NTNU's Graduate Institute of Library & Information Studies (GLIS) is fundamentally concerned with the impact of information on individuals, organizations and society.

On the individual level, GLIS focuses on the influence of information on individuals, individual information-gathering capabilities and information literacy education, including such behavior as information collection, organization and application, and individual internal information processing and metacognition.

On the organizational level, GLIS is concerned with the influence of information on organizations in terms of knowledge management and information service organization management; the latter includes information collection, organization, delivery, digital aptitude and skills, digital library management, inter-library services and virtual reference services.

On the societal level, GLIS studies the influence of information on nations and societies. Related topics are information freedom, information privacy, information polices, information private and public goods, the knowledge / information economy and both solid and virtual information public space.

Based on these three aspects, the objectives of GLIS are to produce graduates in three different fields. The first goal is to train information literacy teachers. Our indiidual information behavior research helps train information literacy educators. In the future it will be important to develop the field of information education for school environments and life-long learning programs.

Second, we need to train managers in library and information service contexts and learning centers. The design and development of leaning resource systems and centers can provide insight into methods of academic and educational improvement in Taiwan. Individual learning efficiency can be improved by effective design and development of the learning resource system. Learning resource centers can also help improve traditional information and media centers (libraries and social education institutes), enabling them to fulfill the multi-faced objectives of social education. These resource centers can support teaching in the schools, compensating for the losses stagnated education brings, while outside the school system they can also integrate the learning resources of the society. Be it within or beyond the school system, the learning resource centers and library service systems can act as a catalyst in the realization of open and life-long education.

Therefore, GLIS specializes in research on library and information development, design, organization, integration, promotion and use. At the same time, GLIS aims to train library and information professionals, especially those who are about to strengthen their competency in the development and management of library and information systems and of learning resource centers in schools and communities. Our graduates will gain the requisite knowledge and skills for integrating the learning resources in and of schools and the society.

Third, we will train information sociologists. Information communications have been playing a pivotal role in the society and in people's lifestyles in the information age. Internet and digital archiving will have an even deeper impact on how people consume, learn and work. Given that adopting Western theories is the very last resort, we must develop our own theoretical frameworks and reasoning processes. Academic institutes in Taiwan take different approaches to library and information science. For instance, the College of Communications of National Chengchi University assumes a communications approach while some others take a sociological approach to research. Our excellent faculty, coming from sociology, communications and information technology backgrounds, will enable GLIS to become a key incubation center in Taiwan's 21st-century information society.