Comprehensive Examination Example Questions

MLIS students are required to take a written comprehensive examination in their final semester. SLIS Policy 12 provides details about the policy and procedures for this exam (please read policy statement 12 for more details).  The following questions are from previous exams.

1. To paraphrase Paul Woodruff, "Good judgment is the intellectual capacity to make reasonable decisions in the absence of knowledge. It is a characteristic that requires deliberation and is most evident in paying attention to different points of view. Staying humble in your own opinions helps keep you open to new considerations that might alter the course of your reasoning." Suggest at least two situations in which an information professional might need to exercise ?good judgment," using at least two different information repositories for your examples. Where will the professional find the "different points of view" needed to assure "good judgment"?

2. You have been asked by your institution’s board of directors to install   Internet filtering software on all your computers. In your essay: 
           * Discuss the benefits and disadvantages of such practices
           * Address issues of censorship and its potential legal ramifications
           * Propose criteria for selecting an appropriate filtering software packet

3. Why do the information professions have codes of ethics? Select an ethical dilemma that you may face as an information professional and discuss how it will be resolved.
4. To what degree are bibliographic and full text databases relevant for the user of an information organization choice (academic, archival, media center, public, medical, special)? Support your statement by comparing the strengths and weaknesses of a search in a structured information system (e.g., ERIC) with a Google search.     

5. Metadata plays a crucial role in organizing and representing information resources. In your essay, address the following:  
          * What are metadata?
          * Why are metadata crucial to organizing and representing information  objects?
          * What developments in information technologies have made metadata  crucial and why?

6. What is the image of YOUR information organization that you would most like to promote, and how do you plan on doing that? Is it important to market or promote our institutions? Why or why not?
7. Discussions of professional codes of ethics tend to turn towards hypothetical “most difficult dilemma” scenarios. However most of the principles they describe are issues in every single client encounter. Choose four of these principles which can be found in one or more of our professional association codes of ethics. State each principle in your own words. For each give an example of an easy-to-make everyday violation of that principle and an alternative action illustrating how that principle could, instead, be upheld in that situation.  
8. What does it mean to consider the library or information service in the lives of the users instead of just considering the users in the life of the library or information service? Give three examples.
9. You are about to become an information professional. No matter where you work, your practice will include professional activities in information services (e.g., reference), information description and organization (e.g., bibliographic control) and information source selection (e.g., collection development). Describe these practices and their value without using professional vocabulary or jargon–as you would to an administrator without an LIS degree.
10. Leadership has become a critical factor in the success of modern organizations; however there are many different styles of leadership. Generally, leadership styles fall into one of four possible approaches: Autocratic, which emphasizes authority and obedience; Custodial, which emphasizes security and passivity; Supportive, which emphasizes employee participation and performance; and Collegial, which emphasizes team-work and self-realization. Considering the development of information agencies during the 21^st century, what style of leadership would be most effective for an information organization, and how would you personally demonstrate this style of leadership in your role as both a manager and a professional.
11. It’s Hurricane season again! What precautions should information organizations take to protect their services and collections against disasters such as storms, floods, fires or earthquakes?
12. “Continuing education is no longer a luxury we indulge in once in a while; it is a necessity.” Richard Pearce-Moses (Archivist for the State of Arizona) addressed that remark to archivists, but he could have meant any of the information professions. As a new information professional, describe three strategies for professional development that would be appropriate over the next five years of your career.
13. The pace of change seems to increase relentlessly. Using your crystal ball, identify and discuss three changes likely to have substantial impact on collections and services in the next five years.
14. Define the term “digital divide” and discuss the various factors which contribute to this division in our society. 
15. The proliferation of information available on the internet has encouraged may people to believe that they can find anything they need without expert assistance. As an information professional, how can you help educate users about the strengths and weaknesses of online information sources, and how would you advise users to evaluate the online sources of information they find?   
16. Identify and discuss at least three revenue sources for information organizations. Do not limit your answer to funding for only one kind of organization.

17. One of the more important limitations on copyright is the doctrine of Fair Use, (found in Section 107) of the current Copyright Law. It is somewhat vague, setting out four factors to be used in determining  whether a use is Fair, rather than specifying specific amounts of material.  Explain why this is called a "limitation" on copyright, and the reasoning behind this limitation. Can the law be changed to be more specific so that it  is easier to determine whether a use is Fair? If so, in what ways? If not, why not?

18. A recent study by the Educational Testing Service indicates that both college and high school students lack information literacy skills.  Doug Johnson (2006) of Mankato State University describes information literacy as a 21^st Century skill for information professionals.   What is information literacy? In your discussion, consider the appropriate skills of information professionals and include the elements of an information literacy program in a library or information organization setting of your choice.

19. There are many examples of information organizations that are outsourcing management. What are the advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing management in these settings?

20. Discuss the tension between being responsive to community standards and attempting to meet the needs of the community. Explain how you would respond to a challenge to materials brought by an organization that represented the majority of community members.

21. Many MLIS students find themselves competing for jobs with candidates who have backgrounds in business systems, information technology, education, or other related disciplines.  If you were explaining to potential employers why they should hire you for a position in an organization’s research department, how would you respond to the question, “What does your MLIS degree bring to this job?”

22. Making the right amount and type of information available at the right  time, to the right people, in the right format is one of the goals of information professionals.  Provide at least two examples of information products/services specifically tailored to meet the needs of highly specialized users and describe how you might have gone about identifying the needs and designing each product/service.  Finally, suggest ways in which you might evaluate the benefit of each product/service to its intended users.

23. Persons who use information services can be known by a variety of names such as readers, patrons, users, researchers, students, customers, clients, etc. Select a specific information service and state which term you prefer for the persons who use that service and why. Also discuss two terms that you consider less appropriate and give your reasons for rejecting them.
24. Discuss at least five factors that determine how "good" a document or site is as an information source.
25. What is the information professionals role in promoting the ethical access to and use of both print and non-print material?
26. Some practitioners believe that collection development and evaluation is best accomplished by a single expert who has a long-standing relationship with the user community. Discuss in general the pros and cons of this approach and then comment specifically on the role of the Collection Development Policy in the collection development cycle.
27. The Julliard School of Music has recently received a major collection of historic manuscripts as a donation. The library, which has focused almost exclusively on meeting the practical needs of current students and faculty, must now take on the task of being the custodian of rare and valuable materials and must find ways of making these materials available to scholars outside the school. The library does not have plans to hire a curator to care for the collection. What collection development issues are raised by this situation and what recommendations would you make to the trustees of Julliard regarding the handling of this collection?
28. When you are working at a reference desk, someone comes to you asking for medical or legal advice. As an ethical information professional, what help can you give them and why?
29. Lots of material in information repositories offends someone and could lower their sense of self-esteem. Should information professionals treat such offensive material in the same fashion that some colleges and universities attempt to prohibit hate speech? How should information professionals deal with the perceived hurtful effects of such material, in the context of at least three types of information centers?
30. Discuss criteria for evaluating and selecting bibliographic and referral databases based on any two types of information centers.
31. Describe three methods by which we can measure or evaluate the degree to which our patrons or users are satisfied or dissatisfied with the services and resources of an information agency. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each method.
32. In electronic information retrieval, controlled vocabularies and natural vocabularies have advantages and disadvantages. Compare these two in terms of precision/recall, ambiguity, flexibility, and learning time for users.
33. The latest edition of Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary has added the word "cybrarian" (a person who finds, collects, and manages information available on the Internet) to the lexicon. What changes and developments in American society does this reflect, and what impact do you think it will have on the information professions?
34. Many librarians and archives along the Gulf coast have lost their physical collections. In the rebuilding effort, some will undoubtedly consider replacing physical collections with virtual ones. Consider the implications of a primarily virtual collection in the library or archival setting of your choice. Would this be a good or a bad solution, and why?
35. Defend or rebut the statement from the ALA Task Force Report adopted by the ALA Council on June 29, 2004: "The foundation of modern librarianship rests on an essential set of core values that define, inform, and guide our professional practice." (Core values identified are: access, confidentiality/privacy, democracy, diversity, education and lifelong learning, intellectual freedom, public good, preservation, service, and social responsibility.)
36. What is the "Digital Divide?" What can information organizations do to close it?
37. The day will come when someone will suggest that your information organization dispose of all paper based materials in favor of digital works. How would you respond?
38. Intellectual Freedom is an important cornerstone of information services in the United States. Explain what intellectual freedom means in the context of library and information services. Describe four important intellectual issues currently facing the information professions.
39. What is the librarian or information professional's role in promoting and communicating the ethical and legal access to and use of print or non-print material by users?
40. The availability of electronic resources has begun to transform information services and add to the complexity of collection development in information organizations. From a type of information setting of your choice, discuss the following issues:
    
    
    1. the kinds of electronic resources that would be of the greatest value to users;
    2. the considerations you would take into account in deciding how to divide the
    money available between electronic resources and traditional print resources; and
    3. how the introduction of electronic resources will likely change the nature of information organizations and how they are used.