After taking the Python for Data Science and AI course this summer, I’ve wondered if I should have at least applied to the Data Science program. However, my lack of background in linear algebra and calculus (or any real advanced math for that matter) was the primary reason that discouraged me from doing so. Instead, I began my journey in the Master of Science program in Information Science this past semester. It is by no means a compromise, since Information Science, Information Organization, Information Architecture have all been strong interests of mine for a very long time now. I chose to pursue the Information Systems concentration; however, the Information Organization and Knowledge Management paths also looked appealing.

According the program’s website, the Information Science program focuses on “the knowledge, theory, and technology dealing with the collection of both traditional and digital information resources, and the user-oriented processes and methods involved in their manipulation, storage, dissemination, publication and retrieval.” I am definitely very interested in the cross-section between data science and information science–when does data become information and vice versa, and how do they relate to each other? I know that in simple terms, data is raw and is then processed in some way to become meaningful information, but I think the difference may be a bit more complex and nuanced(messier?) than that.

One of the two courses (INFO 5000 - Information and Knowledge Professions) that I took was a bit boring and simply introduced the various professions and an overview of careers in the broad area of information science. The second course (INFO 5200 - Information Organization), however, was much more interesting and a bit challenging. At the start of the course, the professor mentioned that many thought that this was ‘just a database’ class and emphasized that this was much more than that. He preferred the use of the term “Information Retrieval System” and stated in his initial lecture that we would be learning about all the processes the go into “…creating a decent information retrieval system” and clarified that what he meant by ‘decent’ was that it would be “usable by the intended users.” We utilized the book, “The Organization of Information” and referenced it throughout the course.

The major and final assignment for the class was the IOP (Information Organization Project). A very helpful part of this course was that we worked on various assignments along the way that would then make up the final project and feedback was provided on each of those sections (drafts 1-4, SWOT Analysis, concept briefing) along the way. However, even with that support, this class was a lot more difficult than I thought. My IOP was an information organization/retrieval system for a UX/UI Design for Web Programmers collection. It was ok, but there was definitely a lot of room for improvement, not just in terms of the work but in my own understanding of the complex details that go into designing an information system like this.