Maybe you’ve heard of citation management software and maybe you haven’t but I am here to tell you why you need one for library school and life beyond library school. […]
Tell me if any of this sounds familiar. You’ve got a job, a family, and a list of homework assignments filling up your calendar for the rest of the semester. […]
Thinking about library school? Wondering what it’s really like? Think that online school might be the best/easiest option for your increasingly complicated life? Let me tell you about it, since […]
I spent about half of 2020 trying desperately to not go back to school. I had realized that I was interested in an archival career (an interest that’s grown to […]
Disclaimer: This post represents the perspectives and experiences of the authors at the University of Alberta. Our opinions are not intended to be the opinions of any other student, faculty, […]
Group projects – love them or hate them, you’ll probably find yourself doing a fair few of them during library school. I’m in an all-online program, so I knew going […]
I’ve been fortunate enough to stay employed (at a library) during the pandemic, but even a quick glance through the posts at #protectlibraryworkers will reveal libraries who furloughed their staff […]
To say that I’m excited about graduating this coming May is a massive understatement. I’ve been waiting for this moment since finding SJSU School of Information’s MLIS program in December […]
Where is your phone located right now? How often do you boot up your computer? What are you using to read this? Technology has firmly planted itself in our lives; […]
When it comes to online library school, the old adage, ‘you get out of it only what you put in,’ is imperative. With grad school in general, you’re expected to […]
Last year, I had volunteered in or had visited all of the elementary school libraries in my district. The books were shelved, the librarians were calm, and the students were […]
When I first started preparing to enter my Master’s program, there were two questions I regularly asked professional librarians: What tricks did you develop that helped you to be successful […]
Earlier this month, I came across a tweet from a high school teacher: I think many students can agree that this past spring semester was not what we envisioned: between […]
Online learning isn’t for everyone, yet it can be the only option at times. Whether in a residential program that is phasing into in-person classes as the pandemic rages on […]
I’m rapidly approaching the end of my second year of grad school. Over the past 8 quarters and 13 classes, I have experienced a wide range of teaching styles and […]
As this July closes, I will be finishing up my third semester of library school. During this time, I’ve managed to juggle a part-time library specialist position, a part-time graduate assistantship, […]
Editor’s note: this post was originally published on November 22, 2018. In past installments, I’ve shown you how to test your job marketability with a deferred enrollment and how to […]
It’s official: my Spring 2020 semester has come to an end – and I am halfway through my MLIS! Along with navigating the murky middle that comes with the mid-point […]
This post was originally published on October 26, 2015. I have a confession to make. Sometimes I color in my coloring book while I’m in class. And you know what? […]
So, last October, I wrote about how finding community during your time as a MLIS student is important, especially if you are an online student. This has become especially […]
With online learning now in full swing due to COVID-19 and physical distancing, many students are feeling the strain of isolation, uncertainty, housing and food insecurity, additional childcare or family […]
The month of March has felt exhausting. With the shift to telework and remote classes to constant concerns about COVID-19 to practicing social distancing, everyone is working to adjust to […]
Coronavirus has caused us to make plenty of changes, from library closures to cancelled events and a shift from residential courses to an online environment. Here are some ways to […]
What I’m about to say may not work for every program, professor, or class, but it’s a piece of advice I wish I had heard before I started my online […]
This week marks the beginning of my new library assistant position at an academic library and, in essence, my first legitimate librarian job. On the plus side, this will not […]
I’m only in my first semester but I’m already quickly learning that the biggest part of my online classes at the University of Alberta is going to be our weekly […]
In my previous posts, I have regularly exalted the importance of finding and establishing a sense of community while attending graduate school. This is especially true when you are attending […]
Service. Equity. Commitment to communities. These are themes found in both the American Library Association Code of Ethics and the National Association of Social Worker’s Code of Ethics. Indeed, librarians […]
I know my title may conjure up memories of a particular blue Muppet, but I’m referring to gonzo in the journalistic sense. Gonzo Journalism, of which Hunter S. Thompson found […]
I’ll be five years into my first full-time gig in a library (technically second, if we count a promotion two years in) come August of this year; and I’ll be […]
Before starting at the University of Washington, a former coworker once asked if I was going to be taking classes on how to sew and thread a needle in my […]
Drexel University sometimes offers a class concurrently online and face to face. Online students like me attend asynchronously, learning through discussion boards, readings, videos, and activities. The face-to-face students meet […]
My first experience with an online class was British Literature my sophomore year. I began the semester excited about the flexibility an online class provides and the idea that I could be “in class” in my pajamas at home. I mean, who wouldn’t love that?
The MSIS program at the University of Tennessee Knoxville is comprised of on-campus and distance learners. Housed in the College of Communication and Information UTK’s SIS program has much to […]
The biggest worry I had before starting library school was about group projects. Online group projects.
If your classes are asynchronous, you probably have to write posts and responses about class readings. This format is not isolated to LIS programs. In a former graduate program, I […]
In library school, as with any academic program, we not only have to manage schoolwork and projects, but we also have to keep track of related information like registration schedules, […]
Today we welcome a guest post by Amanda M. Leftwich and Alena McNamara. Amanda and Alena are recent graduates from Clarion. Amanda’s areas of specialization include collection development, circulation, outreach, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
I’m procrastinating. Right now I’m supposed to be writing a post for a class discussion forum online. I’m procrastinating because, frankly, I’m over it, and I think we should do something about that.
Greetings hackers! As I write my first post for Hack Library School, I am also beginning my first full semester at Catholic University’s MSLIS program. It’s been some time since […]
We all know “that guy” (or girl). The one who doesn’t respond to emails, doesn’t offer to contribute any work, and has a generally nasty attitude. In a traditional classroom […]
This post is the first in a two-part series on how, why, and when MLIS students explain this degree to others. Stay tuned for “Part 2: Library & Information Science” next […]
This March I will make the trek to Urbana-Champaign for the on-campus portion of my program for the last time. Up until recently, online students in the LEEP program were […]
Let’s be real – online classes can get dull. No matter how intriguing the topic, it can be a challenge to keep your eyelids from drooping when your professor is […]
Many past Hack Library School posts have highlighted the importance of getting involved in student chapters of professional organizations. And I couldn’t agree more! My time spent in my school’s […]
As the leaves turn a subtle amber and the wind begins to usher us along our hectic school schedule, no sooner is the fall semester underway in library school land. With it, […]
Learning to love online classes has to be one of the biggest surprises I’ve had in my first year of library school. I’d still go for in-person classes if time and money permitted it, because being physically isolated from library people can suck, but I’ve genuinely enjoyed the online atmosphere […]
I was in college back in the stone age, when landlines were ubiquitous, ethernet was a luxury, and professors wrote on chalkboards. (Not even whiteboards!) So the asynchronous, discussion-board-based class I’ve been introduced to in library school has been a culture shift for me. Only some of my classes have […]
When I applied for my MLS a few years ago, the realities of the working world had me dreaming of a retreat from the outside world in the arms of academia. I pictured days spent in stimulating classes and evenings immersed in my studies, totally plugged into the world of […]
Hello fellow hackers! I’m excited to join the Hack Library School team. For my first post, I thought I’d tackle the subject of online MLIS programs, even though this has been discussed on Hack Library School in the past. You see, recently on Hiring Librarians some hiring managers have criticized […]
So here’s the deal, HLS friends: despite the fact that I am a documented introvert, I like to do my learning in an actual classroom. I know that many library school programs are online, and that this format is convenient for people who don’t want to leave good jobs, or […]
Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by Sarah Brown. As an LIS graduate student at the University of South Florida, I have had group projects for at least one of my courses each semester. At first, I feared the idea of group work because we were all distance learners. […]
In online discussions about the current state of LIS education, I’ve seen heavy criticism of online education. Of course, I can’t seem to find many of these discussions now that I need to reference them — but you can check out these blog posts, especially the comments, for some context. […]
Justin de la Cruz is in his first trimester of library studies at Florida State University. His professional interests include academic libraries, digital libraries, and emerging technologies. His personal interests include music (listening, writing, performing, recording), internet culture (trends, memes, single-serving sites), and comedy. You can read more on his […]
