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Graduate faculty and areas of research
Yvonne J. Chandler, Associate Professor and Director of Georgia and Nevada Cohort; Ph.D., Michigan. Legal information services and research; Internet resources and services; education for library and information services.
Jiangping Chen, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Syracuse. Natural language processing; cross-language information retrieval; automatic question answering; information retrieval systems design and analysis.
Ana D. Cleveland, Regents Professor and Director of Houston Program; Ph.D., Case Western Reserve. Medical informatics; information storage and retrieval; indexing and abstracting.
Yunfei Du, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., North Texas. Academic libraries; international librarianship; learning styles; e-learning.
Elizabeth Figa, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Illinois at Urbana- Champaign. Ethnographic study of information retrieval and information behavior; ethnographic study of storytelling and the oral tradition; narrative analysis; historical research methods.
Shawne D. Miksa, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Florida State. Information organization, control, access and theory; classification research and theory; information retrieval; bibliometrics; scholarly communication.
William E. Moen, Associate Professor and Director of Research; Ph.D., Syracuse. Information organization/metadata; networked information discovery and retrieval; information technology standards development and implementation; information policy; digital libraries; networked services design.
Brian O'Connor, Professor; Ph.D., California at Berkeley. Image document access; information-seeking behavior; browsing studies; representation of questions and documents.
Guillermo A. Oyarce, Associate Professor; Ph.D., North Texas. Information retrieval systems; human-computer interaction; cognitive issues in distributed networks and digital libraries.
Miguel Ruiz, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Iowa. Information retrieval systems; information architecture.
Linda Schamber, Associate Professor and Associate Dean; Ph.D., Syracuse. Information and communication theory; information seeking, evaluation and use behavior; information organization; qualitative research methods.
Barbara Schultz-Jones, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., North Texas. Collaboration networks; social networks; technology in the school library (emphasis on automation); information literacy in K-12 schools.
Barbara Stein Martin, Hazel Harvey Peace Professor of Children's Library Services; Ph.D., North Texas. Children's and young adult literature and services.
Dale Thompson, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Syracuse. Information security.
Herman L. Totten, Regents Professor and Dean; Ph.D., Oklahoma. Management of libraries and information agencies; diversity issues related to management of library and information agencies; reading activities of all age groups.
Philip M. Turner, Professor and Special Assistant to the Dean for Distributed Learning; Ed.D., Texas A&M-Commerce. Special materials; telecommunications; management of libraries and information centers; school/media; research methods.
Maurice Wheeler, Associate Professor and Department Chair; Ph.D., Pittsburgh. Management; leadership; organizational culture; diversity; public libraries.
For More Information
University of North Texas
College of Information
Interdisciplinary Information
Science Ph.D. Program
1155 Union Circle #311068
Denton, Texas 76203-1068
Phone: 940-565-2445
Toll free: 877-275-7547
Fax: 940-565-3101
TTY callers: 940-369-8652
Discovery Park, Room E292
E-mail: isdoc@unt.edu
Toulouse School of Graduate Studies
940-565-2383 or toll free 888-868-4723
Information Sciences
Doctoral Degree Program
Opportunities for graduate studies
The Department of Library and Information Sciences (LIS) offers the largest fully interdisciplinary information science doctoral degree program in the U.S. and the second largest Ph.D. program in the discipline.
The doctoral program emphasizes the interrelationship of the economic, social, cultural and technological aspects of an evolving information society. This provides a center of excellence in graduate education and research that responds to the varied and changing needs of the information age.
The flexible degree plan integrates knowledge systems, problem-solving approaches and research methodologies regardless of their disciplinary roots to produce graduates who become leaders in the information age.
Nine different academic units participate in this interdisciplinary degree:
- behavior analysis
- communication studies
- computer science and engineering
- criminal justice
- information technology and decision sciences
- journalism
- library and information sciences
- learning technologies
- visual arts and design
With the Ph.D. degree, you will be prepared to contribute material to the advancement and evolution of the information society and may work in a variety of roles and application settings in information agencies as administrators, researchers and educators.
Admission requirements
Admission to the doctoral program is based on a holistic review process using multiple criteria related to both academic history and potential for success in the research field. You must meet all general admission requirements of the Toulouse School of Graduate Studies and additional requirements of the doctoral program including:
- overall graduate GPA of 3.4
- GRE scores
- master's degree from accredited institution
- three recommendations
- evidence of experience, knowledge, skills and aspirations from curriculum vita, writing sample, personal statement and (optional) interview
For international students, a satisfactory score on the TOEFL or successful completion of the UNT Intensive English Language Institute is required.
Deadine for receipt of all materials is November 1 of the year preceding the fall semester of initial enrollment.
The admission process is highly competitive; not all qualified applicants can be accepted.
Degree requirements
The doctoral program has a flexible degree plan that can be tailored to your individual interests. The degree requires 60 semester hours beyond the master's degree:
- core areas (21 hours)
- concentrations (total of 18 hours in two of three areas)
- information theory and design
- information and behavior
- information policy and management
- electives (9 hours)
- dissertation (12 hours)
A comprehensive qualifying exam with both written and oral components is required before you begin dissertation research.
Research resources
The UNT's library system has been designated a major research library by the U.S. Department of Education. The Science and Technologies Library at Discovery Park houses nearly 10,000 volumes of LIS journals and more than 19,000 items in the Z book collection. It also provides 24 subscription database and journal packages and 37 individual electronic journals for LIS.
The department has the third largest endowment among library and information science programs in the U.S. In recent years, it has received funds for research and development from national, state and local agencies, including the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the Library of Congress, Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) and the Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
Texas Center for Digital Knowledge
The Texas Center for Digital Knowledge (TxCDK) is a college-level research, development and consulting service enterprise that brings together scholars from multiple disciplines to investigate and consult on technologies and practices that enhance organizational and workplace effectiveness. TxCDK provides research support services for faculty and sponsors lectures and workshops. In addition to providing grants and assistantships, it maintains a student researcher's database, allowing faculty fellows to view student research interests and identify potential research assistants.
Financial assistance
The department offers several financial awards to help pay for graduate education. These include competitive scholarships, grants, and teaching and research assistantships. You may apply for graduate library assistantships in one of the university's libraries after completing 9 semester hours. The Toulouse School of Graduate Studies provides additional graduate fellowships, assistantships and scholarships.