School of Information Studies

One of the University's precursors, the Riverina College of Advanced Education (RCAE) first started offering degree and graduate diploma courses in Library and Information Science in 1975. Not long after, in 1982, the College launched a graduate diploma in School Librarianship, the forerunner of today's Teacher Librarianship courses. 

These courses were taught out of the School of Library and Information Science, which in 1983 merged with the School of Computing Studies to become the School of Information Studies. The RCAE became the Riverina Murray Institute of Higher Education (RMIHE) in 1986 and Charles Sturt University in July 1989. By this time, the Library and Information Studies (LIS) courses had become firmly established in Australia, providing quality distance education that led to well regarded professional qualifications. In the 1990s, the School developed advanced courses and research degrees, and both student and staff numbers continued to grow. It also developed a partnership with the University of Hong Kong, providing its courses to students based there, with local tutorial support. This partnership remains in place today.

The past decade saw continued growth in the LIS programs and the first students to graduate with PhDs in the discipline. A particularly significant event for the School occurred in 2006, with the realignment of the faculties at CSU, in light of the University Strategy 2007-2011. As part of this realignment, the School of Information Studies moved from the Faculty of Science and Agriculture to the Faculty of Education. A consequence was that our colleagues in the Information Technology group moved to the newly created School of Computing and Mathematics. The outcome for the Library and Information Management (LIM) and Teacher Librarianship (TL) groups was a School solely focused on LIS, the only such school in the country. The School is now well established in its new 'home', with staff members from the LIM and TL groups and from the existing Faculty of Education having identified and started working on some common areas of research interest, including information literacy, the knowledge society and learning cultures. In 2008, the Faculty supported a comprehensive review of the School's activities and its relationship with the information professions. The review included an extensive program of workshops, focus groups, data collection and analysis, involving all staff in the School and over 60 external practitioners and educators, leaders in their fields at national and international levels. One major outcome is a program of curriculum renewal which aims to dramatically expand the scope and enhance the quality of the School's course offerings. The School is now firmly fixed on its goal of becoming a leading global provider of quality and innovative online education for the information professions.

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A warm welcome to the School of Information Studies, whether you are a student, teacher, researcher or practitioner. Our community is a vibrant and inclusive one, transcending geographical, disciplinary and professional boundaries. Our business is Information Studies in all shapes and forms.

With more than twenty full-time staff, the School is the only dedicated Library and Information Studies (LIS) school located in an Australian university. With over 1,500 students, we account for well over half of LIS graduates in the country. This means that we play a critical role in shaping the future of the information professions, and we take this responsibility very seriously, working closely with professional bodies and practitioners.

Our courses and programs have been recognised by the Australian Library and Information Association for over thirty years, and enjoy a national and international reputation for excellence and relevance. We engage many working professionals, including senior ones, to act as advisors, adjunct and sessional staff, helping to ensure that what we teach is based on current practice. Most of the School's full-time lecturers have extensive experience as information professionals and continue to be actively engaged in their field.

A key characteristic of the School is its lack of geographical boundaries. It is a truly national and international School, with large numbers of its students living and studying outside of New South Wales, and, indeed, Australia. For instance, for the past twenty years, we have collaborated with the University of Hong Kong to provide the main LIS programs for the city state.

One key reason for the School's global reach, is that all of its students study online, in distance mode. Over the past two decades, our LIS courses have been developed specifically for this mode of delivery, and now lead the way in their use of online teaching tools and learning resources, offering students maximum flexibility. Studying 'at' the School is therefore a genuinely global experience, where students from across the world interact in the virtual classroom, bringing their different perspectives and experiences along with them. Even the lecturers are not limited by geography, able to teach from anywhere with an Internet connection.

Just as the School's courses are based on professional practice, so too is its research. We have a large body of PhD students, investigating a wide range of topics. The breadth of the LIS discipline is mirrored by the diverse research interests amongst the academic staff, publishing in all sorts of national and international journals. The emphasis, however, is on disseminating findings that are of relevance to practitioners. Thus research informs teaching, and vice-versa.

While the School may have the luxury of numbers, its primary interest is in quality, be it teaching, research or professional engagement. We have exceptional staff, of the highest calibre, covering all facets of library and information studies, such as library and collections management, teacher librarianship, information literacy, knowledge management, information architecture, archives and records management, digital libraries, information retrieval, and so on. We are also fortunate enough to have highly committed and extremely knowledgeable adjunct and sessional staff, and a first-rate administrative team. Most importantly, the School has incredibly enthusiastic and responsive students, which makes teaching them a very enjoyable activity.

Effective information work is centred around users. Similarly, effective teaching is centred around students. The School of Information Studies is a community, with students very much at its heart. Students, practitioners, academics, researchers, administrators - regardless of the roles individuals play, they are all equally part of the one School.

A/Prof Philip Hider

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