Curriculum

Required Courses (27 points)

The required courses prepare students to address the practical needs of business, nonprofit, and governmental organizations as they go about gathering, organizing, maintaining, retrieving, and employing information. In their first term of study, master's degree students are required to take IDRM K4300 Introduction to Information Professions and Knowledge Management and IDRM K4350 Information Networks. In subsequent terms, students are encouraged to take at least two required courses (6 points) per term, preferably in this order.

  • IDRM K4300. Introduction to Information Professions and Knowledge Management. 3 pts.
  • IDRM K4310. Legal and Policy Issues for Information Professionals. 3 pts.
  • IDRM K4315. Exploring Digital Information in Business and Economics. 3 pts.
  • IDRM K4320. Introduction to Information Technology and IT Project Management. 3 pts.
  • IDRM K4327. Global Trends in Information Access and the Democratization of Information. 3 pts.
  • IDRM K4335. Records Management: Principles and Practices. 3 pts.
  • IDRM K4340. Digital Asset Management. 3 pts.
  • IDRM K4345. Managing Relationships with Digital Information Providers. 3 pts.
  • IDRM K4350. Information Networks 3 pts.

Master's Project Seminar (3 points)

The Master's Project Seminar reinforces the practical focus of the program and ensures that graduates are prepared to undertake and implement information-related projects in professional settings. As part of their projects, degree candidates may serve as interns at appropriate organizations if they are not currently working in the field or if they wish to diversify their professional experience. Building on one of the projects prepared in a required course, students create and implement an information-related system for the organization in which they work or intern, and produce a substantial research paper or portfolio.

Note: the Master's Project Seminar may be taken during the fourth, fifth, or sixth term of study, but not before.

  • IDRM K4390. Master's Project Seminar. 3 pts.

Elective Courses (6 points)

Two elective courses must be taken in other schools or departments within the University, in a related discipline, such as management, economics, technology, budgeting and finance, organizational psychology, history, political science, sociology, and information technology. Many of the graduate schools at Columbia restrict access to certain courses and cross-enrollment is permitted on a space-available basis, with the approval of the academic adviser and the school or department in which the courses are offered. Students are expected to comply with the stated prerequisites of all courses.