Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin was founded in 1810. Wilhelm von Humboldt's ideal of the unity of research and teaching transformed it into a model for universities all over the world and effectively made it the "mother of all modern universities". Central to this idea is research-oriented teaching, where students and teachers join together to examine existing knowledge critically and to learn how to make their own contributions. The University embraces all the major academic disciplines in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. It has programs in law, theology, medicine, business and economics, and library and information science. The University claims a long list of Nobel Prize winners and its research is internationally acclaimed. It attracts professors from leading research institutions from many countries and sends graduates internationally.

Berlin School of Library and Information Science

The Berlin School of Library and Information Science (B-SLIS) at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin was founded in 1928 and is the only library school at a German research university. B-SLIS offers research-oriented bachelor and master courses in library and information science for traditional students. The school also offers a distant learning program on the model of executive education for students with more extensive work experience. B-SLIS is the only library and information science program in Germany with the right to offer doctoral degrees. Its doctoral program is large. It has both a traditional German track and an international one that offers more intensive methodological training.

Current research at B-SLIS blends traditional library science with social science, computer science and linguistics. Digital libraries are a leitmotiv which runs through the teaching and research. Human-computer interaction plays an increasing role. Research projects emphasize long-term digital preservation, electronic publishing, copyright and open access, information retrieval and semantic network development. An additional focus is the building of Europeana, the European Digital Library. B-SLIS leads the work on technical and semantic interoperability.