Library and Information Science: Online Master's Degrees

Only a Handful of a Handful Offer Accredited Online Programs

Across the entire United States, there are fewer than 50 colleges and universities that offer ALA-accredited master’s degrees in library and information science – an average of about one per state. Considering how many public, academic, school, and special libraries our country maintains, that’s a fairly short list of degree programs relative to our expansive geography. Some entire states – and even some major metropolitan areas – lack nearby library science programs to train their information professionals. People in these locations, as well as busy people already employed full-time, are beginning to pursue their library science degrees with a handful of schools that offer 100% online programs.

Online master’s degrees have become extremely popular in a number of disciplines, though the quality of these programs and the academic freedom at the institutions that offer them is frequently questionable. Luckily, the American Library Association remains a strict body for accreditation, so all the online master’s degrees on which it bestows its deliberate, well-calculated approval are high-quality programs at “real,” not-for-profit colleges and universities that also offer conventional, on-site instruction in library and information science.

Certainly, there are undeniable advantages to attending a program with face-to-face classes, and that is why I personally chose to pursue a more traditional library science track instead of an online master’s degree. During my research, though, I weighed online programs and found that many of them provided excellent instruction, going to great lengths to ensure that their students received a quality education. After all, we need library and information science professionals in places like Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Alaska, Delaware, Georgia, Nevada, and the other states without ALA-approved library programs. And yes, that accreditation is essential – it’s as important to library schools as ABA accreditation is to law schools.