Comprehensive Examination Information
| Introduction | Eligibility | Comprehensive Briefing |
| Registration | Special Accomodations | Procedures |
| Grading | Questions |
A candidate for the M.S. in L.S. degree must
pass a comprehensive examination that tests a common knowledge
base that will qualify the candidate to perform professionally
at the time of his/her first appointment, and enable the individual
to acquire greater expertise as needed. In addition to this common
knowledge base, the comprehensive examination also tests certain
performance capabilities that distinguish professional from paraprofessional
work in libraries and information centers.
The basic components of this common knowledge
base are:
In order to take the comprehensive examination,
a student must have completed or be in the process of completing
his/her last semester of course work. Also, the student must not
have any outstanding incomplete grades.
The student may delay taking comprehensives
until he/she has completed all course work. However, to delay
longer than the semester following completion of course work,
while per7nissible, is not advisable. Normally, a student is allowed
no more than three years between the completion of course work
and the completion of the comprehensive examination. The faculty
recommends that a student complete his/her course work and the
comprehensive examination within five years of enrolling in the
first course.
Each semester a briefing session is held to
present information and to answer questions about the comprehensive
examination itself and exam procedures. Students are advised to
attend a briefing before the semester in which they plan to take
the exam. An audio tape of a comps briefing is available in the
Library and Information Science Library (132 Marist) and from
all the off-campus program assistants.
Past comprehensive examination questions are
available for student perusal in the Library and Information Science
Library, in print and at the school's web site.
Students must register for the comprehensive
examination during the regular registration period for the semester
in which they plan to take the examination.
The comprehensive examination is administered
three times each year (generally October, March, and July) for
three hours, 9 a.m. to 12 noon, on two succeeding days, Friday
and Saturday, as specified in the Academic Calendar.
Students taking the comprehensive examination
may request special accommodations relating to language, health,
or any other special requirements. Accommodations for students
for whom English is a second language may include additional test-taking
time and the use of a native language/English translation dictionary.
The school works with the university's Office
of Multicultural and Special Services in determining appropriate
accommodations for students with physical disabilities and learning
disabilities. Documentation concerning the student's disability
must be provided.
Students are urged to discuss the procedures
for requesting accommodations with the Associate Dean of Library
and Information Science in a semester prior to the one in which
they plan to take the comprehensive exam. For information about
the Office of Multicultural and Special Services, call 202-319-5618.
On entering the examination room, the student
will be assigned a number to be used on the cover of all examination
booklets; no names are to be placed on the booklets.
Five questions will be presented each day;
the student will choose two each day for detailed, systematic,
well thought out replies. Generally, the questions require the
student to demonstrate his/her mastery of the larger, more comprehensive
aspects of library and information science implicit in the question;
then, if appropriate, he/she may make applications to types of
libraries or areas of librarianship and information work. Occasionally,
a question stipulates that the student must discuss the question
in a specific context. Three hours are allowed for each day's
examination session.
Examination answers are read by members of
the full-time faculty and are graded on a Pass/Fail basis. Students
remain anonymous throughout the grading process. Students failing
more than one question after evaluation by the entire full-time
faculty are considered to have failed the comprehensive examination.
The faculty considers the comprehensive examination
an important means of evaluating academic preparation for the
receipt of the M.S. in L.S. degree. A comprehensive exam question
tests the student's ability to organize and integrate knowledge
acquired over many courses in the program. Answers to comprehensive
questions will be evaluated on the following criteria:
1. Unity, coherence, together with a full and logical development of the answer in relation to the specific examination question.
2. Synthesis of information from an appropriate range of library and information science areas and courses.
3. Appropriate citation of relevant literature
that helps to substantiate, refute, or illustrate specific arguments
within the body of the answer.
If the student fails the comprehensive examination,
he or she may be permitted to take the examination a second time
at the regularly scheduled comprehensive examination period. If
the student fails the comprehensive examination a second time,
he or she will no longer be considered eligible to receive the
master's degree.
