Like many LIS students, I went into the program with the goal of someday working at a library as a professional librarian. I set off on my MLIS journey through […]
This is the third installment in a series about using Neuroscience Hacks for Library School. Here’s the first one on reasons to get more sleep and the second on breathing to […]
Today we welcome a post by Maura Smale as part of our collaboration with ACRLog (the blog of the Association of College and Research Libraries). Maura Smale is Chief Librarian and […]
I’ve been writing for Hack Library School for about 6 months now, and in some ways, I’ve felt like a fraud the entire time. You see, I’m only taking one […]
If you’re thinking about applying for a graduate degree in library science, you know a thing or two about writing big checks. Maybe you’ve already been making payments on your […]
“Once you’re halfway home, you know that you can probably get the rest of the way there.” – Janis Ian Last August, I quit my full-time nonprofit tech job and […]
Welcome, incoming library students! These first few weeks before school starts can be a mixture of excitement and nerves. If you want to get acquainted with the profession before school […]
It’s officially August, which means summer is coming to an end, and the first day of classes is right around the corner. This time last year marked a move to […]
This summer I had the opportunity to slightly switch gears and work at the International Area Studies Library at my university.
As you may or may not know, I’m ultimately interested in becoming a subject librarian. More on this (hopefully) in a later blog post, but for now what you need […]
When I first started library school, my professors told me that conferences are great… if you had a couple thousand dollars to spend. While there’s no dodging the fact that […]
Have you ever seen the stacks of an archives? In most cases, they are rows and rows of standard sized archival boxes. The only indication of the exciting content within […]
You head to library school. You’ve got a plan. There’s a schedule of courses laid out before you, and within each course is the syllabus telling you what to do […]
“One journey seeded all that followed” (Savoy 2015, 5). This opening sentence to Trace: Memory, History, Race and the American Landscape by Lauret Savoy sets the tone for the entire […]
As I embarked on my journey to library school, I was in saw of this here blog. Given my love for writing, I had yearned to write for Hack Library […]
This series will explore the lessons that I learned about storytime through my own self-education process–through many hours of research, attending conferences, and my favorite method of learning, hands-on experience.
Disclaimer: This post, co-written by Annie Tunnicliff and Chloe Waryan, is an update to Julia Skinner’s fantastic 2011 post about the University of Iowa School of Library and Information Science (SLIS). […]
You know you want to be a librarian, but do you know which kind of librarian you would like to be? There are many fascinating areas of specialties in librarianship, but the ultimate divide is most often between academic librarianship and public librarianship. Why do some people choose one route […]
The ALA states that the LIS student’s choice to specialize (also called “tracks” or “concentrations”) depends on “an assessment of [the students’] past experiences, education, personal strengths and interests, geographic […]
One of the hazards of library school is a distinct lack of spare time. While I find myself doing plenty of reading for classes, it’s tough to squeeze in extra […]
After two months working as a Health & Life Sciences Librarian at UCLA and fresh off attending my first Medical Library Association (MLA) annual conference in Seattle, I can tell […]
This series will explore the lessons that I learned about storytime through my own self-education process–through many hours of research, attending conferences, and my favorite method of learning, hands-on experience. […]
The end of a semester is always a whirlwind. I am especially trying to wrap my head around the fact that I have just completed my first year of graduate […]
This year, my LIS program will be losing a faculty member to another university. We are sad to see them go! Because we are a smaller department, this is a […]
I’m lucky enough to live in Colorado – an absolutely beautiful state that boasts mountains and prairies, great educational opportunities, and an awesome community of library professionals. It’s also one […]
Welcome to my new series about my decision to do the thesis option for my program, and my advice to those of you considering the same. Are you considering doing […]
Like many of you out there, I am fast approaching the end of my time working on my MSLIS. Although I will be moving on into a PhD program at […]
This series will explore the lessons that I learned about storytime through my own self-education process–through many hours of research, attending conferences, and my favorite method of learning, hands-on experience. […]
As I am fast approaching the midpoint of my graduate program, I am realizing the importance of following my curiosities about the LIS field. One reason for this mindset is […]
In Library and Information Science programs, there’s one assignment that students dread more than any other. Yes, I’m talking about the group project. Group projects are extremely common in LIS […]
Us librarian types, we’re all about literacy, and we all acknowledge the power of the written word. Writing helped shape civilization as we know it; of course it’s powerful. Our […]
While studying History in undergrad, I was assailed all too frequently with “So, what are you going to do with that degree?” And now, when I tell folks that I […]
Hello Hackers! My name is Chloe and I’m a new writer at Hack Library School. I have two bachelor’s degrees in English and Theater with a focus in creative writing. […]
Getting involved as a student is an important part of the MLIS experience but it’s easier said than done (especially for those of us who are introverts!) Here are five short and simple ways to get involved on and off campus as an MLIS student:
With some trepidation I laid a ruler on the book, just at the hinge of the spine, took up my scalpel and sliced right through the book cloth. With another quick incision along the back, the spine was loose and I peeled it off the text bock. The book lay before me in pieces.
Welcome to my new series about my decision to do the thesis option for my program, and my advice to those of you considering the same. Are you considering doing […]
ach semester, every MLIS class I take begins the same way. “All right, class. Let’s say your name, your specialization…” If you’re like me, you may not have an easy shorthand in your program’s specialization lingo for indicating where your professional interests lie.
ASpace: The Archival Frontier. These are the voyages of the Star Ship UIowa. Its continuing mission: to explore strange new information management systems, to seek out new tricks and new […]
Welcome to my new series about my decision to do the thesis option for my program, and my advice to those of you considering the same. Are you considering doing […]
Public libraries offer a variety of programs for their patrons, from music concerts to DIY programs, and even English classes. Knowing that libraries are places where people seek information and […]
Aloha! I wanted to share with all of you some information about an LIS program you might not know much about. Though many people think of Hawaiʻi as a vacation […]
A year ago I was finishing up my last days of being a speech therapist. A year ago I was leaving Chicago, my home of 10 years, only 25 miles […]
As an LIS student, I’ve spent a lot of time in the main library on campus. My classes are there, I work there, and some mornings I even eat breakfast […]
(Well ok, it’s actually going to be five more things but the Columbo picture wouldn’t have made sense if I’d given it that as a title). So here we are, […]
I am currently enrolled in the on-campus MSLIS program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. My initial plan was to do their online Leep program so I could still […]
We know that as graduate students we have to do a capstone project our last semester. Usually this capstone is a thesis, which may be scary and overwhelming. Some graduate […]
Welcome to my new series about my decision to do the thesis option for my program, and my advice to those of you considering the same. Are you considering doing […]
The importance of mentoring has been addressed often by Hack Library School contributors (here, here, and here). In an effort to learn more about how to obtain a mentor, I […]
In studying for an MLIS in Digital Library and Information Services, one of the subjects we’ve covered in detail is digital reading. This has been from the viewpoints of the […]
As we move through our individual degree programs, it is incredibly easy to get bogged down in the details of assignments, the job-hunt, and attempting to maximize our time in […]
Co-authored by HLS Contributing Writers, Carissa Hansen and Kendra Werst. This post is meant to serve as a primer for beginners interested in digital collections work. There are three sections: […]
Welcome to my new series about my decision to do the thesis option for my program, and my advice to those of you considering the same. Are you considering doing […]
Last year I wrote a paper about services for non-English-speaking patrons in public libraries. As I studied the history of the library’s relationship with languages, I couldn’t help but feel […]
The following post is a joint endeavor by Chezlani Casar (online) and Kendra Werst (on-campus)… (Chezlani) When I started library school in the fall of 2015, I virtually attended the […]
As my previous HLS posts have urged, it is important to take it easy on yourself, stay grounded, speak up, and trust the process. Well, in this post, I am […]
“Oh, this smells. What if there’s mold? Am I going to get the black lung? And eew! Is that mouse poop?!”
Before starting an MLIS in digital librarianship I have worked in libraries for around nine years. Despite being involved and enthusiastic, a lot on the course is new to me. […]
Zine librarianship presents an interesting intersection of archival practices and librarianship, while also posing a number of challenges for fitting zines into the practices and standards developed around printed books.
Disclaimer: This post is an update of Tomissa Porath’s 2011 “Hack Your Program” review of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s MA Program in Library and Information Studies with an emphasis on […]
This past summer, I took a Digital Collections Institute course. It was a one week, all day intensive course that delved into all aspects of the digital collections lifecycle, and […]
It’s that time of the year again. For those of us that took a summer off from our LIS studies to have, well, a summer away from school, welcome back! […]
It is required that students in the MLS program at Indiana University fulfill one internship. Since I am specializing in Art Librarianship, I am required to complete two internships. This […]
“Here,” my boss said, handing me a DVD, “you can watch this recording of me teaching. It will help.” I was a few months into a library technician job at […]
This post is part of our series “So What Do You Do?” in which LIS students talk about their experiences as interns. We want to showcase the wide range of […]
Over the last six months, I’ve taken two archives courses at institutions outside of my home school through the WISE consortium – Archival Appraisal, Arrangement, and Access and Encoded Archival […]
I attend a school of library and information science that has not been accredited by the American Library Association. Sources tend to agree: this fact makes me at best naïve, at worst unhirable—and a sucker either way. Maybe…
At the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s program, a student has the option to do a practicum, which is a type of internship done for course credit. Over the summer, […]
One of the most important aspects of library school and, in the future as we pursue work in the information profession, is staying up-to-date on what’s going on in the […]
Networking and joining different associations is extremely important for library school students. I personally joined ALA, NCLA, and YALSA, among others during my first semester. It is imperative for us as […]
Hot town, summer in the univer-city! And you’re in the library. Helping researchers, preparing for the August onslaught of students, it’s way cooler than the outdoors (literally). But wait… what […]
I’m going to state an obvious fact: being a good librarian means having strong interpersonal skills. I already knew this on a basic level when I decided to become a librarian. […]
For many people, self-advocacy is tough. Period. But, it’s especially tough when you’re part of a profession in which budgets are often tight, roles are hierarchical, and barriers can feel […]
Recently a panel of Catholic University of America faculty and department affiliates interviewed me as a part of a scholarship application process. They were very intrigued about my affiliation with […]
More than five years beyond Andy Woodworth’s original call for big tent librarianship and Brit Foster’s echoing call for big tent librarian education, I begin to think that the theory may not serve us so well moving forward.
Throughout my school career, I have always heard the terms “shy” and “reserved” used to describe me. I must admit, the description did not seem positive and would often affect […]
Should our courses for our Master’s degree be more theory based or skills/practice based? I know I’m probably going to make some people mad with this post. (But hey, I […]
This summer I attended the Summer Educational Institute Workshop (SEI), in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. SEI is a joint project of the Art Libraries Society of North America and the […]
Let’s face it. Who doesn’t want a reason to justify their laziness and Game of Thrones binge watching? Well…hopefully not just me 🙂 But really, with classes, papers, projects, work, […]
Years ago as an undergrad on vacation, I strolled into the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library’s reading room. I may not have looked professional with my dyed bright red hair and […]
As a set of professions that facilitate and structure access to information, learning how to be a librarian or an archivist is clearly more than just knowing about reference and cataloging standards.
Lately, I’ve been thinking about how to address the broad and messy task of incorporating technology education into my LIS program. It all started with my resolution to add a […]
Library school can seem very short. My personal experience was four semesters and a summer internship. Such a short time span doesn’t leave much room for all the classes, conferences, […]
The conversation around the merits of distance LIS education is an ongoing process in the library profession. Popular discussion points include connecting with peers, job and life flexibility, financial pressures, […]
As I prepare to graduate this upcoming Sunday, I’ve been thinking a lot about my two years in graduate school. I came into the program at the University of Illinois […]
This semester I decided to do something that terrifies me: I enrolled in a storytelling course. As an anxious public speaker, I challenged myself by taking a class in which […]
Whether you are a new or a returning student at your program, you should join at least one student group or organization. Similar to Kathy Kosinski’s post in August 2015, […]
When we talk about LIS education, we’re talking about providing education for a professional career in libraries, with all the traits the word ‘profession’ implies: professionalism, prolonged training, and formal education. This […]
First, a brief background, since I’m new here. I finished my undergrad in 2003, and in the ensuing 12 years, went about as far outside of the academic realm as […]
Nearly everyone who has ever worked in a library or has experience in library work has encountered the following statement: “So, you work in a library. What exactly do you […]
Working in a library with diverse patrons can be both easy and difficult depending on the way you look at it. Speaking from experience, if you come from a minority it […]
Here it comes again, the clichéd question: “Why bother with library school? We have the internet now.” I’ve been working in libraries for the better part of a decade so, […]
During the course of my career as a library science graduate student, I learned that it is critical for librarians to have strong interpersonal skills, such as how to be a […]
The Web-based Information Science Education (WISE) Consortium is a cooperative endeavor among seventeen library schools that allows students to have greater access to a variety of online courses. Each semester, schools in […]
At the beginning of this month, Computers in Libraries descended upon the Washington DC area, taking up residence at the Washington Hilton hotel for the better part of a week. […]
In the words of Charlotte’s Mayor Jennifer Roberts, “This legislation is literally the most anti-LGBT legislation in the country. It sanctions discrimination against the LGBT community.” The legislation provides legal protection of rights in employment and public accommodation for individuals on the basis of “race, religion, color, national origin, age, biological sex or handicap,” and goes on to state that these protections cannot be expanded by “any ordinance, regulation, resolution, or policy adopted or imposed by a unit of local government or other political subdivision of the State.” In other words, local governments can no longer define discrimination within their own towns, cities, or counties.
As online educational tools continue to disrupt traditional classrooms, two of our writers discuss the implications.
Talking about time management is helpful. Tips and encouragement (as found here previously on HLS) are great ways to offer help about the time we have and how to best […]
This semester I’m taking my last introductory course in UW-Madison’s program – a class called Organization of Information, or in other words, basic cataloging/metadata/resource description/organization all in one. The class […]
Editor’s note: This post is part of our series entitled Voces del Sur: Rethinking LIS from the Latin American and Caribbean Perspective, featuring writers from the blog Infotecarios. Guest bloggers will […]
