PhD in Information Studies
PhD Program Details
The PhD in Information Studies emphasizes the study of the representation, storage, retrieval, use, and impact of information resources on society.
Program Details | Degree Requirements | Funding & Support
PhD Admission Requirements
Applicants must meet the UWM Graduate School requirements plus the SOIS requirements to be considered for admission to the program. Students begin the doctoral program in the fall semester.
Admission Requirements>>
PhD Distance Option
The PhD Distance Option provides an additional mode of research and study that eliminates some of the barriers associated with the traditional method of pursuing an advanced research degree. PhD Distance Option>>
Our Research
Diverse and Productive
SOIS faculty members bring a broad range of research expertise and are nationally and internationally recognized for their research contributions. Our faculty have a variety of institutional personal backgrounds that increase the variety of information, techniques, points of view, and experiences that students encounter.
UW-Milwaukee has recently earned the highest rating for a research institution from the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, the gold standard for assessment.
SOIS Faculty rank 10th in Productivity of U.S. LIS and ischool faculty
~by John M. Budd, “Productivity of U.S. and ischool faculty,” October, 2015, in Library & Information Science Research
SOIS ranks 4th internationally and 2nd in the US/Canada in department contributions to library and information science (LIS) literature (2007-2012) as reported in a recent study by Walters & Wilder.
~Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology
2017-18
Inkyung Choi
Toward a Model of Intercultural Warrant: A Case of the Korean Decimal Classification’s Cross-Cultural Adaptation of the Dewey Decimal Classification
Ann Graf
Facets of Graffiti Art and Street Art Documentation Online: A Domain and Content Analysis
2016-17
Jennifer Stevenson
Social Network Analysis on Wisconsin Archival Facebook Community
Hyejung Han
Understanding Children’s Help-seeking Behaviors: Effects of Domain Knowledge
Carol Sabbar
The Information-seeking Strategies of Humanities Scholars Using Resources in Language Other Than English
2015-16
Jennifer Thiele
Information Access in Rural Areas of the United States: The Public Library’s Role in the Digital Divide and the Implications of Differing State Funding Models
Renee Bennett- Kapusniak
Baby Boomers and Technology: Factors and Challenges in Utilizing Mobile Devices
Melodie Fox
Gender as an ‘Interplay of Rules’: Detecting Epistemic Interplay of medical and Legal Discourse with Sex and Gender Classification in Four Editions of the Dewey Decimal Classification
Nicholas Proferes
Informational Power on Twitter: A Mixed-methods Exploration of User Knowledge and Technological Discourse About Information Flows
2014-15
Dalal Al-budaiwi
The impact of culture and religion on the perception of freedom of expression between older and younger generations in South Africa and State of Kuwait: An international and comparative study | Advisor: Britz
Jeremy Mauger
Framing the policy debate: Competing portrayals of technology in online content regulation and lessons from science and technology studies | Advisor: Zimmer
2013-14
Soohyung Joo
Investigating User Search Tactic Patterns and System Support in Using Digital Libraries | Advisor: Xie
Jihee Beak
A child-driven metadata schema: A holistic analysis of children’s cognitive processes and book selection behaviors | Advisors: Olson & Smiraglia
Anna Lauren Hoffman
Google Books as Infrustructure of In/Justice: Towards a Sociotechnical Account of Rawlsian Justice, Information and Technology | Advisors: Britz & Zimmer
Edward Benoit III
#MPLP: A comparison of domain novice and expert user-generated tags in a minimally processed digital archive | Advisor: Xie
Chunsheng Huang
Understanding novice users’ help-seeking behavior in getting started with digital libraries: Influence of learning styles | Advisor: Xie
2011-12
Suyu Lin
A Comparative Study on Institutional Repositories (IRs): Comparing Organizational Factors Influencing Initiation and Implementation of Two IR Projects | Advisor: Britz
Kun Lu
Assessing systematic topic difficulty based on query and collection features | Advisor: Wolfram
Recent Faculty Positions:
- Simmons College
- Tamkang University,Taiwan
- Chicago State University
- University of Oklahoma
- Kuwait University, College of Social Science
- University of Kentucky
- Louisiana State University
- University of Washington
Post-Doctoral Scholars:
- Penn State/Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA)
- University of Maryland
- University of California – Berkeley
Center for Information Policy Research (CIPR)
The Center for Information Policy Research (CIPR) is UWM’s multidisciplinary research center for the study of the intersections between the policy, ethical, political, social and legal aspects of the global information society.
Research Group for Information Retrieval (rgIR)
The mission of RGIR is to promote and stimulate research in different aspects of information retrieval (IR) including: but not limited to: information behavior, human computer interaction with IR systems, IR evaluation, IR design, information visualization, and multimedia retrieval.
Knowledge Organization Research Group (KOrg)
The Knowledge Organization Research Group is designed to facilitate the discovery & development of knowledge in the field of information organization by established researchers and new scholars in LIS and related disciplines.
Social Studies of Information Research Group (SSIrg)
The mission of the Social Studies of Information Research group is to promote inquiry and pedagogy in the historical, social and cultural dimensions of information at its most fundamental levels, including information institutions, practices, industries, technologies, disciplines, users, policies, and ethics.
How to Prepare to Teach a Class
Dissertation Presentation Investigating User Search Tactics
Prepare a Job Application Package
PhD_Workshop_Practical Steps for Generating Operational Research
Copyright and Contract in the Academy From Research Idea to Publication
How to Successfully Publish Journal Articles
The Theoretical Experience of Sao Paulo State University
What to Expect as a Junior Faculty Member
Formatting and Submitting your Dissertation and Graduate School
Access Denied PHD Presentation
Dissertation Public Presentation
How to Write a Good Literature Review
PHD Dissertation Presentations 05 14 2015
