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Biological Information Specialists

The Graduate School of Library and Information Sciences is accepting applications for a biological informatics masters degree program for Biological Information Specialists (BIS). Unlike most existing educational programs in bioinformatics, the BIS program takes a broad view of biology and informatics to train professionals to bridge arenas of information technology development in the biological sciences. Program and application details can be found on the GSLIS web site.

The objectives of the project are to develop curriculum, establish internships, integrate course work with informatics research, share the educational approach, and expand understanding of the role of informatics in scientific progress. The BIS program is aimed at making progress toward the problem of "getting past the prototype" by educating information professionals responsible for the implementation, evaluation, continual improvement, sustainability, and integration of information and data systems about biology. BIS professionals are trained to exploit existing data standards and work toward "long-lived data" and interoperability, and to build and integrate the increasing number of digital libraries, repositories, indexing systems, ontologies, taxonomies, vocabularies, and tools associated with digital data and products.

This work is sponsored by NSF Award # 0534567.

Full text of the NSF proposal

Technical report on the BIS program

Poster on the BIS program (JCDL 2006)

Additional BIS materials including course syllabi, advisory meeting minutes, and guest lectures

Advisory Board

Thomas Garnett, Assistant Director for Digital Library and Information Systems, Smithsonian Institution Libraries

John Kress, Chairman and Curator Department of Botany, Smithsonian Institute

Maryann Martone, Scientific Coordinator, Biomedical Informatics Research Network, University of California at San Diego

Chuck Miller, Chief Information Officer, Missouri Botanical Garden

Christie Stephenson, Boeschenstein Director, Library Services, American Museum of Natural History

Neil Smalheiser, Arrowsmith project director, Psychiatric Institute, University of Illinois at Chicago