After successfully completing his/her studies the graduate is able to:

• identify information needs and use technology to improve access to information
• describe key information policy issues and technological trends and how they affect libraries and information centres
• apply management skills
• operate collaborative work and project management
• conduct and analyse research to investigate questions related to the acquisition, processing, organization, use, and presentation of information
• understand the basic applications of modern technology in today’s libraries and other information ecologies
• identify sources that will support the organization’s activities
• practise continuing learning in professional organizations in library and information science

Graduates of this study programme are prepared to manage the theoretical and methodological foundations of library and information science, information technology and the internet, knowledge organization, bibliographic searching and information analysis, information management, and developments and applications in the field of information policy and information industry. They are able to creatively apply their knowledge in library and information practice using modern information and communication technologies, and in particular in the production of information and library collection, local and global information resources, analytic-synthetic processing of documents and information resources, production, and the use of retrieval languages and knowledge organization, in navigation, search, and use of information resources, and in information centres and services management for the mediation of information and knowledge to users.

A follow-up Master’s degree study programme can be completed without a specialization or with one of the specializations mentioned above. Upon meeting all the conditions of a specialization, the student will receive a certificate of its completion. Students do not register for specializations.

STUDIES WITHOUT SPECIALIZATION

The total minimum number of credits required for the study programme: 120 credits: type A/required courses for 79 credits, of which there will be 45 credits for specialized courses, 30 credits for two Master’s thesis seminars, and 4 credits for a foreign language examination in accordance with language competence guidelines; type B/selective courses for 35 credits, of which there will be 1 practical course; and type C/elective courses for 6 credits. The programme also requires a successfully defended Master’s thesis and the final state examination.

More information is available at http://kisk.phil.muni.cz/cs/povinnosti

A compulsory component of the studies is the completion of one practical course of the student’s own choice. Students can choose from a wide range within the following courses: Internships, Research Project, Participation at Conference, or Research Project Seminar.

The final state examination is comprised of the Master’s thesis defence and an oral examination before a board of examiners. The student is expected to demonstrate comprehensive knowledge and orientation in the field, in the scope defined by the range of topics for the final state examination.

Students are allowed to sit the final state examination once they have reached the required number of credits and their Master’s thesis has been accepted. No later than 5 days prior to the date of the final state examination, the student applies with the Office for Studies for a certificate of fulfilment of the conditions of the study programme.

The final state examinations are held three times a year – in January, June, and September. All dates may serve as a regular examination date or a resit date. The submission of a Master’s thesis is understood as an application for a final state examination date. If the student decides to postpone the final state examination (e.g. from June to September), there is no need to notify anybody of this fact; the student simply submits the thesis within the deadline for the next examination date.

The decision on the classification of the Master’s thesis is made by the committee for final examinations on the basis of the reports of the reader and the thesis supervisor, the committee’s assessment of the thesis, and student’s performance at the defence. The reader will be assigned; the student does not need to find a reader. The reports of both the supervisor and the reader will be available in the thesis archive in the IS no later than 3 calendar days prior to the date of the final examination.

The oral part of the final examination takes place in front of a committee and the student is assigned one of the topics that is subsequently discussed. The student has 15 to 20 minutes for preparation and 15 to 20 minutes for the examination.

Students who fail the final state examination for the first time will have their studies automatically interrupted by the Office for Studies until the beginning of the following examination period (or, more specifically, until the resit date of the final state examination). Thereafter, the studies are resumed and the student is automatically enrolled for the final state examination.

Further information is available at: http://kisk.phil.muni.cz/cs/povinnosti.

The study programme is not directly linked with any further study programme. Graduates of the Master’s degree study programme can (subject to meeting the admission conditions) continue with their studies in any doctoral degree study programme.