Vision, Mission, Goals and Values
SILS' Vision
At SILS we focus on the interplay of people, information, technology and social structures. For us information and library science is a discipline
Impacting people’s lives,
Facilitating science, business, government and other organizations and professions,
Sustaining societies.
As a discipline we explore the following dimensions of information:
The Social and Information: We investigate how groups, organizations and societies facilitate and/or impede the discovery, access, provisioning, sharing, and use of information from national and international perspectives.
Domains and Information: We investigate the fundamental roles of information in a variety of domains, including leisure, cultural, scientific, engineering, healthcare, business and other domains.
Temporality of Information: Information can be dynamic or archived for use over time. We consider the temporality of information in relation to other aspects of information.
Human Information Interaction: We investigate how individuals and groups interact with information, that is, how they discover, access, provision, share, use and discard information, and how they claim ownership of information.
Physicality of Information: We explore new ways to design and organize information.
Information Technology: We investigate how new and existing technologies may facility and/or impede human information interaction.
There are multiple professional career paths associated with our discipline. These include librarians, information architects, information analysts, competitive analysts, information service providers, information system designers, and information managers in both traditional and new settings.
SILS’ Mission
Our mission is to:
- Create new knowledge regarding the interplay of people, information, technology and social structures, and share that knowledge with others;
- Educate professionals who are prepared to become leaders in information and library professions;
- Educate scholars who are prepared to conduct innovative research and innovative teaching.
SILS’ Goals
Our goals for 2010-2014 include:
Increasing the quantity and quality of research outputs in school
Increasing the school’s relevance for students, professionals and organizations in Ireland
Increasing the school’s relevance for UCD
Developing an entrepreneurial approach to meeting challenges facing the school, UCD and our discipline
SILS’ Values
We cannot always know the best solution or action to take in advance, even with the best strategic plan and vision. In these instances values can help guide our actions. SILS values include the following attributes:
Ethical: We always endeavour to uphold high ethical standards in our research, teaching and service.
Respectful: We are respectful of our students, colleagues and others throughout UCD and society both nationally and globally. That is, we respond "constructively to difference among individuals and among groups; seeking to understand and work with those who are different; extending beyond mere tolerance and political correctness.” (Gardner, 2007, p. 157)
Creative: We go "beyond existing knowledge and syntheses to pose new questions, offer new solutions, [and] fashion works that stretch existing [knowledge]." (Gardner, 2007, p. 156)
Disciplined: We work diligently, constantly striving to improve what we do, and striving to uphold the highest standards of academic integrity.
Sincere: We work in an open, honest and straight forward manner.
The first four values are inspired by Gardner's recent book, Five Minds for the Future, 2007, Harvard Business Press.
