Mr PC Coetzee started training staff members of the Merensky Library in 1938, and ten years later, the Department of Library Science was established in 1948 at the University of Pretoria. In 1982, the name changed to Department of Library and Information Science, but a change in the fundamental and leading approach of the Department in the 1990s led to the fact that Information Science was regarded as the broader field of study to train information specialists. And the name changed to the current name, the Department of Information Science, in 1991. In the same year, the Department became part of the virtual School of Information Technology. In 2000, the School of Information Technology was transferred from the Faculty of Humanities to the Faculty of Engineering, the Built Environment and Information Technology (EBIT), and in 2003, the BIS, MIS and doctoral programmes were also transferred to EBIT.
The following academics served as Heads of the department:
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Our first degree in Information Science, BA Information Science, which was first presented in 1993, led to the establishment of the BIS Information Science degree in 1997. For three years the latter was also available as an Extended programme. In 2007 the subjects Library Science and Information and Knowledge Management became part of the curriculum of the BIS Information Science degree. This degree was one of the first in South Africa to incorporate Information and Knowledge Management (IKM) as a formal specialisation in the early 2000s—years before most universities had begun offering courses focused on organisational knowledge as a strategic asset. |
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In 1998, the BA Multimedia degree was introduced, which changed to the BIS Multimedia degree in 2000. From time to time, the degree has also been presented as an extended programme. It is one of the very few undergraduate degrees in Africa that integrates the full multimedia production pipeline (including animation, game design, UX, virtual environments, and scripting) within an information science framework—not just from a visual arts or computer science perspective. |
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The Publishing degree started as a BA Publishing degree in 1997 and which changed to the BIS Publishing degree in 2000. The BIS Publishing degree is the only undergraduate programme in Publishing Studies in South Africa—and one of the few globally—that includes both traditional print publishing and digital publishing workflows, including XML markup and eBook production. |
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In 2000, the BIS Information and Knowledge Management was introduced, but in 2007, the content matter became part of the BIS Information Science degree. |
A postgraduate Lower Diploma in Library Science which was already available to students during the 1930’s was later extended to become the four-year undergraduate programme, BBibl, and later our BIS Honours programmes in Information Science in 1988, in Publishing in 1997, and in Multimedia in 2001.
In 1960 the first master's degree in Library Science was introduced, to be followed by master's degrees in Information in 1988, in Publishing in 1998, and in Multimedia in 2001. An MA degree in Development Communication was also presented for about 10 years. The Department now offers research master's degrees in each of the three areas of specialisation, as well as a coursework MIT ICT in Information Science.
Our own doctoral programmes have existed since 1973, and the four PhD doctoral degrees, PhD Library Science, PhD Information Science, PhD Publishing, and PhD IT (specialising either in Information Science or Multimedia) are available today.
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