degree

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. In addition, our joint honours and major, minor schemes present opportunities in companies that acknowledge the value of information through the use of hybrid posts which require specific skills in organisational activities such as management, sales, production or marketing in association with information management capabilities.