What do you learn in Library School? The MLIS Explained! 

Wahoo, here you go!

How are you liking it so far?

I am seriously considering this career. I used to scough at the program but after learning more about it, Im like its a good career.

Glad to have been able to help!

Hey no problem! Always happy to field questions too, either on the channel or you can tweet/email me :)

How's the job?

Who, me? *innocent gasp*

Nice! Yeah, the MLIS kind of ends up like that, and then it's also a pretty nice group of folks to be studying with because everyone did something different in undergrad.

*whisper* there's also more than a few anarchist librarians who ignore fine policies not that I would know anything about any of those guys or be one of them or anything like that ............

I got you fam

Mischief managed :D

AW SHUCKS no you are. ^_^

Honestly very little, but having an understanding of the how and why behind coding is (in my opinion) a really valuable skill for someone who wants to become a librarian, since it gives you a better understanding how people and information interact with each other (and what it takes to make most of the information world work).

@@StacksFacts Right that's understandable. I'm trying to find a job working at a library or a library internship before I decide on going to graduate school. I just want to make sure it's something I'd enjoy before I spend even more money on college 😅

@@Gabi-lp4ql Given what's going on in the economy right now, I can't blame ya -- it's ridiculous! Although worth mentioning that MLIS's will get you more than just a job as a librarian, if you're willing to be flexible.

Have a look at some of the other videos on this channel, including the "hard pills to swallow" one and the "What is LIS" -- they both mentioned some of the other jobs one can do with an an MLIS!

I really enjoyed that class, in fact! A lot of great readings and in-class activities.

Probably not, except maybe for data sources in the public domain. The reason 5 and 6 are included is because librarianship typically results in a person falling in a management position. 4 & 13 are distinctly library science or information science topics.

Good questions! I can't talk too much about my own background in tech because I was doing some secret squirrel stuff for the Navy, but I can tell you that my focus at the time was in internet- and communication-related technologies. Take that as you will. :D Re: degrees most folks come from, in my program we don't actually have a majority of folks come from any single degree. That said, the majority of folks doing an MLIS tend to come from the arts and humanities rather than the sciences. Here are the degrees of folks I went to school with that I can remember: - Art (or a variant) - History (or a variant) - English - Computer Sciences - Archaeology - Psychology - Nursing - Business - Philosophy - Sociology - Geography - Law ... And my undergrad was in Chinese. :D If you haven't seen it yet, this video -- ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-pfP7AjwIZI8.html -- gives a good (i think!) explanation of why LIS is so interdisciplinary.

@@StacksFacts thank you for your response! I also thought the SQL joke was hilarious :D

Hi! I did my BA in Chinese (I was an interpreter in the Navy before I went to grad school). As for ideal undergraduate degrees, they're all okay! I've mentioned it in other videos, but LIS is super interdisciplinary, so if you push yourself, you'll be able to apply your undergrad as a librarian. That said, there are (understandably) lots of librarians who have BA's in english and literature. You can take that to mean it's a good fit, or (on the other hand) that the BA-in-English-having Librarian market is a bit saturated. What do you enjoy?

​@@StacksFacts Neat! One of my main hobbies is learning languages. I want to make people feel welcomed, and I've always been fascinated by the variety of languages spoken in my area. I'm currently learning Korean as it's my main interest on my own, but I was thinking of taking Chinese as a major since I'm learning that in school right now. There seems to be a handful of Chinese speakers in my area, so maybe that'd be helpful. It's awesome that you did your BA in Chinese. How long have you been studying it?

@@yobu19 Well, I joined the Navy in 2008 and went to the military language school where my life was Chinese for 14 hours a day, 5 days a week, for 63 weeks. After that I used the language professionally, and then decided to finish my BA from 2012-2014 (the time in the language school got me college credits that I transferred to another school that had a chinese program). Chinese -- like all languages, really -- is one that you never stop learning it, so... I've been learning it for about 12 years now!

I'm sure it depends on the program, the person, and even the place where you do it -- but speaking from my personal experience, mine wasn't boring at all. My school focused on project-based classes, and students had the flexibility to tailor their courses very much to their own interests. It's important to remember that what you do outside of academics is just as important! While I took these classes, I also had a number of extracurricular activities that I used to fill my time and put into practice what I was learning.

@@StacksFacts that was so helpful thanks! :D Would you recommend any like, technical books about it? To introduce myself to the field a little bit. Any that you might have found particularly interesting.

First half would usually be lecture, then the second would be discussion!

As I'm not sure what that is, I'm guessing no!

Yes, one to two years to complete a Master's Library and Information Science

@@StacksFacts but it’s ok that I have a major in bio science right?

Oh yeah, that's great from a job point of view!

There's no single answer that will apply for everyone, due to the variability between what schools offer, and between what jobs there are. E.g. my first job out of school was doing digital library stuff, and I found that a lot of my classes applied. But a lot of the courses do cover theory stuff -- it is a master's degree rather than a professional certificate, after all -- so not all of it is going to apply in day-to-day work for everyone. I think the biggest shortcoming that most library schools have is they don't offer anything -- courses or guidance -- around social work, even though that's bleeding more into public librarians' roles. I think the larger problem is less that what we learn in library school isn't applicable, and more that librarians are constantly asked to do more with less. The result is that we don't get opportunities to consider how we can put what we learn into practice. I wouldn't say any of it was a waste for me, though -- I'm a better librarian for knowing how people and information interact with each other, even if I'm not designing interfaces or coding every day. Thanks for the question!

@@StacksFacts thank you soooo much for the thoughtful response!

I didn't have a formal specialization insofar as something declared with my degree, but as you might guess from my course load I floated around information design and architecture.

@@StacksFacts You sound like me. One who has varied interested in everything. It a toss-up between Archival Studies or Children/Youth Services. It is so hard to choose.

@@StacksFacts Thank you for responding to all of my questions. I was wondering if you haven't already, could you possibly do a video on what scholarships are available in the field or for graduate students in general?

If there are, they likely won't provide a degree that will satisfy the requirement for employment, as nearly all libraries in the US and Canada require ALA accreditation and I think that the bachelor's degree requirement comes from them.

@@StacksFacts you’re saying that accredited programs are more satisfying for librarian employment? And are they available for graduate students from any college? Are there any schools online for that?

www.ala.org/educationcareers/node/262/ -- this will explain it better than me!

@@StacksFacts you're right I acutally was just looking at this a short time ago! what are the odd?

@@StacksFacts also this does or doesn't require a bachelor's degree for me to apply for if I wanted to