Curriculum
The Master of Science in Information Systems' newly revised curriculum accommodates students just beginning to explore the field and those with a thorough understanding of computerized information systems. The MSIS curriculum includes:
- 15 classes (45 credits) total required to complete the program
- 9 required courses (27 credits)
- 4 distribution courses* (12 credits)
- 2 elective courses (6 credits)
Distribution Courses
Choose 12 credits (four courses) from a set of Information Science courses. The combination of Core Courses and Distribution Courses ensures appropriate technical content for the degree. Distribution classes not completed to fulfill the Distribution requirement may also be used as Free Electives.
Elective Courses
Students must take nine credits of elective courses (typically three courses). These courses may be INFO courses, courses from other departments listed on the IST pre-approved electives list, or other graduate courses taken with an academic advisor’s approval.
With extensive IS work experience, students may receive a reduction in the elective course requirement of up to nine credits. In addition, other graduate credits that meet the requirements for transfer may apply against the elective courses.
Other INFO courses available as electives include:
Course Descriptions
INFO 530 – FOUNDATIONS OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Introduction to concepts and applications of Information Systems (IS) and Information Technology (IT) as applied throughout library and information science. Topics include the structure of information systems, hardware and software concepts, basic principles of system analysis and design, and contemporary applications of computers in organizational environments.
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INFO 532 –SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT
Provides a hands-on introduction to software development. Includes programming concepts and a series of programming exercises done by students working in pairs or small groups. Also covers general concepts and issues in software development to help students understand why creating high quality software is very difficult.
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INFO 540- PERSPECTIVES ON INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Examines various types of information systems and the ways in which these systems support activities of individuals and organizations. Investigates application architectures that occur commonly in information systems. Provides an overview of knowledge domains that comprise the information systems discipline.
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INFO 603 - OBJECT-ORIENTED PRGMG INFO SYS
Prerequisite: INFO 603
This course provides a hands-on introduction to object-oriented programming language. The language will be a class-based object-oriented programming language in common usage in industry. The class will cover classes, objects, constructors and destructors, access control, inheritance, and use of object libraries and language specific features.
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INFO 605 — DATABASE MANAGEMENT I
A first course in database management systems. Covers database design, data manipulation, and database integrity. Emphasizes concepts and techniques related to the entity-relationship model and relational database systems. Discusses normalization up to the third normal form and commercial query languages.
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INFO 606 — DATABASE MANAGEMENT II
Prerequisites: INFO 601 or equivalent knowledge and INFO 605
Examines both traditional database systems and recent advances in database systems. Topics include formal treatment of normalization and denormalization, extended entity-relationship models, advanced query processing techniques, query optimization, physical database design and indexing, and object-oriented database systems.
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INFO 607 — APPLIED INFORMATION AND DATABASE TECHNOLOGY
Prerequisite: INFO 606; prerequisite or co-requisite: INFO 620
Covers advanced topics in relational database systems and principles and techniques for data warehousing. Discusses the structure of database servers, advanced performance optimization techniques, advanced database programming (PL/SQL including stored procedures and triggers), parallel databases, transaction management, and database administration. Also covers design and implementation of data warehouse.
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INFO 608 — HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
Focuses on the design and evaluation of human-computer interfaces covering such topics as task analysis techniques for gathering design information, iterative design through prototyping, and formative and summative usability testing; theoretical foundations of HCI and cognitive modeling of user interactions; the integration of HCI techniques into the software development life cycle and the use of user constraints to generate new interaction designs.
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INFO 610 - ANALY OF INTERACTIVE SYSTEMS
Prerequisite: INFO 608
This course focuses on the evaluation of human-computer interfaces covering such topics as heuristic evaluation, inspection and design reviews, cognitive walkthroughs, ethnographic observation, user testing, interviews, and questionnaires; the usability engineering lifecycle, comparison of usability evaluation methods, selection or design of appropriate methods, reporting usability evaluation findings, and the development of user interface standards and guidelines.
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INFO 611 - DESIGN OF INTERACTIVE SYSTEMS
Prerequisite: INFO 608
Focuses on interactive system design methods in common use covering such topics as interactive design, iterative design, usability analysis, prototyping and evaluation, mental models, conceptual models, interaction styles, the use of guidelines; normative, descriptive, and formative approaches to work analysis; modeling user's activities, defining and validating requirements, presenting interactive system designs, and the theoretical foundations underlying the design of interactive systems.
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INFO 612 - KNOWLEDGE BASE SYSTEMS
Introduces the concepts, principles, and techniques of knowledge base systems, with a focus on implementation of a working expert system. Presents the expert system development life cycle with a focus on analysis and conceptual modeling techniques.
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INFO 613 - XML AND DATABASES
Prerequisites: INFO 604 and INFO 605
Introduces background and basics of XML and XML Schema. Focuses on storing and extracting XML data in Relational Database Systems. Covers the process of modeling real-world problems in XML. Investigates native XML database management systems. Discusses current issues in XML and XML storage research.
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INFO 614 — DISTRIBUTED COMPUTING AND NETWORKING
Presents the fundamentals of data communications, networking and distributed computing technologies. Focuses on the broad foundational coverage of key technologies as well as the key concepts in network planning, design and management. Major topics include network models, data and voice communications, local-area and wide-area technologies, IP networks and their applications, internetworking (with an emphasis on the Internet), client/server systems and distributed computing applications.
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INFO 616 — COMPUTER-SUPPORTED COOPERATIVE WORK
Prerequisite: INFO 614; prerequisite or co-requisite: INFO 620
Examines human and technical issues and concepts of computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW). Covers topics including the ways groups work in the networked organization, intelligent workflow, various types of CSCW technology, CSCW software design and implementation issues, and future directions of this technology.
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INFO 617 — INTRODUCTION TO SYSTEM DYNAMICS
Prerequisite or co-requisite: INFO 620
Introduces simulation, particularly of business processes, using the principles of system dynamics.
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INFO 620 — INFORMATION SYSTEMS ANALYSIS AND DESIGN
Prerequisites: INFO 605 and INFO 608
Offers an advanced treatment in systems analysis and design with special emphasis on object-oriented analysis and design techniques based on the Unified Modeling Language (UML). Discusses major modeling techniques of UML including use-case modeling, class modeling, object-interaction modeling, dynamic modeling and state diagrams and activity diagrams, subsystems developments, logical design, and physical design.
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INFO 622 - CONTENT REPRESENTATION
Focuses on fundamental decisions in designing subject access systems and alternative approaches to indexing. Explores current issues in content representation: principles of subject analysis; natural language vs. vocabulary control; manual, computer-assisted, and automatic indexing; faceted indexing and classification systems; image indexing and retrieval; indexing and the World Wide Web. Includes evaluation of indexer consistency and indexing system performance.
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INFO 624 - INFORMATION RETRIEVAL SYSTEMS
Covers the theoretical underpinnings of information retrieval to provide a solid base for further work with retrieval systems. Emphasizes systems that involve user-computer interaction. Covers aspects of information retrieval including document selection, document description, query formulation, matching, and evaluation.
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INFO 625 - COGNITION & INFO RETRIEVAL
Applies cognitive processing and concept formation to the case of humans interacting with information storage and retrieval systems, including automated systems. Links theoretical models of cognitive processes to research studies that examine actual information-seeking behavior.
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INFO 626 - LANGUAGE PROCESSING
Prerequisites: INFO 601 and INFO 605
Studies the problems and techniques of automating human language use and understanding. Introduces different annotations of human language and examines how spoken language differs from written language. Includes syntactic inference, parsing, semantic interpretation, and natural language planning, and discusses how to combine analyses of spoken language with analyses of written language.
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INFO 627 — REQUIREMENTS ENGINEERING AND MANAGEMENT
Prerequisite: MSSE student or, prerequisite or co-requisite: INFO 620
Provides students with an opportunity to explore and experience methodologies, tools, and techniques for eliciting, analyzing, specifying, and managing requirements in modern software development organizations. Focuses on the intersection of requirements engineering, strategic IS and business planning, and business process reengineering. Students will also learn about change management in requirements engineering context in response to a fast-paced, changing world. Upon completion of the course, each student should have new skills and insights that are immediately applicable to the performance of the requirements engineering project function.
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INFO 628 - INFO SYS IMPLEMENTATION
Prerequisites: INFO 603 and INFO 620
Addresses issues involved in implementing an information system in the context of a real organization, including ensuring quality in the delivered system. Focuses on the detailed design, coding, test, and distribution aspects of software system implementation.
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INFO 629 - CONCEPTS IN ARTIFICIAL INTELL
Prerequisite: INFO 620
Introduces the concepts, principles, and techniques of artificial intelligence (AI), with emphasis on its application to information systems.
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INFO 630 — EVALUATION OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Prerequisite: INFO 620
Focuses on the evaluation of software and software system development. Covers a variety of methodologies, techniques, and tools for measuring both software and software development attributes in modern software development organizations. Includes both graphical approaches for representing these attributes and statistical approaches for modeling various software relationships.
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INFO 631- INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INTERGRATION
Focuses on integration of information technologies from an organizational perspective. Coverage includes IT product and service selection and evaluation, impact of emerging technologies, standards, and vendor strategies. Emphasizes financial considerations including return on investment, time cost of money, depreciation, and system life.
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INFO 633 — INFORMATION VISUALIZATION
Introduces concepts and principles of information visualization from both theoretical and practical perspectives. Emphasizes the development of critical thinking and problem solving abilities in the context of information visualization. Provides exposure to current information visualization tools.
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INFO 634 - DATA MINING
Prerequisites: INFO 605 and (INFO 629 or INFO 612)
This course introduces the concepts and principles of knowledge discovery in databases (KDD), with a focus on the techniques of data mining and its function in business, governmental, medical or other information-intensive environments.
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INFO 636 — SOFTWARE ENGINEERING PROCESS I
Prerequisite: MSSE student or INFO 601 and INFO 630 and INFO 638
Focuses on behaviors and activities of individuals developing software with a disciplined software engineering approach. Provides hands-on experience in which students complete programming exercises using a defined software engineering process. Requires students to plan, estimate, measure, and analyze their work, and to define, analyze, and improve development processes and create process documentation.
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INFO 637 — SOFTWARE ENGINEERING PROCESS II
Prerequisite: INFO 636
Focuses on behaviors and activities of teams developing software with a disciplined software engineering approach. Provides hands-on experience in which students complete team activities using a defined software engineering process. Covers topics including planning and estimating for team projects, reviews and inspections, standards, software reuse, and configuration management.
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INFO 638 — SOFTWARE PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Prerequisite: MSSE student or INFO 620
Focuses on first-line management of software system development. Covers major themes including estimation (software cost factors, estimation models, and risk management), planning (work breakdown, scheduling, staffing, resource allocation, and creation of a project plan), and execution (team building, leadership, motivation, process tracking, control, recovery, and communication within and external to the project).
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INFO 646 — INFORMATION SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT
Prerequisite: INFO 620
Addresses information technology-enabled change and policy issues in the management of information systems (IS). Stresses systems development staffing and organization, technology infrastructure, project selection, justification and funding, and data. Studies the issues and their resolution in the context of an IS plan. Emphasizes communication about the issues to senior management.
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INFO 648 - HEALTHCARE INFORMATICS
The course presents an overview of all aspects of healthcare informatics, including medical, nursing and bioinformatics. It provides an introduction to the applications of information systems in a variety of healthcare environments, including education, research and clinical settings. It includes extensive reading and critical discussion of relevant professional research literature.
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INFO 653 - DIGITAL LIBRARIES
Prerequisite: INFO 624 or INFO 652
This course introduces research and development in the world of digital libraries. Focuses on intellectual access to digital information resources. Topics include foundations and architectures of digital libraries, searching and resource organizing, knowledge representations and discovery, metadata and standards, interfaces and information visualization, intellectual property rights and electronic publishing.
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INFO 655 – INTRO TO WEB MANAGEMENT
Prerequisite: INFO 604
This course will be an updated version of INFO 655 – Programming Internet Information Systems I.
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INFO 657– DIGITAL LIBRARY TECHNOLOGY
Introduces technologies that enable the design and implementation of digital libraries. Focuses on hands-on activities relating to content description technologies (such as XML), systems technologies, and user interface technologies. Students learn through building components of digital libraries collaboratively.
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INFO 658– INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE
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INFO 710 – INFORMATION FORENSICS
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INFO 712 – INFORMATION ASSURANCE
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INFO 714 – INFORMATION SYSTEMS AUDITING
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INFO 731 – ORGANIZATIONAL & SOCIAL ISSUES IN HEALTHCARE INFORMATICS
Presents an overview of sociotechnical issues in healthcare informatics, focusing on patient care and biomedical research settings. Deals with the human, social, and technological aspects of healthcare IT. Focuses on the role of information professionals in applied healthcare IT settings.
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INFO 755 –ELECTRONIC RECORDS MANAGEMENT
Presents records management theory and practice from the perspective of the archivist. Covers the transformation of the profession and its practices as it adapts to electronic recordkeeping. Introduces records management principles and applies them to the contemporary digital office environment. Relates records management concepts to other information management disciplines.
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INFO 782 – ISSUES IN INFORMATICS
Examines recent developments in a selected area of information science and technology. Focuses on research results and leading edge application of IST in practice. Helps students prepare for success in information science and technology fields. Addresses issues and methods for maintaining technical knowledge throughout a professional career.
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