So I'm strongly considering going for an MLS/MLIS degree. I know some of you are in that field. I'm in the preliminary stages of research, so any thoughts or insights about your education and profession would be helpful. Here are some questions I have about the programs and application/admissions process. Whatever you can answer helps. I'm looking at this mostly as a professional degree and don't have any major aspirations to do any research, I just kind of want to be a public librarian or possibly a non-specialized university librarian, maybe ultimately getting into administration. 1) Does program prestige matter? I'm not that concerned about the top programs, but does going to a particularly lower-regarded program, or a primarily internet-based one impact the job search? In other words do most employers just care whether or not you have the degree, and then evaluate you based on other factors. Or does the actual degree come under scrutiny (ie where from, GPA, courses taken)? 2) I'm not that comfortable with the idea of taking many classes online. It seems to me that if the coursework is tedious, then then internet/distance courses would be less painful, but if the coursework is engaging, then you'd want to sit through lectures. What are your experiences with this? 3) How greuling is attending the program full-time? Is it time-consuming enough between class time and coursework to justify it? 4) For most program application requirements, they seem to require 3 letters of recommendation (some places even say they must be academic). I'm 4 years out of college, and I was never particularly friendly with any of my professors. Definitely not comfortable enough to ask them out of the blue for a letter of rec. How do I get around this? Also, I've only worked at a couple places since graduation, so I really only have a couple supervisors that could comment professionally. If I need more recommenders, is it strange to get multiple references from people within the same company? Finally (for now) 5) Any idea on the merits of programs at Canadian Universities? If I can't get an in-state rate at my local university, it looks like it could be a good economical option (even dollar strength not-withstanding). Thanks again!
Make sure the program has certification. Are you in the US or in Canada? If in the US, make sure the program is ALA certified. I would imagine that Canada has their own certification process. http://www.cla.ca/ After that, you should look at what each program offers, what are the requirements?, what is their philosophy?, etc... There are reputable programs all over, but some may have better emphasis on public or academic OR special libraries. Just remember, that academic and public libraries have different agenda and methods...and sometimes people who work in either will find it sometimes difficult to switch to the other. I would like to think that has changed, but you never know. I work at an academic library and do a lot of teaching as well. Library class work is usually pretty DAMN boring. If you want to have more of a flavor of online programs I recommend reading the blog Life As I Know It Can be, obviously depending on your work schedule and how much library experience you bring in. Sorry, I would think you go with what you have. I would maybe contact the admissions office of a school that "requires" an academic one and tell them your situation. Not sure, but I would maybe contact some Canadian Librarians http://lauriethelibrarian.electrified.ca/ http://distlib.blogs.com/distlib/
I worked in a library as support staff for a number of years at a college and seminary library. So I'm not a librarian, but I played one in the minds of students needing help on research papers. I have nothing to add about library school specifically, but I will point out that nearly every librarian I know really likes his or her job. They all really didn't dig library school. That's the opposite of friends of mine who are lawyers -- they universally loved law school. Most of them don't really dig their work on a daily basis. If you're cut out for it, that's the best recommendation I can give for MLS/MLIS.
I would agree with this. I have yet to meet a librarian who actually liked their respective MLS program.
@Olesh If you do want to work in a public setting, I suggest volunteering at one while you get your degree. In the Twin Cities, it is notoriously hard to get a full-time job, right out of school. Start making those connections and in-roads.
Thanks for taking the time to respond to my questions Dead Fingers. To clear up any confusion, I'm an American living in the Southern California, so my questions concerning Canadian programs were based on curiosities involving financial concerns. Believe it or not, even with the weak dollar, most Canadian Universities are less expensive than the in-state tuition for UCLA (A program which appears too technically-oriented for my liking anyway). It appears many Canadian Universities are ALA certified, so it theoretically seemed like a viable option, I was just wondering if it was a practical option. Many thanks for that link to the online MLS student's blog. She did a nice job giving some insights into the world of correspondence courses, it also opened me up to the MLS blogosphere, so I've been barrelling through as many of them as possible to get some different perspectives. It's funny that what kind of triggered my interest in pursing this was an article I read about how Librarians and Information Specialists was a growth industry. Now that I'm exploring deeper, everybody is saying the job market stinks. Of course in my mind, it can't be THAT bad, since I work in television, and I can't really conceptualize a worse job market. My question is, is the job market bad across the board or is it just perceived that way since there is so much competition for the top jobs in the most desireable places? Because part of what appealed to me about the profession is the apparent geographic flexibility one might have. And flexibility is something I have a great deal of. I worked as a page and circulation clerk at a relatively large county library through high school and the beginning of college, so I have some idea how things work, but I was looking at things from a very different perspective back then. Believe me, I hear you about interning/volunteering. It's probably the only reason I lasted in my current profession as long as I have. Otherwise we would've been having this conversation a couple years ago. On the bright side, it looks like most library internships are paid (probably at the expense of hiring real, full-time librarians)!
You are welcome. Just a few quick thoughts. I think some markets are tight. The Twin Cities are very tight with high quality library sytems: public, academic, special and state. It also doesn't help that we have a library program in the cities, which will always make it more competative. Try ala.org's job site (http://www.ala.org/ala/education/empopps/employment.htm) & http://joblist.ala.org/ They just changed this around..so I am not sure about it, but there are always job listings. And if you are willing to move, and it looks like you are, you should have no trouble finding a job.
FWIW, I work as an information architect in Washington DC, and I know a few people who have attended the Library program at University of Maryland. They spoke respectfully about the program, and all seemed to believe that they got their money's worth. And, this is DC. We have a lot of need for people with information skills.
I'm a UMD grad. I was on the archives/records management track and sort of stumbled into public librarianship.
I kind of had a weird program. The program was through Dominican University in Illinois, but they had an arrangement with one of the schools in the Twin Cities..St. Catherines. The problem, at least for some, was that you had to do at least 4 classes AT Dominican. This wasn't a problem for me as I have some good friends in Chicago and I just went down for a whole semester. Most Minnesota students just went down during the summer sessions. This was just about the time they were starting to add some telecommunicated (via live tv feed) classes and some of the Dominican faculty were coming up to teach some of the St. Catherines ' classes. So I was actually a part of the last class that had to actually go to Chicago. Now, St. Catherine's is on their way to being accredited themselves. Not sure when they will split from Dominican? Anyway, one of the best classes I ever took was with the Archives class with adjunct faculty & Northwestern Archivist, Patrick Quinn. Awesome guy and awesome class. I went in thinking public and "stumbled" into academic. I know some of the big discussion on a lot of the librarian blogs, besides the "library 2.0" stuff, is the need for better classes in the MLS programs. Very little on teaching or working with faculty.
Good to hear. I had a friend who did the program through American U, IIRC. I also always look at the job listings in that area. Some good stuff.