We’re proud to present our next installment in the Declassified Series! In case you need a reminder, we take two schools, the same class and compare them to see how they’re similar or different. Our first post was written by Annie and Micah and covered Information Architecture. This time around […]
Brian McManus is on Twitter @B_rie and blogs here. Editor’s note: We had several people contact us about Hacking SJSU and we thank you all for that. This is Brian’s experience and we would love to hear about your experiences (positive, critical, neutral, etc) below in the comments. Because SJSU […]
Whether you just finished an intense summer of grad school, working, conferencing, or swimming with the dolphins, chances are that you missed a few of our posts this summer. Never fear – it’s time for our end of semester recap! Completely new to HLS? You can catch the Best of […]
Stephanie Bennett is entering her second year at Simmons GSLIS, where she will get her MS in Library Science and Archives Management in May 2012. She is formerly a corporate researcher; currently a summer archives intern at the Association of American Medical Colleges; and will be returning to part-time work as […]
I am pleased and honored to present the first three of our new writers: Rose L. Chou, Ashley Wescott and Teresa Silva. We are very excited about their contributions and unique points of view, so please help me in welcoming them. Rose L. Chou – San Jose State Rose L. […]
Today’s guest post is brought to us by Chelsea Gunn, who is about to start her final year of the Simmons College GSLIS program, with a concentration is archives. She got involved with the Uni Project (which you can follow on twitter: @findtheuni) through her work with Street Lab. The […]
I’ve written on my own blog about my feelings as a Borders employee and the company’s collapse. In this post I intend to dissect why Borders failed, and what it means for books, bookstores, and libraries. There are a lot of factors that led to Big Red Books’ down fall, […]
The other day, when I found out that graduate student aid had been heavily hit by the budget deal struck by Congress, the only thing I could think to tweet as I shared a link on the topic was “you’ve let students down.” The tweet came somewhat out of fear […]
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 […]
Many readers have expressed interest in hearing more about the SILS program at Pratt and so we’re happy to say that we have two really great posts this week! Lauren Bradley recently graduated from the Pratt Institute School of Information & Library Science in New York City. She is a […]
*Update — Nicole has been a leading force behind this blog since it was a wee GDoc. We all look forward to your future in the profession, Nicole, and thank you for all the wonderful, though-provoking pieces you wrote for us [<— Click to read them all!]. LibHackers never say die. […]
Some of us are taking part in Library Day in the Life Round 7 (or #libday7) and writing about it in our individual blogs but we thought we’d also take a moment to do a quick Hack Library School edition so you can get an idea of what we do […]
Michael Pawlus graduated from the University of Sheffield in December 2010. He currently resides in Korea due to extenuating circumstances but is actively seeking opportunities to join a library this fall. His interests include information literacy, electronic learning objects and web developments that increase the reach and impact of library […]
The ALA Student-To-Staff program is open to currently enrolled students who are members of their student ALA chapters. Only one student per school may participate and there are only forty slots available in the program. School representatives are selected on a first-come, first-served basis (so watch for the announcement like a hawk!). […]
Last winter my colleague Annie wrote about the importance of online self-branding for information professionals. I couldn’t agree more that personal branding is important for both budding and seasoned professionals. Not only does it demonstrate a level of competency with social media technologies, but it also demonstrates that you’re connected […]
As a student with Emporia State University’s MLS program, I am not fully satisfied with my educational options. I want a certificate in web design, but such a program is not offered. We have excellent certificates in archives and a youth services. But in terms of emerging technologies we have […]
Stacie Mari Williams will complete her M.S. in Library Science and Archives Management at Simmons College?s Graduate School of Library and Information Studies in August 2011. She currently works in Access and Reference Services at Harvard Medical School’s Countway Library and sits on the board of directors of SLA-Boston as […]
Here at Hack Library School, we are constantly in contact with people who are interested in sharing their story or perspective about library school with the readers of the blog. Some of these prospective writers have their own blogs, contribute to other blogs in and outside of libraryland and some […]
While our lovely Annie recovers from the summer flu, let’s share some of our favorite summer reads… anything! What are you reading? What do you want to be reading? What book can you not leave home without on your summer vacation? What do you read to cheer you up when […]
Library Day in the Life, a project coordinated by Bobbi Newman (of Librarian by Day), is gearing up for Round 7! Who: Librarians and informational professionals of all stripes What: Share a day (or week) of their work When: July 25th through July 31 Where: Blogs, photos, videos, Twitter Why: […]
Please welcome Pam Read (yes, that really is her name!) as a guest writer. Personally, I’m encouraged by her enthusiasm as a veteran in the field of librarianship and as a doctoral student. -Heidi Pam Read has an MLS from SUNY Albany, and is a first-year Doctoral Student in the […]
A little late on the jump here, but here is our wrap-up of the American Library Association’s annual conference. Of the HackLibSchool team, Annie, Micah and Lauren attended the conference. Believe it or not, this was actually the first time we all met face to face! Aside from conference business, […]
Recently I read an article in Library Journal about a panel held at ALA Annual that encouraged the ALA to do more to promote diversity in the field. I’m certainly not the first blogger to discuss the uncomfortable racial demographics that exists in the information field and I will not […]
RSS Food — by-nc-sa license. See also: Edition 1, and Edition 2. As some of you may know, we were nominated for and won, one of the Salem Press Best Library Blogs awards this year. We are so proud of this honor, and excited to continue to be a resource of good […]
Note: like other posts in the Hack Your Program series, opinions expressed here are mine alone. I have grown so much and enjoyed myself thoroughly at SLIS, so the few items I offer as ‘areas for improvement’ should be viewed as constructive criticism and also understood through the lens of […]
I had actually planned on writing a post about informal networking this week. But then I was distracted. That distraction came in the form of an invite to Google’s new, Google+ platform. A great deal has already been written about the platform so I won’t get into the details of […]
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 […]
Ahava Cohen has completed her first year in the advanced graduate certification LIS program at Beit Berl. Originally from NYC, she has been living in Israel for over 20 years. When not in school she serves as Information Officer in charge of portfolio companies for a private investment firm. Over […]
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 […]
Kim Mears is in her final year with the Master of Library and Information Science program at Valdosta State University. She currently lives in Augusta, Ga and works at the Greenblatt Library of Georgia Health Sciences University as a Medical Library Associate. With interests in open access and information literacy, […]
Hi Everyone – Just a quick short note here. We’re very excited to be a part of reshaping ALA, as you can probably tell from some of our recent posts. The first step is getting involved, which we will be kicking off this weekend at the annual conference. Annie, Lauren […]
This post is a shared effort between HLS editor Julia Skinner and Katie DeVries Hassman, Sam Bouwers, and Gwen Persons, who were part of the conference planning team for Unpacking the “Library”: Exploring Works in Progress Across the Field of LIS. Other planners included Melody Dworak, Christine Mastalio, and Julie […]
The debate over the current role MLIS programs can play in the library industry keeps popping up. For a recent example, check out Will Manley’s blog, Will Unwound, which asks some important questions: Are too many graduates being spit out into the shrinking job pool? Are graduate programs, in their […]
Lauren Bradley recently graduated from the Pratt School of Information & Library Science in Manhattan. She is a library assistant at the Leo Baeck Institute. She enjoys costume librarianship, database searching, and government documents. Follow her on Twitter @BibliosaurusRex A number of us Hack Library School readers and writers have […]
Polanka, Su, ed. No Shelf Required: E-Books in Libraries. American Library Association, 2011. I have to be up front with you guys: I don’t have a Kindle. I’m certainly not a luddite and I’ve spent most of my life around computers. I remember first getting dial-up AOL at my house […]
*Disclaimer: These are my personal opinions and are not representative of the student body, the University of South Carolina, or the School of Information and Library Science. I started in Fall 2010 as a full-time, out-of-state student. All criticism is meant to be constructive. When I tell people I am […]
Yesterday Salem Press announced the winners of their Library Blog awards. We had known that we were nominated, and to be honest it had kinda slipped our minds until Turner got an email yesterday telling him that we won the Newcomer Blog award! We have been frantically sending congratulatory emails […]
*note – I’ve deliberately decided to use the word ‘text’ herein because I truly believe this project must be absorbed and interacted with across its dual formats, printed book and web/digital presence. Hows that for meta? Cultural Studies, represent!! Lacon, Barthes, dying authors, and all that jazz. Let me be […]
LHRT is an awesome organization for students to join because it’s fun, vibrant, and a great way to explore libraries of the past and see how they intersect with issues faced by libraries today. Best of all, there are so many ways for students to get involved that include running for […]
Just a quick reminder for any of our readers who might be attending the Special Libraries Association conference in Philadelphia this coming week – Our friend and contributing writer Lauren Bradley has organized a get together for LIS students and n00brarians. See the details below and RSVP to the Facebook […]
UPDATE: John Chrastka, Director of Membership Development at ALA, commented and alerted us to The Conference Tracker from American Libraries Magazine. This is another great way to track the conference, and pulls in a lot of the avenues Nicole mentioned in her post. Thanks John and AmLib Magazine! * […]
ALA is the largest library conference in the nation. It brings together different librarians from across the country, all in one place. It gives everyone the opportunity to meet new people and network. This is pretty fantastic if you think about it, but for a newbie student or librarian who […]
Hello, newly minted and soon-to-be librarians! I’m visiting today from Librarian Wardrobe to give you some ideas on how to dress like a successful librarian without having to spend the large amounts of money that librarians tend to make (joke, of course). I was in your shoes recently, wondering how […]
This post needs no introduction. Written by April Martin – you’ve also seen her here talking information literacy. Find her at ALA and get a high-five (tell her Heidi sent you!) So, you’re going to ALA in New Orleans. Although I am sure that all of you will be very […]
Editors Note: Welcome to Hack ALA Week! We’ve been planning this for quite some time now, and although we’re titling this a “Week” you can bet your bottom dollar we’ll continue writing about ALA generally beyond this week. As the preeminent professional organization in our profession, whose mandates and bylaws […]
Where are they now? [And, yes, this is a deliberate ploy to grab some SEO from X-Men. Ain’t nothing wrong with a little marketing genius, right? 😉 ] Micah Vandegrift is working as a part-time Project Manager on a Scholarly Communications Task Force at his alma mater, Florida State University. […]
The above image is the philosophy of information science of the UT iSchool, one that manifests in its approach to curriculum and preparing students to enter the workforce. I began the program in the fall of 2010 and expect to graduate May of 2012. My decision to attend the UT […]
*Disclaimer: These are my personal opinions and are not representative of the student body. I started in Fall 2009 as a full-time student and graduated this past semester. I hope the below, and the previous posts in the series, will provide a means of discussion and collaboration. I did not […]
Disclaimer: This is a post of my individual perspective on my MLIS program and not representative of the student body or faculty of ESU. I started the program in the fall of 2009 and will finish in December of 2011. Before I get into the nitty-gritty details of my experience […]
You may remember my post asking for help to Save the UW iSchool. Well, the all clear has sounded and the iSchool is safe for another year. Here’s my hack into the program itself rather than the politics that put it into jeopardy. As always, these are my views and […]
Like the other Hackers, this post reflects my perspective, and mine alone, on the UCLA Department of Information Studies, as experienced in my two years as an MLIS student. I am enrolled in the Library Studies track, with a focus on public libraries and a specialization in youth services; I […]
*Disclaimer: These are my personal opinions and are not representative of the student body. I started in Fall 2010 as a full-time, out-of-state student. All criticism is meant to be constructive. I go to the School of Library and Information Science at Indiana University-Indianapolis (a.k.a. IUPUI). It’s a nice campus […]
UA School of Library and Information Studies – Tuscaloosa, AL (Pictured above: Gorgas Library – UA SLIS is located on the 5th floor) Disclaimer: I attended the on-campus UA SLIS program from January 2009-May 2011 as a full time student. These opinions are mine, with the exception of anonymous sentiments […]
Summertime! After a few weeks of sparse updates, the HackLibSchool team is kicking it back into gear. We first wanted to take the time to thank our readers for all the great conversations we have had over the past several months. It is encouraging that our writings have inspired discussions […]
Lindsay Cummings – @lindsaysc shared this with us last week. Add it to your to-read list. There really is nothing better than collaboration with your colleagues – and this is a great example of it. -Heidi I wanted to let you and the rest of the HLS team know about […]
Hi all! Recently, my awesome friend (and fellow Iowa alum!) Diana Symons shared this listserv discussion with me, and after talking to Tiffany Allen, I got permission to share it here. Since quite a few of us are graduating (our ceremony is today, in fact) and moving on either to […]
36 credit hours complete. It felt pretty wonderful to see that on my transcript this past week. After 5 semesters and about 20 months, I have completed my MLIS degree. Still feels a bit surreal. Probably won’t hit me until I walk at graduation next week. It’s exciting, though. And […]
About a month ago I wrote a post titled: Some thoughts from a #n00brarian. The day that post went live, I was offered the position at my dream job as the Library Director of Muir Library in Winnebago, Minnesota. Unfortunately, I couldn’t announce it because it had to be approved […]
I have been working for almost 13 years, and in those 13 years, I’ve worked many, many, part-time jobs. I’ve been a server at a truck stop diner (oh, how I miss those tips!), processed data for an insurance library, taught special education, worked in inner city schools as an […]
Self-assessment is a life long learning tool that helps guide us in identifying what our personal strengths and weaknesses are. Whether you are a working professional or a student, this is a valuable skill to have and to work on. Taking the time to reflect on what you’ve learned and […]
HLS readers: I’m posting this on behalf of our lovely editor, Lauren Dodd, who is in Alabama for her MLS. Earlier today she posted an update on her own blog about the devastation there, and the HLS team wanted to share it here. Lauren is OK (yay!) as are the […]
Hi, Since we are all still students, or very VERY early career LIS pros, this time of year is especially full of things to do. That said, you’ll see new content slow down here, for at least the next week or two. We’ll be planning the summer semester’s worth of […]
I am very excited to introduce our first book review to HackLibSchool. The “residency program” is an interesting step to consider for students looking to make a smooth transition out of school and into a professional job. Welcome Genevia Chamblee, our reviewer. Genevia is an Information Professional working at a Research […]
Please welcome back to the HLS blog, Katie Westlake! Have you ever been afraid to turn on your computer? Until I started my online MLIS through the University of Washington last fall, my answer to that question would have been a resounding nope. My social media experience was limited to […]
Andy Burkhardt is the Emerging Technologies Librarian at Champlain College. He enjoys playing with new tech, information literacy and generally helping students, faculty, and staff learn new things. He is also a dinosaur enthusiast from Minnesota. You can read about most of these things on his blog Information Tyrannosaur. Some […]
Note: I posted this a bit ago on my blog, but since it has a lot to do with how we approach LIS education as students and new professionals, I […]
HackLibSchool is proud to feature this guest post from Ned Potter AKA thewikiman AKA one of the recently named Library Journal 2011 Movers and Shakers! In the spirit of the web allowing us to cross many types of boundaries, its important for us as students to consider growing communities and professional […]
In my Introduction to Library Science class, we were told that a primary goal of the class was to start the process of professionalization. Wikipedia describes professionalization as, “Professionalization is the social process by which any trade or occupation transforms itself into a true “profession of the highest integrity and […]
Micah – Geoff Johnson approached me about posting this survey here, and I thought it reflected many of the types of conversations we’ve had over the past few months, and especially related to Nicole’s post about non-traditional LIS work from yesterday. Actually, because of this post, I did a little […]
Research Analyst. Yup, no “librarian” in that title. Yet, it’s my current job title. And it is the job title of my 6 other colleagues. They all of have MLIS degrees (and very soon so will I!) Now I’ve discussed my role in a previous post on special libraries. So […]
It’s been exactly 2 weeks since I received the “we’ve approved your request for graduation – now wait several months for a diploma” email. That’s right! I’m a #n00brarian! During those past couple of weeks, I’ve been reflecting on where I am, where I’m going, how I’m going to get […]
Lauren Bradley is in her final semester at the Pratt School of Information & Library Science in Manhattan. She works part-time at the Leo Baeck Institute and part-time at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She enjoys costume librarianship, database searching, and government documents. Although her experience is exclusively in technical […]
Editor’s note: This is not your ‘typical’ LIS Blogs to Follow post – this is a list of non-LIS blogs to keep your eye on from Ben Lainhart and the HackLibSchool editing team. -Heidi Ben Lainhart is graduating this June from Drexel with his MLIS with a concentration in digital […]
Carolyn Caffrey is in her last semester of the MLS program at Indiana University Bloomington. Originally from Southern California she relocated to the land of corn where she works in instruction and reference. She is an aspiring instruction librarian, who loves roller derby, office supplies, spring, and critical information literacy. […]
Welcome to the inaugural post of our Declassified series. This series will feature two writers laying out the basics of one class that is similar at two different schools. The point is to allow interested students to get a peek into the coursework that the MLIS offers, and also to serve as […]
Here at HackLibSchool we are big fans of finding ways to stay on top of current events in and across the information professions. One of the best ways to accomplish this, besides subscribing to hundreds of RSS feeds, is to let someone else do it for you. Let’s call it […]
All, Thanks for listening in this week. We had some good shortcasts that we hope you were able to access. It turns out that maybe a blog isn’t the best way to share this type of media, so we’ll be rethinking how/where the TMI series will go from here on […]
Student organizations and student government are a big part of the MLIS experience, mirroring committee work and boards we will be expected to participate in as information professionals. Listen in!
TMI week marches on.* I am so excited to be able to chat with Audrey Watters. Audrey writes (like 100 posts a day) at a leading tech blog ReadWriteWeb.com as well as HackEducation.com. Her posts on both blogs are often center around educational technology, and the interactions of tech and […]
For the second installment in this week’s TMI series, we caught up with our very own Julia Skinner to talk about why library school students should get involved in independent research. Julia has done her own independent research and has presented at conferences. Library history is one of her many […]
Welcome to TMI Week! We are taking a break from blogging to dedicate some brain-time to our coursework, and so we thought we’d beef up our Two Minute Insight shortcast series. Over the next 5 days stop back by to hear some brief thoughts on a variety of topics related […]
1. WordPress has recently released an iPad optimization for all their blogs, and I must say the HackLibSchool theme looks pretttty good in that format. So, if you have the […]
UPDATE: We caught the attention of ALA with this one and Jenny Levine AKA The Shifted Librarian posted the following comment – we encourage everyone to submit ideas and participate in the Civics Class. Hackers, great post. I’d like to encourage you to submit programs for the 2011 Annual Virtual Conference […]
Hi everyone, Micah here. I am incredibly fortunate and honored to be working with my co-editors on this blog. We are in communication and conversation regularly on current LIS events, preparing and sharing our posts before they go up, and generally encouraging one another professionally. In the spirit of that, […]
I had the good fortune of attending the 2011 InfoCamp Berkeley. People there were talking about and coming up with crazy new ways to discuss, think about, and present information. However, I also saw some examples of reinventing the wheel. There were topics where information science seemed to be struggling […]
Dictionary.com defines advocacy as “the act of pleading for, supporting, or recommending; active espousal.” I know I heard and used this term before I began library school but I honestly think my awareness of it has increased tenfold in the last two years of my program.
Thanks to Bronwyn Guiton for this inspiring piece detailing how students at University of British Columbia hacked their LIS education. Last fall, students at the School of Library, Archives, and Information Studies at University of British Columbia were invited to the school’s first ever Cool Tool Day sponsored by the school’s local ASIS&T chapter. […]
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. […]
Jeremy Bold is currently a full-time graduate student pursuing degrees in European Studies at New York University and Library and Information Science at Long Island University and residing in Brooklyn, NY. After graduating in May, he expects to be at least a part time-employed librarian and a full time-obsessed writer […]
Welcome Geoff Johnson to the HackLibSchool blog. Geoff (on Twitter, or find him on LinkedIn) is a proto-librarian interested in academic librarianship and special libraries – especially news libraries* – attending the Simmons College GSLIS and living in Boston. He’ll finish up his coursework in May. *But really, more than anything, he’s […]
Publish Or Perish. Ever heard that phrase before? It echos through the halls of the university and hearts of grad students around the world, prompting many-a-late night in the library and archives (which is a good thing!) researching, writing, writing, writing. And to what end? Potential recognition for publishing in a […]
This guest post comes to us from Natalie Binder. It was originally posted on her blog, The Binder Blog. Natalie is a master’s degree student at Florida State University’s School of Information and Communication (FSU-SLIS), with concentrations in technology and special collections. She currently works at a public library as a cataloger […]
You’re scanning your program’s course schedule, and see no classes being offered in your specialization. Or you attend a conference, and realize that there is a gaping hole in the way your school addresses this important issue in the field. The good news: you’re an engaged learner who is conscious […]
When you started library school, did you know exactly what kind of librarian you wanted to be? Or — did you have a general idea, but you were open to other possibilities? That’s where I was when I started at SLIS. I knew without a doubt that I wanted to […]
Hack Library School welcomes a guest post from Julia Glassman, who has an interesting perspective on the “theory vs. practice” conversation. Julia is finishing her second quarter of library school at UCLA. She’s interested in information literacy, cataloging and metadata, and incorporating alternative media into library collections, and hopes to […]
“Even the most perfect reproduction of a work of art is lacking in one element: its presence in time and space, its unique existence at the place where it happens to be” -Walter Benjamin I work with digital collections and part of what I do at my job is digitize […]
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 […]
