Incoming Student Checklist
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 […]
Your EAD Primer: Part 2
Author’s Note: This post is Part 2 of the EAD Primer written by Carissa Hansen in December 2016. The author will also present a poster on the topic of EAD […]
The Wonderful World of Non-Traditional Library Collections: Spotlight on Seeds!
You probably know by now that libraries worldwide are lending out so much more than books and media. To highlight just a few: The Sacramento Public “Library of Things” loans […]
Your EAD Primer: Part 1
Author’s Note: Over the last few months, I’ve heard from several archives students that they’ve had trouble gaining experience with Encoded Archival Description (EAD) in their classes. Luckily, EAD is […]
Dirty Books: A Hypochondriac’s Guide to Archival Donations
“Oh, this smells. What if there’s mold? Am I going to get the black lung? And eew! Is that mouse poop?!”
Let’s talk about CVs
Places flashlight under chin. I’m going to tell y’all a story. So once there was a library student just like you, sitting at this computer that was very much like […]
How to get involved in ALA & ACRL as a student
Today marks the end of our ACRL/HLS Collaboration, check out Dylan Burns’s post on ACRLog about “Experience and LIS education.” Thanks to everyone involved, from the readers, to the contributors, […]
Curating a Twitter Presence as a Library Student
I have to admit that I didn’t “get” “twitter” “before” I was in library school. I may not “get” it. I had an account before I applied and it has […]
Cloud Storage: Dropbox
All Hail Cloud Storage Summer’s an excellent time to reenergize, as well as a fine period for preparing for upcoming classwork or for reevaluating old methods & making new tactics. […]
Hack National Poetry Month
Every April in the United States, we celebrate National Poetry Month (NPM), a time for honoring the poets and poems that have influenced our culture and our personal lives. Libraries […]
The Anatomy of a Book-Part 2: Or How to Recognize Different Parts of a Book
Authors Note: This is part two in a multiple part series on the anatomy of the book. This part will talk about the parts of a book while the last […]
The Anatomy of a Book- Part 1
Authors Note: This is part one in a multiple part series on the anatomy of the book. This part will talk about the basics of books including materials and formats, […]
What’s That Tape? Media Carriers 101
On Friday, I had the opportunity to join the Virginia chapter of the Special Libraries Association on a tour of the Library of Congress Packard Campus for Audio-Visual Conservation. It was a spectacular experience – now I know what 50 petabytes of data storage capacity look like, what a U-matic reformatting robot looks […]
Volunteer Management 101
Hello Hack Library School readers! I’m excited to introduce myself with a topic very near and dear to my heart: managing volunteers. In 2011, after finishing my MA, I found myself at a bit of a crossroads and needed to do something different and interesting while I figured out what […]
Things to Consider When Applying to Library School
Making the decision to go back to school can be daunting, let along deciding which school is right for you. Not all library schools are created equal, and it’s important to find the best match for you. Here are a few things to take into consideration as you narrow down […]
Web Development 101 – Beyond the Basics
Editor’s note: This is part 2 of a guest post by Bryan J. Brown. You can read part 1, The Basics, here. After learning HTML and CSS, the next steps on your path to web development greatness depend largely on what you want to do. Depending on your personal and/or […]
Web Development 101 – The Basics
Editor’s note: This is part 1 of a guest post by Bryan J. Brown. Part 2 will be posted on July 30. If you’ve been paying attention to the librarian blog scene at all, you’re probably familiar with the infamous “Should librarians learn to code?” debate. Maybe “debate” isn’t the […]
Copyright 101
The class I want to see in every MLS/MLIS program is Copyright 101. Want to be a Reference Librarian? Copyright will impact your job. Want to be an archivist and build digital collections? Copyright will impact your job. Want to be a School Library Media Specialist? Copyright will impact your job. […]
Tech Tools for LIS Students {Starter Kit}
My MLIS program has a strong commitment to encouraging students to use various online and computer-based presentation/communication tools in class projects. We use a number of different programs in addition to the course management system on campus (Desire2Learn, which is like Blackboard and Moodle). This immersion in the wide range […]
Am I Ready for Library School? [Starter Kit]
Thoughts On Being A Younger Library School Student Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by Julia Feerrar Just three months ago I walked across a stage in south-central Pennsylvania to receive my undergraduate degree. I thought of the hard work completed, the friendships forged, and I wished fervently that […]
Pursuing a Specialty in Library Services for Children [Starter Kit]
As library science students begin classes again, school is also beginning for the children we serve as School Media Specialists and Children’s Librarians. In that spirit, Ashley and I co-wrote a starter kit for anyone interested in librarianship related to children. I am currently pursing my School Media Studies degree, […]
Tips for New Students Looking for Library School Jobs [Starter Kit]
As a second-year SLIS student, I’ve talked to quite a few new students in my program who are anxious about securing library jobs. I can understand how they feel; after all, one year ago I was a freshly minted SLIS student. I had never gotten paid to work in a […]
On Being An Older Library School Student [Starter Kit]
Photo Credit: PostGrad.com During my first few weeks of library school I noticed that my cohort was a mix of people in their early twenties fresh out of their undergraduate degrees, and older people who were coming to librarianship as a second career. I count myself among the second group; […]
Yes, You Need a Degree for That. [Starter Kit]
When I was starting library school, nobody warned me about the sheer number of questions I would receive, from family, friends, and random strangers. Most of them are variations on a single theme: You need a masters for that? While I’m still getting these questions, now that I’m more than […]
Student Governance {Starter Kit}
Another school year is upon us! Over the next few weeks, we will add some more tips and discussions to our Starter Kit Series as we welcome new library students to the blog. We’d like to encourage returning students to revisit the series along with us as well and especially […]
How to Hack Your Summer Vacation
Congratulations to everyone who’s just finished the first year of an LIS degree! If you’re anything like me, you’re still occasionally having phantom-homework guilt, as it’s such a novel feeling to have a bit of spare time. That spare time can be put to good use, though! In the spirit […]
How to Hack the Academic Conference
This post was collaboratively written by Quasi-Con planners and School of Information Master’s candidates Kelly Davenport, Peter Timmons, Ilana Barnes (ALA chapter president), Kim Miller (vice president), Katy Mahraj (treasurer), Ryan Clement (webmaster), and Mariah Cherem (social media coordinator). The DIY Library Conference: A Quasi-Guide It was an experiment. When […]
[Series] Library School Starter Kit – Questions and Advice
This is a collaborative post between Teresa Silva, who is entering her first year of library school at the Pratt Institute of Information and Library Science, and Turner Masland, who is entering his final semester of Emporia State University’s School of Library and Information Management. Teresa: Finally, after months of […]
[Series] Library School Starter Kit – a class checklist
If you didn’t read Zack’s post on Monday, (Library School Starter Kit) check it out here. Otherwise, read on for some suggestions about classes as you start library school! You are probably “stuck” taking required (core) courses this term, and that’s good! If you took what you WANTED to take, […]
[Series] Library School Starter Kit – The First Term
Below is a timeline that roughly follows my own experience in library school and what I have noticed other successful library students doing. Most of the activities are simple non-time intensive ways […]
Hack Your Library School Application – Pratt SILS
John Tomlinson is an MLIS candidate at the Pratt Institute in New York City (degree expected in December 2011), and communications manager at Synergos, a nonprofit organization that fights poverty around the world. He’s also website manager for SLA@Pratt, a student chapter of the Special Libraries Association. He’s realized that […]
Hack Your Library School Application
Hi Hack Library Schoolers, We’ve gotten contacted by a few people who have questions about applying to library schools. We can’t really answer those questions for you, everyone’s application process will be different. What we can do is tell you how we approached our applications. In addition to reading this […]
Student Organizations and LIS Education
There’s been some vibrant and intense conversations concerning LIS ed in the last few weeks, one right here in on HLS. And in the spirit of HLS, in which LIS students feel empowered to take action and agency in their own education, I believe that student organizations are one of […]
[Series] Experiencing LIS – The Internship Edition
It is said over and over, across blogs, professional organizations and probably in your program: real, practical work experience is what will get you a job after school. For students what that means is that seeking out, securing and excelling in an internship is key to the library school experience. […]
[Series] Experiencing LIS: Route to School
One of the fascinating aspects of librarianship is the variety of backgrounds represented in the field. The paths that lead us from a childhood love of books, or a respect for sharing knowledge and supporting local communities, are from many disparate points of view, educational and political stances, and personal […]
Twitter in Library School
Last semester I took the class, User Instruction, as an elective. For our final assignment we had to create a 15 minute tutorial on anything library-related for any type of audience. Since over the last 6 months or so I have had a love affair with Twitter, especially since it […]
So how do I pay for all this?
One thing students and potential students in nearly every field stress out about is how to pay for their education, and LIS is no different. I’ve compiled a list of places to look for support. I’m sure there are some I’m leaving out, so if you know of an extra […]
But what classes should I take?
As I’m sure many readers can attest to, it can be difficult to figure out the “right” path to take in library school in terms of courses. Since I was fairly undecided as to what type of library I wanted to work in I was hoping to take a little […]
Resources for New LIS Students
This post originally appeared on my blog here. The post is from August of 2010, and is a list of blogs that I’ve found to be really helpful and that I direct my fellow students to. Know of any resources I didn’t include? Add them to the comments! After going […]
