astronomy

Pratt Institute School of Information

Pratt Institute School of Information is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Pratt Institute School of Information rather than just read about it. In short: The Pratt Institute School of Information is the information school of the Pratt Institute, a private university in New York City. The school administers the oldest Library and Information Science program in North America.

Key takeaways

Pratt Institute School of Information belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Pratt Institute School of Information to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Pratt Institute School of Information from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Pratt Institute School of Information is the information school of the Pratt Institute, a private university in New York City. The school administers the oldest Library and Information Science program in North America. It was created in Brooklyn, New York City, in 1890 shortly after Melvil Dewey created such a program at Columbia University in 1887. Based in Manhattan, the school administers the Master of Library and Information Science degree program that has been accredited by the American Library Association since the 1924–1925 academic year.

History

Charles Pratt, founder of Pratt Institute, recognized the need for a library that served both the faculty and students of the Institute as well as Brooklyn residents. He also recognized the need to have a facility for training of library staff. In June 1890, Pratt Institute offered courses in cataloging and library economics. In 1895, a regular faculty, chosen for its aptitude in teaching, was organized. Mary Wright Plummer, who was a graduate of Melvil Dewey’s class of 1888 from Columbia University, led it. In 1896, the Library School relocated to Pratt's new library building designed by William Tubby, which continues to act as Pratt Institute’s primary library. Under Plummer's leadership, the school enacted a stiff entrance exam and exams in German and French. The entering class was consistently around 25 students. In 1911 when Plummer left to direct the Training School at New York Public Library, Josephine Adams Rathbone was appointed vice-director. Both Plummer and Rathbone were elected as presidents of the American Library Association. Notable alumni from this early period include Anne Carroll Moore, who was a student of Mary Wright Plummer, and became a faculty member and the first children’s librarian at New York Public Library, serving in that position for 35 years (1906–1941). Another notable student from this period is Mary Elizabeth Wood, who promoted the development of libraries in China and established the first program in that country to train librarians. In 1939, Pratt began to grant the degree of bachelor of science in library science and, in 1950, the master of library science degree. Notable figures from the twentieth century include Nasser Sharify, who worked to develop the field of international librarianship as dean and professor from 1968 to 1987. Soon after Nasser Sharify stepped into the role of Dean in 1968, the school’s name changed to the Graduate School of Library and Information Science (GSLIS). This would reflect the advances in technology and information science and Pratt’s embrace of these changes. “This action went far beyond a mere change in nomenclature,” Dean Sharify wrote in his 1978 history of the school. “Rather, the new designation gave recognition to an emerging and important new discipline [Information Science].” Subsequent to the School's name change, the school rewrote its goals and objectives and began to expand its technology curriculum. In need of more space for computer labs, GSLIS moved from the library on the Brooklyn campus to its own building, the Information Science Center (ISC), in 1974. It included laboratories built for more hands-on technical computer study, including an instructional materials lab, an information science lab, and a technical processes lab.

The school celebrated its centennial in 1990. In the United States House of Representatives, New York Congressman Major Owens (first librarian to serve in Congress) gave a salute to Pratt Institute's library school "both for its 100th anniversary, and for being the oldest such library program in the country." Pratt Institute School of Information relocated to the Pratt Manhattan Center at 144 West 14th Street in Manhattan in Fall 2002, and it continues to operate from that location. In 2004, Dean Tula Giannini repositioned the School to focus on archives and cultural heritage, introducing advanced certificate Programs in archives and museum libraries. In fall 2015, Dean Giannini, changed the name of the School from School of Information and Library Science (SILS) to School of Information (SI) as part of a strategic plan to transform the school for the 21st century digital age, which includes three new master degrees and advanced certificates (see below under "Academic programs").

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Pratt Institute School of Information

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Pratt Institute School of Information claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Pratt Institute School of Information before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Pratt Institute School of Information ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Pratt Institute School of Information

In research: Pratt Institute School of Information appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Pratt Institute School of Information in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Pratt Institute School of Information is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1890 establishments in New York (state), American Library Association accredited library schools, Information schools, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Pratt Institute School of Information outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Pratt Institute School of Information in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Pratt Institute School of Information means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Pratt Institute School of Information out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Pratt Institute School of Information in simple terms?

Why does Pratt Institute School of Information matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Pratt Institute School of Information?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Pratt Institute School of Information.