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I'm aiming for a career in Library Science. I'm graduating this spring with a BA in English with a French minor. I've done grunt work (shelving, checking books in, helping patrons find things, etc.) for my school's library for two years, and righ now I'm trying to get a (very slightly) more prestigious clerical job for about a year, until I can apply for a Master's program. I've got all this planned out, but what do I do after that? I know there are a lot of options with a Library Science degree, but I want to find out what all the career paths are like. I've talked with a subject specialist and I'm seeing an archivist next week, but I know there's more than that. So basically I'm looking for advice from all you librarian goons. Right now I'm leaning towards subject specialization in French history and culture, but input on any profession is appreciated (reference work, archiving, cataloging, working for the military, public library systems, law firms, private companies, or whatever). Anything on applying/getting a master's degree is also appreciated (I'm thinking about getting a dual degree in library science and French from Chapel Hill or Univeristy of Illinois Urbana-Champaign). So, tell me everything you know!
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Feb 23, 2010 19:43
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No jobs, batshit insane professors, idiotic classmates, you will die alone and penniless. Just kidding. Kind of. I am currently enrolled in a "prestigious" ALA-accredited (as much as a library program can be famous) MLIS program on the east coast. I went the online route since I am already employed in a library (lower end of full time pay scale). I also started out in the grunt work in an academic library setting, so I kind of have the same background. On the other hand, I came out of a MA program in History and didn't try for the MLS straight out of undergrad. It's good that you have experience with the grunt work. From what I can tell, any library job will expect you to have experience. So try to get that clerical position in the library. It will look good on the resume. I have been consistently told that three to five years of practical library experience will put you ahead of all the graduates straight out of library school. There are all kinds of jobs that need librarians. Public schools, public libraries, government institutions (even the US military), archives, museums, private institutions, universities, and even corporate entities. Not all of it is rigorous reference work. Some people went to library school and they check out books all day without one consideration for someone's information needs. I've also been told by my advisors to get the master's degree in your other field of study ASAP. Every young white female that couldn't get a job with their education or English degree is now going to library school. I have seen this with my own eyes. If you can get your master's in English (or something else), get it now. A lot of library jobs, especially those with specific specializations, are requiring a double masters degree. Furthermore, the entire library science program is a crock of poo poo. There is almost nothing in the curriculum that you can't learn from six months on the job. A keen mind for research and accessing information will get you farther. The program I am in is ridiculously easy. Don't worry, you will learn things about cataloging, archives, and other things. Focus on those. Smile and just bear the rest. I have no idea why this isn't some sort of certification. It's a one year program masked as a full graduate degree. And yes, I know some people are in love with the whole magical time you spent in library school and the awesome credentials you now have. However, I am entitled to my opinion. In short, do the online program (keeps you from strangling your classmates), keep your intelligence and common sense in check and pass the courses, and get as many credentials and skills in other fields first to supplement the MLS. Edit: You had better also really, really, really like libraries. Your professors will lie to you and say that there are lots of jobs out there. There aren't. Many librarians are retiring and many of them are not being replaced. Also, many librarians are reaching retirement age and NOT retiring. Many libraries are also replacing full time staff with part time staff due to budget crunches. You may be in grunt work for years to come. Insane Totoro fucked around with this message at 22:01 on Feb 23, 2010 |
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Feb 23, 2010 21:58
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maskenfreiheit fucked around with this message at 03:04 on Nov 29, 2013 |
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Feb 24, 2010 04:46
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I looked into this a while back and got kind of depressed about it, for the reasons the previous posters have stated. I looked into clerical level library jobs in various libraries as part of the process, and the interviews I showed up for were disheartening. I'd show up for a job working the circulation desk or something that paid $12/hr. part time with no benefits, and there'd be dozens of people with masters degrees competing for the spot(that I saw and talked to, probably hundreds and hundreds applying). The field is full of 90 year old cat ladies who refuse to retire, every city/govt./institution in my area has frozen budgets, laid people off, etc. etc. herbaceous backson fucked around with this message at 21:23 on Feb 25, 2010 |
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Feb 24, 2010 15:21
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a handful of dust posted:The field is full of 90 year old cat ladies who refuse to retire, every city/govt./institution in my area has frozen budgets, laid people off, etc. etc. Oh god this is so true. What is it with the cat ladies? Even the researchers in the field are crazy cat ladies. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brenda_Dervin http://web3.unt.edu/news/image.cfm?image=403
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Feb 24, 2010 15:29
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a handful of dust posted:
Just to add some weight to this a town near me has a per capita income of 76k. Yes if you divide income over every child, man, and woman that lives there it comes out to 76k, the actual median is near 150k. They chose not to keep their librarians rather than raising taxes. quote:Telling her mother that she wanted to come to the aid of a library under attack, 11-year-old Sydney Sabbagha stood at the podium before the Oak Brook village board. Yes a 70 year old told a 11 year old to pay for the library or shut up. I think it's on youtube maybe.
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Feb 24, 2010 17:54
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Wow, that was even more disheartening than I thought it would be. Thanks for your honesty, though. Insane Totoro: I really, really do like libraries. I think I might be the only student employee in my department who genuinely enjoys the work. I love working with books and I get such satisfaction knowing that I help people find what they need. Can I ask what kind of work you plan to enter once you're done with your degree? And what kind of technology/comp sci classes you have to take? Also, that story right there is one of the saddest things I've read all week.
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Feb 25, 2010 00:20
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I highly recommend turning around and never looking back at the library and museum field to anyone considering entering school to get jobs in either area (very closely related). The wife has a couple years of experience at a few different places and has masters degrees in history and museum studies. She's now trying to go for an MLIS possibly. You're probably going to be more employable than her in a bit is the sad part, but that doesn't mean you'll get a job either. There's no jobs in museums except as baristas, sales (read: grant writing and schmoozing with rich donors) and marketing, and most of the jobs she's seen in libraries and archives for years require an MLIS. The few jobs available there are in odd fly-over states in rural areas with really low costs of living where a museum / library graduate would probably never want to move. Either that or in a specific street in southeast DC where you have the greatest per capita murder rate in the US (Suitland, MD). Job prospects for her are probably best in teaching at a high school or community college, but budgets have been slashed there tons, and teaching certificates take time to earn them. This isn't so easy to deal with when you have $50k+ in graduate school student loans and working random jobs while you get that certificate. Read the Bureau of Labor Statistics website and take every job prospect down about one or two notches to account for current challenging macroeconomic conditions. That means you can forget getting a job in a library or museum unless you've already been employed in one for years and years already implying that the market is saturated and you should get the hell out if you don't actually need money to eat and live. ANY field that says there's "adequate" supply is probably overestimating the number of people that tried to get a job in it and moved on to something else. I wish I could find the stats now, but a prominent school for libraries and museums showed that graduates in recent years (about 4-5) have been getting only about a 30% placement rate in their fields of study. A good chunk were unemployed even a year after graduation. The part that sucks then is that so long after you graduate you're no longer eligible for an internship anymore. So I'd say the best way for you to gain and keep employment in the field is to be a student - don't graduate, just stay a student taking internships until you're old and decrepit! Also, if it wasn't for me, the wife would have been well on the path to becoming a crazy cat lady, I am very certain of this, and she's admitted it herself. She would be some crazy cat lady that listens to old school thrash and death metal though. She's got a lot more personality than a crazy cat lady type is the thing and would probably do great in sales and marketing, but she has such a low tolerance for any practical job I'm not going to encourage her to do that. Insane Totoro posted:I have no idea why this isn't some sort of certification. It's a one year program masked as a full graduate degree. Thing that pisses me off about so much of the information sciences field is that computer scientists already wrote 90% of what they wrote decades ago (information theory texts are aplenty - see Leslie Lamport's papers). It's like they get a degree in computer science for people who hate computers or are too artsy fartsy to bother actually learning them but have to use them for their job. Pompoon posted:I really, really do like libraries.
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Feb 25, 2010 01:13
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Let me just say I graduated with my MLS from Simmons College (one of the top MLS programs) in May '08....and I'm still looking for a full-time job. I'd eagerly look for a job in another field if I didn't feel like that would mean my $36,000 student loan debt was for nothing. 
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Feb 25, 2010 01:25
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Dear OP, If you are that into libraries and have the passion, go for it. I would be proud to have you as a classmate. My advice: get a masters degree in another field first. If you can get a clerical job in the library at the same time, that is a very, very good thing. You will find out if your passion lasts through the grunt work. And you'll have a real degree to fall back on. And work experience for the resume. Talk to the librarians you know. Pick their brains and learn some stuff on the job. Like SIRSI or something else. You may want to get a certification in an IT-related field if you can. Don't listen to people who pretend Twitter is the next best thing. Master web design or cataloging or databases or something. Foreign languages help a lot. Maybe not French but maybe Arabic or Chinese. I'm going the digital libraries route and we have to do just about everything IT-related to a reasonable point and beyond. Learning a computer language is a plus. Develop skills other than "libraries," overall.... thus another masters degree and other certifications. I am trying to collabortae with a statistician on a database project and modeling stuff. Be willing to move. Weird places. Like being an archivist in Alaska or something. Also, library school can be very very veery stupid. I am in a class of soccer moms and sorority girls who could not get into an education grad program.... and they are getting top marks. That bad. They are shooting out subpar grads and flooding the job market. Posting from my smartphone. Apologies for grammar. Edit: it won't be impossible to do this. Just be ready to fight the stupid...... and fight for a job. And go for an ALA accredited school. Yes the ALA is stupid but the name means something on a resume Insane Totoro fucked around with this message at 01:49 on Feb 25, 2010 |
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Feb 25, 2010 01:41
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Pompoon posted:Right now I'm leaning towards subject specialization in French history and culture Don't bother. Schools are moving towards generalist models, which means they only check to see that you have a Bachelor's/Master's and they don't care in what (beyond broad divisions like Humanities/Business/Science/Health/etc.). Having a second master's (in addition to your MLIS, that is) is a huge leg up when you enter the job market, especially at the academic level, so it's definitely worth investing the time. It also makes actually getting into the MLIS program anywhere a breeze. Now keep in mind I'm in Canada, so that could be totally different in the States, but the kind of work you'd be doing with your degrees would probably be at an academic library with some combination of liaison/subject work, reference, and instruction (although again this one will depend on your institution--some schools are really great about integrating library instruction into the lower-year curriculum, which means the liaisons are always instructing, and other schools are less good and liaisons have to fight for brief periods of intense instruction because the profs don't really get the "value vs. time needed" ratio in that they want us to teach students EVERYTHING about research in one 50 minute session). If you do the MLIS degree, use it as an opportunity to bolster your resume. Everyone should take courses in tech fields (basic web design, database architecture, content management systems, etc.) because even though you'll rarely need to do any coding in the job, being able to say you're familiar with those three things on your CV will put you ahead of your competition. Plus, library school isn't hard, so don't worry about getting in over your head. The tech courses are very basic. Everyone should also take courses in information retrieval, information visualization, and records/knowledge management, just because the skills you pick up will be used daily no matter what field of librarianship you go into. If you're planning on going into academic libraries, be sure to pick up courses on advanced reference, instructional strategies, and project management. Hopefully none of that was too specific. Also, I'm sitting on a reference desk as I type this.
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Feb 25, 2010 02:23
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That was very helpful; thanks!Astfgl posted:Don't bother. Schools are moving towards generalist models, which means they only check to see that you have a Bachelor's/Master's and they don't care in what (beyond broad divisions like Humanities/Business/Science/Health/etc.). Having a second master's (in addition to your MLIS, that is) is a huge leg up when you enter the job market, especially at the academic level, so it's definitely worth investing the time. It also makes actually getting into the MLIS program anywhere a breeze. So you're saying it would still be a good idea to get a dual master's degree, right? As for those tech courses, did you take those while in library school or before?
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Feb 25, 2010 03:15
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Pompoon posted:So you're saying it would still be a good idea to get a dual master's degree, right? Yes, please have some kind of other skills before you enter library school. As it was said, it will make it easier to get into library school (ahead of the hordes of soccer moms). Also it will show that you are competent at doing research yourself (how can you help others if you don't do it yourself?). I took some tech courses before, but I plan to take more as my MLS progresses. If you have access to free/cheap workshops as a student, go for those too. Everything helps. Edit: http://www.ala.org/ala/educationcareers/education/accreditedprograms/directory/index.cfm A list of online-only MLS programs that have ALA accreditation. You can take classes while looking for a grunt job somewhere. In fact, a lot of the programs are designed for full time librarians who are finishing their MLS. 1. Clarion University of Pennsylvania 2. Drexel University 3. Florida State University 4. North Carolina Central University 5. Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey 6. San Jose State University 7. Southern Connecticut State University 8. Texas Woman's University (Conditional) 9. University at Buffalo, State Univ. of New York (Conditional) 10. University of Alabama 11. University of Puerto Rico 12. University of Southern Mississippi 13. University of Tennessee 14. University of Washington 15. University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee 16. Wayne State University Astfgl posted:Also, I'm sitting on a reference desk as I type this. Sup, night shift reference goon buddy. Are you at a university? Insane Totoro fucked around with this message at 03:30 on Feb 25, 2010 |
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Feb 25, 2010 03:24
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Insane Totoro posted:Talk to the librarians you know. Pick their brains and learn some stuff on the job. Like SIRSI or something else. Would you mind explaining what SIRSI is? I did a brief google search and just ended up a little confused. Insane Totoro posted:And go for an ALA accredited school. Yes the ALA is stupid but the name means something on a resume edit: nm, you already answered that Again, thanks a lot for all the help!
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Feb 25, 2010 03:32
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Insane Totoro posted:
I was a little wary of online programs, since I wasn't sure how valuable they were vs. actual classroom work. But that might make getting another degree simultaneously a lot more doable. Is your program online?
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Feb 25, 2010 03:40
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Pompoon posted:Would you mind explaining what SIRSI is? I did a brief google search and just ended up a little confused. ALA = American Library Association SIRSI is made by this company: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SirsiDynix It is one of many different brands of library management software that lets you keep track of everything from cataloging to serials. And it is what runs underneath the OPAC (library catalog). Wikipedia actually covers a lot of it pretty well and you can go deeper from there: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OPAC
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Feb 25, 2010 03:43
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Insane Totoro posted:ALA = American Library Association Ah, I understand. I guess I've used similar programs before for research. And I guess the library I work at now uses some derivation of it.
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Feb 25, 2010 04:14
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Pompoon posted:I was a little wary of online programs, since I wasn't sure how valuable they were vs. actual classroom work. But that might make getting another degree simultaneously a lot more doable. Is your program online? I went to UW-Milwaukee, mostly on-site, but took 2 online courses. I did not like the online courses at all. I felt like I got a lot less out of them than the on campus classes. My displeasure was all about the format and not the content. I think you need to just try an online course and see if you like how it is done. I know I would have been miserable if I was a distance only student. Anyway, you really need to make yourself stand out as others have been saying. I finished my course work this past summer, but didn't technically graduate till this past December. I have 5 years of corporate IT experience, a comp-sci under grad education, a history BA and MA, wrote a thesis for my history MA, and got the MLIS with a concentration in archives. I was offered a position in October, and this has been by far the exception rather than the rule. Of all of my friends from Library school that are finished or almost finished I know of only one other that has a position in libraries that they want. Check out this 2009 survey by Library Journal of 2008 grads: http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6699218.html Based on my personal experience, which is of course purely anecdotal, I would have to rank the aspects that helped me get a position as: 1. 2 graduate level degrees and field specific concentration 2. IT background 3. Work experience in various archives as volunteer/intern 4. Choice to write a thesis for history MA 5. Willingness to relocate Another important aspect I can't really rank is networking. I wouldn't have even found out about the position I have now if it wasn't for a librarian friend, who at the time lived 1000 miles away, who alerted me to it. If you are worried about the time it takes to finish a dual degree program, keep in mind that it can be done very quickly if you are willing to work at it. Granted, my parents were supportive enough to let me move back in with them so I didn't have to work just to survive while I returned to school, but I finished my history MA and MLIS (48 credits total), including researching and writing my 130 page thesis, in 3 semesters and a summer. During this time I also had 1 part time paid internship, and 3 volunteer work experiences; all in archives. nesbit37 fucked around with this message at 04:59 on Feb 25, 2010 |
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Feb 25, 2010 04:56
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Pompoon posted:So you're saying it would still be a good idea to get a dual master's degree, right? Oh, definitely. Just don't think that because you specialize in French history and culture that you'll get to work with anything even close to that. Like I said, having the degree is more important than whatever the degree is actually in, and especially in academic libraries you'll probably be shopped around to whatever humanities department is currently in need of assistance. We have lots of people with English and Classics MAs who wind up managing collections like Labour Studies, Political Science, and Communication Studies. French might be a little different, especially if it isn't as prevalent as it is here, but that's what I meant by the generalist/specialist thing. You're expected to be able to pick up whatever they throw at you, within reason. Pompoon posted:As for those tech courses, did you take those while in library school or before? In library school. Mine had two kinds of tech courses. There were the optional sessions that ran for a semester and covered things like Excel, HTML, and other really basic competencies. These were pitched at a super-low level, ran entirely on a drop-in basis, and were just there to make sure everyone had certain skillsets for groupwork (so no one could say "Oh, I don't know Excel so you do that part"). The other tech courses were full-credit courses, and you had to take at least one. They'd be a lot broader (so stuff like Digital Libraries or Managing Internet Information Systems) and they sound a lot more daunting than they actually are. They're more in-depth and give you a pretty well-rounded look at database design, web design, and content management systems. Again, this is all specific to where I went, but this seems pretty standard across Canada, so I imagine it's not wildly different south of the border. Insane Totoro posted:Sup, night shift reference goon buddy. Are you at a university? Yeah, or at least I was when I wrote that. The students just got back from reading week, and they are both ornery and demanding.
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Feb 25, 2010 07:35
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Pompoon posted:I was a little wary of online programs, since I wasn't sure how valuable they were vs. actual classroom work. But that might make getting another degree simultaneously a lot more doable. Is your program online? My program is 100% online. From what I can tell, nobody can tell that you took it online or on campus. If that's worrying you, I mean. I can't speak on the effectiveness of the on campus course work versus online. I just know that the online courses keep me sane since I don't have to trek into class and see the smug soccer moms day after day. Astfgl posted:Yeah, or at least I was when I wrote that. The students just got back from reading week, and they are both ornery and demanding. I wish they actually gave me... actual reference questions. "Where's the bathroom?" "Do you know a good pizza place?"
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Feb 25, 2010 22:44
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If you are looking in going into library science, I would highly recommend subscribing to library listservs about your concentration of choice. For example, I am currently subscribed to Publib, code4lib, web4lib, and calix. Calix is the listserv for California libraries. I've found that listservs get jobs posted onto them that do not get posted onto the typical job listing sites like Indeed. The listservs are also the most active online community of librarians- you can learn a lot about the job just lurking on the listservs. That said, I definitely agree that the library science field is a very hurting field right now. People retire and their positions are frozen. I would recommend looking for volunteer experience first on sites like idealist, then using that to get a paraprofessional job, which will give you a leg up when you finish the MLIS. I volunteered at my public library for a summer, got hired as a parapro part time (right before the economy got really bad), and am now beginning my MLIS degree. Also check the local library associations around you. I'm currently in the middle of a job hiring process that I found on the BayNetLib website that hadn't really been posted anywhere else. I'm really hopeful for it- just waiting for the background and reference check to come through. I've already been through a phone and an on-campus interview, so I think my chances are good.
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Feb 25, 2010 22:59
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Insane Totoro posted:I wish they actually gave me... actual reference questions. "Where's the bathroom?" "Do you know a good pizza place?" Why aren't the printers working? Do you guys do change? Do you have a stapler I can use? Is the internet down? Can you cite this for me in APA? What do you think my prof means here in this assignment? Will you proofread this paper for me? And my personal favourites: Are you the person who gets the books for us? / Is this where we can come to pick up our research? I actually really love reference, I just loathe 95% of the lazy undergrads that come to the desk.
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Feb 26, 2010 06:31
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[quote="Astfgl"] Why aren't the printers working? Do you guys do change? Do you have a stapler I can use? Is the internet down? Can you cite this for me in APA? What do you think my prof means here in this assignment? Will you proofread this paper for me? [/quote Seriously? Chriswizard: I sort of do have a paraprofessional job right now; I've been a shelver for two years (student job & all). Over the summer I got a slight promotion to checking other people's shelving work. Is that the sort of thing you mean? And that's a good idea about the listservs; I think the subject specialist I talked to the other day mentioned one. Good luck with that job! Thanks again for the good advice, guys!
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Feb 26, 2010 07:06
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Shelving is a good starting point. I know that MLIS students compete for that kind of thing. I've had to shelve a lot recently due to budget cutbacks, and it's definitely as important a task as any other. It's good experience! You get a sense of how the demand for a collection differs, and you get a sense of "where" things should belong. Books are useless if they're stuck in the back. I would use the promotion as an example of how you can handle tedious work (there is a LOT of that in a library), and how you can supervise others. If I were you, I would try to vary my paraprofessional experience- stuff on the level of a library assistant or library clerk. A clerk gets "front line" experience dealing with the public, which can range anywhere from a drunk and hostile patron to helping a child check out his first book. You would also get a fair amount of training on library policies, since you would have to explain those policies to patrons. An assistant may run ILL, or do copy cataloging and processing, or binding, or a multitude of other things. It's very hard to find a higher level parapro position these days- everything either cut back or frozen. My public library system is short one shelver and two clerks at its main branch. In a smallish library, that's a big shortfall. Again, I would encourage cold-calling libraries to volunteer. I got to do a lot of fun stuff as a volunteer, because they knew I wanted to go into library science. I got to shadow the reference desk, help with collection development, help run various programs...it depends on how open the system you contact is. Try looking at the internships your local library school offers. If the library is open to internships, they're open to a volunteer. The two aren't too far apart, after all. Libraries love free labor, and you can make very important contacts. The field is deeply interconnected. Those reference questions are just the tip of the iceburg. "Can you give me more internet time?" / "Could you look up the directions to this place?" / "When does X close?" / "Where's your bathroom?" / "Your computers are broken!! [when just the monitor is off]" / "There's a homeless man using your sink to clean himself." Incidentally, there's this strange love-hate relationship among librarians towards the Annoyed Librarian blog. The AL blog is by far the most popular. Personally, I think it's crap and dangerously negative. Yes, the library field is very very hard to get into. I love what I do every day. I may not be paid very much, but there's a great deal of satisfaction in bringing people towards the information they need. It meant a lot for me to be able to connect a woman who needed help to a local shelter/support center. Or more recently doing the legwork for a guy with mobility problems to find books about the Spanish American War. I have to fight my doubts every day. I continue to believe that the library is the last truly egalitarian place in America, and I want to be a part of its mission to spread information. Here are some resources you can use: The UTAustin Information School jobweb. It's the best tool I've found so far for finding library jobs outside of the listservs. http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/jobweb/Search.php The Library Best Practices Wiki. It's a fair jumping off point for you to get a sense of the immense amount of different issues that a librarian will deal with regularly. http://www.libsuccess.org/index.php?title=Main_Page
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Feb 26, 2010 09:28
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Just a thought. Depending on whether or not you want to go into public libraries or school libraries... you may consider just volunteering on weekends for your local public library. Some people think "volunteer" means "second job" for some reason and they overlook just doing a kids' story hour once a week. Managing thirty wailing kids as you read Dr. Seuss? WORK EXPERIENCE. Astfgl posted:Why aren't the printers working? Welcome to being a grunt on the front lines, OP. My favorite story: "Hi, I'm in the English department and I need a copy of the Kama Sutra for my students. Please order me a copy through interlibrary loan." TWO WEEKS LATER... "THIS ISN'T WHAT I EXPECTED. PLEASE TAKE IT BACK. OH GOD WHY WOULD YOU ORDER THIS FOR SOMEONE?!!!" I love our faculty members. BTW, sometimes a university library won't close in inclement weather if the vast majority of the students aren't commuters.
Insane Totoro fucked around with this message at 14:32 on Feb 26, 2010 |
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Feb 26, 2010 14:22
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Insane Totoro posted:
Considering most academic positions start with 20 days of vacation a year, on top of a ton of holidays, personal days, and sick days, I think thats livable.
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Feb 26, 2010 14:44
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Pompoon posted:I was a little wary of online programs, since I wasn't sure how valuable they were vs. actual classroom work. But that might make getting another degree simultaneously a lot more doable. Is your program online? Where I work, a bunch of people are doing the online programs. Just recently, a person graduated from Drexel and another from San Jose State, and they both had promotions waiting for them. I think it's best to work for a library and then go to school instead of getting the degree with little or no experience, because we almost always hire and promote internally. A lot of our reference workers started as book shelvers and clerks and then have been promoted as they obtained their Bachelor's and Master's. Unfortunately, turnover is low, so I'm a clerk with a Bachelor's degree and I'm waiting for a reference position to open up or leaving if another career opportunity arises.
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Feb 26, 2010 14:48
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WashinMyGoat posted:Where I work, a bunch of people are doing the online programs. Just recently, a person graduated from Drexel and another from San Jose State, and they both had promotions waiting for them. I think it's best to work for a library and then go to school instead of getting the degree with little or no experience, because we almost always hire and promote internally. A lot of our reference workers started as book shelvers and clerks and then have been promoted as they obtained their Bachelor's and Master's. Unfortunately, turnover is low, so I'm a clerk with a Bachelor's degree and I'm waiting for a reference position to open up or leaving if another career opportunity arises. Hm, that is true...I'm talking with my boss on Monday, and he's in an online program right now. Though he's had quite a few years of administrative experience, so I guess that helps. What's most important to me right now is getting into the best program possible, either online or in class.
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Feb 27, 2010 21:38
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Best for what, prestige? Quality of programming varies widely if you plan to specialize. The best library school isn't necessary the best for archives or digital librarianship or information Architecture, for example.
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Feb 27, 2010 21:53
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Pompoon posted:I was a little wary of online programs, since I wasn't sure how valuable they were vs. actual classroom work. But that might make getting another degree simultaneously a lot more doable. Is your program online? I've taken both online and in-person classes through Wayne State, and the online classes have been fine. The instructors are often people who really do what they are teaching for a living, so their information is relevant. I'd actually recommend taking "core" classes online if possible... the intro, cataloging, and reference courses I took in person were at times painful, due to either bored/lazy instructors or annoying classmates (the home-schooled guy who regularly told us about his mom's favorite books, the guy who got SO MAD when a local library didn't have a cd THEY SAID THEY HAD.)
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Feb 27, 2010 22:35
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I work in the IT department of a library in Michigan, and around here at least, library science jobs are disappearing faster than jobs in the auto industry. My girlfriend graduated with a MLIS two years ago and ended up working in a small office doing accounts recieveable because there are virtually no jobs. A lot of libraries are shifting the workforce to part-time, and I know of at least 2 local libraries where the workforce is >85% part-time. Also if you want to be an academic librarian, expect to get a 2nd masters degree in the field you would be librarian for. EDIT: I would advise against it, most of the (MLIS student) interns and friends of mine here at the library have advised against getting into it, especially recently. That said, I'm not a MLIS major and all of this is just from dating a MLIS grad and working with librarians and MLIS students every day. Eggs fucked around with this message at 23:11 on Feb 27, 2010 |
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Feb 27, 2010 23:05
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Are library jobs hard to find even if you're willing to move? I'm starting MLIS school in the fall, and this thread is certainly disheartening. If I focus on something like database management or cataloging, is the degree flexible enough to where I could find similar work outside of libraries if there aren't any jobs available?
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Feb 27, 2010 23:50
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I think a problem with some people is that they think of "libraries" only in the context of public, academic, and public school libraries. There are certainly more options out there. But yes, even in those cases, pickings can be slim. And if I am being advised correctly, the more you focus on technology in your degree (and I mean, real skills, not the stuff in your required class on social networking), the most appealing you are to most institutions. What's really disheartening to me is that a lot of people who recruit students for the MLS don't mention anything about this, the fact that you may want a second masters degree, or that you and every other MLS graduate has a Humanities BA and YOU ARE NOT SPECIAL. Then again, some people want a bubbly children's librarian.
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Feb 28, 2010 00:08
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Lee Harvey Oswald posted:Are library jobs hard to find even if you're willing to move? I'm starting MLIS school in the fall, and this thread is certainly disheartening. If I focus on something like database management or cataloging, is the degree flexible enough to where I could find similar work outside of libraries if there aren't any jobs available? If you are willing to move it helps a lot. Some of the talk in here is more dire than it really is. Yes, its tough. But some options in library science are easier to get into IF you are qualified. The biggest one of these is anything requireing IT skills, such as systems librarianship and information architect. If you really want to be a librarian, I strongly advise you pick what kind of information work you are interested in first, and then sculpt your education and volunteer/work experiences around that. The public librarian, school librarian, children's librarian, and cataloger are some of the most difficult positions to get, most sought after, and least paid.
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Feb 28, 2010 01:02
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Eggs posted:Also if you want to be an academic librarian, expect to get a 2nd masters degree in the field you would be librarian for. More like if you want to be an academic librarian, get a PhD in the subject of your choice, then get the subject librarian job, then make your institution pay for your MLS courses as you go.
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Feb 28, 2010 02:11
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Mary Annette posted:More like if you want to be an academic librarian, get a PhD in the subject of your choice, then get the subject librarian job, then make your institution pay for your MLS courses as you go. I talked to a subject specialist the other week (French culture, what I "ideally" would like to do), and her advice was to get a master's along with the MLIS. She doesn't have a PhD, and hasn't come across any institutions that demand it. Also I'm not sure a library would accept a non-librarian as a subject specialist (then pay to make them a librarian) when they could find someone who already has an MLS.
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Feb 28, 2010 17:56
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In the (few) subject specialist positions that I've seen, a secondary masters is a plus. I think a PhD would be overkill for a specialist position. People go for a PhD to become a professor, not a librarian.
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Mar 1, 2010 03:07
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I spent 8 months looking for a job after earning my MLIS from Pitt. Eventually I got a job in an almost entirely unrelated field. I'd like that year of my life and my $30,000 back. If you don't know for a fact that you need an MLIS, don't bother.
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Mar 1, 2010 03:54
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I checked this thread out of curiosity, since I've got a friend going to Simmons right now for this. Reading all these negative sounding posts... she'll come home from class and talk on IRC about something she learned, and I'll be like, "wow, this is way more interesting than the stuff I learned today in my computer science classes, maybe I should become a librarian instead."
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Mar 1, 2010 04:44
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I'm not particularly interested in this, but I saw it and showed this thread (without reading it myself) to my GF who plans on going to Pitt for a MLIS next year. Our exchange went something like this: - Hey gf, you're going to school for library sciences next year, you might learn something about it - Sure honey, I'd love to learn about others first hand experiences concerning library science. No jobs, batshit insane professors, idiotic classmates, you will die alone and penniless. Every young white female that couldn't get a job with their education or English degree is now going to library school. - Let me just say I graduated with my MLS from Simmons College (one of the top MLS programs) in May '08....and I'm still looking for a full-time job.I'd eagerly look for a job in another field if I didn't feel like that would mean my $36,000 student loan debt was for nothing.  - I spent 8 months looking for a job after earning my MLIS from Pitt. Eventually I got a job in an almost entirely unrelated field. I'd like that year of my life and my $30,000 back. If you don't know for a fact that you need an MLIS, don't bother. - Hey GF, learn anything cool about your prospective field? - WHY DID YOU SHOW THIS TO ME After consoling her for a bit, I read over this thread myself and I must say that I'm very glad I've gone into the hard sciences. Good luck to you guys that are in this field.
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Mar 1, 2010 16:28
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