r/LibraryScience

Hi! I’m in school to become a librarian and I am very interested in clinical data and the medical librarian sphere. Because specific librarian jobs are a bit hard to come by, I’m aiming to get as much experience as possible (internships, volunteer work, etc). Someone recently recommended that I get a graduate certificate in health informatics and or human-centered data science (FSU). Has anyone done this? Was the information provided beneficial, and do employees appreciate this?

Hi! I am a future librarian who will soon need to be applying for grad school. I have done a lot of research about where I would want to apply, and Valdosta State is still the most affordable online option that I am leaning towards. But recently, I have been volunteering a lot at my local library, and I have learned that at least here, they do not require their librarians to have MLIS degrees, as long as their master's degrees are relevant. Our head Children's Librarian has an art history master's, and my volunteer supervisor who is a senior librarian has an English master's. Now I know there is no guarantee that I get a librarian job at this library, what with the state of the library job market, so I am wondering if it would still make the most sense to get the MLIS, or are other libraries leaning in this direction?
I found an online Interdisciplinary Studies master's program at a school where I would get in-state tuition, and they offer school librarianship and public administration as possible concentrations. They also have creative writing, which is my other interest. (I am someone who struggles to settle down on one thing, so an Interdisciplinary Studies degree is very appealing to me.) So I thought, what if I concentrate in all three of these? In my state, school librarians need to have a teaching license, which would be a whole other thing. Maybe I could just not get the teaching license? There is a big overlap between the classes in MLIS programs and the school librarianship classes that this university offers. I do not know if the program is ALA accredited. I don't think that school library programs need to be. Would that be enough to at least make me interesting to other libraries, despite it not being an MLIS degree? Plus however many years of volunteer work at my local library? I am really stressing over making the right choice.

Hello everyone! 23M here. I work in a library and have worked in one for over 3 years. Still finishing my Bachelor's at The College of New Jersey (one more semester, yay!) but with that said, I have thought about the future. My major is History... So, gotta think wisely. Law is not it as of now. Which is why people around me have influenced me to go for an MLIS, which I believe I would enjoy, especially for the archival aspects, or simply because I love people and helping out.

With that said, I am in NJ. Rutgers has been recommended to me but... It's so damn expensive. I don't have student loans, thankfully, but as a first-generation, I also don't have people that would help me with that kind of money, nor I want to be in loans forever (especially as we know our industry pretty well). It would be online, 100%.

If it helps, I am interested in three industries/positions: archiving, cataloging, or law librarianship.

Which is why I've been thinking about different options.

1. University of Alabama: cheapest option, probably the one I would absolutely go for have it not be for the fact I wanted to see whether other programs are worth it. My favorite so far. It has an archiving concentration. It's also cheap. Secondary-wise, now I can finally have a say in college football season... Maybe.
2. Rutgers: NJ's flagship state school. I would still have to pay and from what it seems, it's pretty expensive. My boss have told me that they offer up to half the tuition off or even full tuition aid. Now, I don't know about that, but I also happen to be on the "under represented" category in the library industry, being Hispanic and first-generation and also trilingual. I don't know if that's beneficial scholarship-wise. Additionally, it's my state and it would help me here but... It's a lot of money. A LOT. Expensive. And as much as I love libraries... I don't think the amount of debt would be worth it for the same ALA-accredited degree.
3. University at Buffalo: close to it regionally, additionally being a tad bit cheaper than Rutgers but like, still a bit more expensive than Alabama. I was researching and it has a law librarianship concentration, which is quite interesting. There's a joint degree too with a JD... But I got to find more information about it. I haven't researched more about this program, but from what I've found, it seems okay. Then again... I don't know if paying that much more and being in more debt is worth it compared to Alabama.
4. University of Maryland: my professor's daughter said she loves the program and apparently has a joint program for an MA in History... This is among the most expensive programs out there. I don't know.
5. University of Washington: Best MLIS Law program. Most expensive MLIS with Syracuse. Don't know if it's worth it. When I say I'm poor, I mean it.

Any help would be appreciated. Thank you so much!

TL;DR: Looking to make a career shift in my mid 30s and considering getting an MLIS.

Context:

Hey all—I'm considering applying to MLIS programs and undertaking a career shift, and I would really appreciate some insights.

I'm in my mid 30s and originally graduated with a BA in Middle Eastern history and languages. Ended up using it briefly in media before moving into threat intelligence and cybersecurity, where I've been in a range of roles for the past decade-ish. Most of this time was in communications roles—editing and writing reports, creating educational materials, etc. However, in two different roles, I also helped create tagging taxonomies for reports and materials, as well as worked on some linked information mapping.

For a variety of reasons, I'd like to move out of the cybersecurity space and library sciences really appeals to me. In particular, I did enjoy the limited taxonomy and information mapping work I did.

In an ideal world, I think I'd love to be a reference librarian or an archivist, going back to my Mid East studies roots. However, I understand it's very hard to find these jobs and, while I live in the New York area (and may have more opportunities here), I am not in a position to move elsewhere for work should that be the...move.

Question: Understanding the realities of the job market, I wonder if getting an MLIS with a focus in record management or digital asset management makes sense? Particularly relating to things like taxonomy creation, tagging, information mapping, etc...

Appreciate the advice and help, here!

CLIS OR BLIS ???

Which one should I choose . I have done masters in commerce and working as school librarian. Which one will be beneficial?

Doing CLIS is no use or it will have any benefits?

Please help me on this.

I figured of the library-related subreddits, someone who knows the answer is more likely to be here? I am working on some classwork related to metadata, and I'm trying to use the LCSH. I can't find anywhere the key or legend to what the two letter codes mean on these lists. It's obvious that USE means that that is the controlled vocabulary term... but what does UF mean? BT, RT, NT, SA?

https://preview.redd.it/umxyfpwx7gah1.png?width=281&format=png&auto=webp&s=e0c4d061b7a33c09c2b4334b95356b414bd6a3dd

https://preview.redd.it/qtbywp5z7gah1.png?width=342&format=png&auto=webp&s=63ef3f5699d9b3e2df8806d1daea949561da2a30

Thanks!

I'm two semesters into my MLIS and I'm actually considering changing schools, pausing, or quitting because of how ubiquitous the push to use AI has become and that some instructors are using AI to grade and provide feedback.

Just for some context, I have a tech background, I understand what AI is and how it works. I absolutely agree that anyone with a MLIS needs to understand this too because it's so ubiquitous in the public and we need to be able to help with literacy and harm prevention and in the areas in which some level of use is ethical and right-sized, understand how to adopt and use it.

That being said, the program I'm in isn't approaching it that way at all. It's much more "just try it out!," "play with it!," "use it to generate posters for programming," etc. and this past semester it was exceedingly obvious, especially in one class, that all the feedback for assignments were AI generated. It's being treated both as inevitable and like a toy and neither sit well with me as the former cedes our necessary active participation to shape how we adopt it and what regulations, guardrails, and harm-prevention looks like and the latter undercuts the serious ethical ramifications, not to mention the impact early research is showing on literacy, skill-development, and society in general.

I feel like basically I might have missed the last boat for learning MLIS skills and theory. There has been more than one instance where I've heard some variation of "we used to do this but AI does it now/ will do it in the future" and I want to know how it was done without AI! That is useful, foundational, contextual information. AI can be incredibly useful in the hands of experts, but AI cannot create experts. An understanding of what it is supposed to help accomplish is necessary to evaluating whether it is actually doing so and whether the trade-offs of its use are worth it.

I'm not in a hurry to finish as I'm doing this concurrent with work I enjoy. I wanted to do an MLIS because it felt genuinely tied into and additive with the work I'm doing in civic information, information access, etc and I wanted a structured learning experience. And I do ultimately want to work in libraries at some point in the near future. I would love to find a more thoughtful MLIS approach to AI because libraries are such a pivotal interaction point for literacy and skills.

What I am working through now is do I just deal with it and consider this a box-checking endeavor, try to find a school with a more pragmatic approach to integrating AI into the curriculum, or pause and maybe come back when the hype dies down. At this point, I do think it will decrease somewhat eventually because there is no aspect of this that is sustainable.

Are there online options with a more restrained approach to AI in the curriculum or are most programs moving into this unquestioning adoption direction? Is this maybe not the space I should be in and maybe I be looking at a different kind of degree or learning experience?

I've been really interested in getting my masters in library science and pursuing a career in archiving or becoming a public librarian. I've been looking at different online programs but I probably won't actually apply until the next school year. I'm needing some guidance on whether or not I should do an in state or out of state online program because I want to move from Los Angeles to New York after completing my degree. I know that doing an online in state program will probably be cheaper, but I've also read that different states have different requirements in order to work in public and private libraries. Ideally I would love to do an online program that's based in New York so that I could move there once I've completed it and find a job. However I don't know how practical this would be. Would doing an online program based in the state I want to move to make it easier for me to end up working there? Would it be a better decision to complete an online program in California for the time being and then eventually take the steps needed in order to be eligible to work in New York? If anyone has any advice or insight on how that process works or how their degrees might transfer/impact working in another state please let me know!

Much appreciated!!!

Hello everyone, I am considering VSU's online MLIS, and I am curious to hear about other people's experiences with the program.

I am especially curious about what the coursework is like, how rigorous it is, and what I might be able to expect/prepare for.

For what it's worth, I studied art history as an undergrad, I am currently a part-time desk assistant at a public library, and I am very interested in conservation librarianship.

Apologies for the vague/open-endedness, I am mostly curious to hear what people have to say about their time at VSU. Thank you!

Hi all,

I currently work as a library assistant in a public library. I adore my job, I love it so much. I would be a library assistant for the rest of my life if it paid more. Working the circ desk and helping patrons is my favorite part of the job. I’m almost done my bachelors degree in history and I am looking into graduate programs. I am bit limited with an undergrad in history. I will still have the majority of my GI bill left after my undergrad and I want to use every penny of it because I worked really hard for my gi bill. So, those of you who have MLIS, is it worth it? I love the public library field and would like to stay in that or maybe law librarian. Has anyone worked as a law librarian? Do you really need a JD? Also does the school you attend matter in the library world? I was looking at LSUs online program because you can complete it in 12 months and the various start dates are really nice. I also saw university of Illinois’s online program is #1 but it takes longer to complete. Any advice?

Hi everyone! I plan on enrolling in an online MLIS program fall of 2027, so I've been doing some research and deciding on which colleges/universities to keep an eye on. I've been a library assistant for over 4 years, and I want to concentrate in either tech services or information organization/knowledge management (which I know may fall out of the scope of public libraries.)

To those who have completed an online MLIS program, how strong/competent were your tech-leaning courses? Of course affordability will be taking priority, but I would love to enroll in a program where those courses are remarkable :) TIA

Currently applying for grad school at FSU and have a really dumb question: how does one narrow down their area of specialty / academic interest? I pride myself on being a human Swiss Army knife but realize that isn’t the best route to go about getting a master’s degree in such a broad field. I’m writing my statement of purpose and having a hard time describing what exactly it is I would like to focus on during my studies. I can’t just say: I want to learn everything and anything I can even though that’s been my attitude throughout my education.

I’ve been privileged to work in a couple of different roles at libraries, from more technical stuff at a corporate level to working as an associate at a public library and I’ve enjoyed them all. Writing my statement of purpose has been difficult because while I originally was intent on becoming an archivist / museum preparator, I realize that the tech side of the field is more of the way to go in terms of job opportunity. Additionally, I currently work in the library of a medical school and really enjoy it, which makes me wonder if this is something I would be interested in focusing in as well. Thanks for reading.

Hi everyone,

I have recently completed 1 out of 2 years of my master's in library and information sciences program and realized I really don't want to work in a library or archive. I have my B.A. in History which I love (and am currently working at a museum) but it seems like an unrealistic dream at this point.

I recently heard of UX research/design and am curious if having a MLIS would be a good background for it. Would some certificates help? Or should I start a whole new master's program?

Is there something similar to UX research/design that an MLIS would work better for?

Hi, everyone. I'm starting to look into remote MLIS programs, and I'm curious about the options for funding through remote assistantships. Based on previous posts here, it sounds like University of Washington, TWU, NCCU, and University of Tennessee may offer a few virtual assistantships. Are there any other schools that do so?

I understand that remote assistantships are rare, but I'd love to learn more about the experiences of anyone who has gotten/tried to get these assistantships.

Thank you.