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Master of Library and Information Science

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Law Librarianship

Pending University approval: Beginning Autumn 2023, the MLIS Law program will be offered online. Students may attend full-time or part-time.

People work at tables in the Gallagher Law Library.

Combine your background in law with new skills in knowledge organization that will transform your career. As a law librarian and legal information professional, you will tap into the power of information to support the mission of courts, federal and state government, law schools, corporations and more.

The UW iSchool’s law librarianship program provides the highest level of preparation for a career in legal information. The curriculum blends a strong theoretical foundation in the principles of information science with the specialized legal research, technological and operational background you will need to thrive as a law librarian. An accompanying internship allows you to further build your technical skills.

Admission to the law librarianship program requires the completion of a JD from an ABA-accredited law school (or a foreign equivalent law degree). Classes are offered in the residential mode over four consecutive academic quarters. The Law MLIS degree requirements differ from the residential and online MLIS programs, although MLIS residential students without a JD may take some of the specific legal information classes as electives.

Curricular & Experiential Program Components

The curricular component of the program is 10 months, beginning in Autumn Quarter and ending the following accelerated Summer Quarter (Summer A-term). Students in the program will earn the MLIS degree with a specialization in Law Librarianship after successful completion of 41-43 quarter credit hours. The lockstep format of the Law MLIS curriculum requires students to remain through the full 4-quarter cycle (Autumn through Summer A-term). The program follows the UW Academic Calendar.

The experiential component of the program is an internship working in the Gallagher Law Library, which is part of the UW School of Law. During the internship, law librarianship students will be trained in a variety of operational aspects and special projects in the law library to make transitioning to the profession and work environments easier.  

Degree Requirements

The average course load in the program is 12 credits per quarter. Ten credits per quarter is the minimum for students who need to meet certain financial aid requirements. Library and Information Science course descriptions are located in the UW course catalog, and the sequential Law MLIS curriculum is as follows:

1. Autumn Quarter (12 credits)

  • LIS 520 Concepts, Services, and Issues for Information Professionals (4 credits)
  • LIS 579 Instructional Strategies for Legal Information (3 credits)
  • LIS 592 Legal Research Methods (4 credits)
  • LIS 595 Research and Writing in Law Librarianship (1 credit)

2. Winter Quarter (13-14 credits)

  • LIS 530 Organization of Information and Resources (4 credits)
  • LIS 547 Design Methods for Librarianship (4 credits)
  • LIS 595 Research and Writing in Law Librarianship (2 credits)
  • Elective
    • LIS 593 Teaching Practicum (2 credits) OR 
    • LIS 545 Data Curation I: Fundamentals (4 credits)

3. Spring Quarter (12 credits)

  • LIS 549 Beginning Web Development (4 credits)
  • LIS 572 Introduction to Data Science (4 credits)
  • LIS 595 Research and Writing in Law Librarianship (1 credit)
  • Elective
    • LIS 556 Information Ownership & Control: Copyright (3 credits) OR
    • LIS 584 Knowledge Management (3 credits)

4. Summer A-term (6 credits)

  • LIS 590 Directed Fieldwork (2 credits)
  • LIS 594 Management Skills in Law Libraries (3 credits)

More Information

Contact Us

For further information, contact the iSchool (iAsk@uw.edu) or the Law Librarianship program director, Carla Wale (cpwale@uw.edu). 

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