You Can’t Learn Everything in Grad School
All things must come to an end. Although I still have one year left in my degree, I’ve already planned out the rest of the courses I will take and […]
All things must come to an end. Although I still have one year left in my degree, I’ve already planned out the rest of the courses I will take and […]
Mentorship – in any form – can be an effective way for LIS students of color to learn more about the field. We learn a lot outside the classroom through jobs, internships, and volunteer experiences, and mentorship is another aspect that can help increase a student’s knowledge. Yet besides learning about the academic hiring process, dealing with negative workplace environments, or where to find job postings, mentorship of LIS students of color by mentors of color can help us see ourselves in the field, learn how to navigate white spaces, and how to advocate for ourselves.
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 […]
2020 has just started: a new month, a new year, and a new decade. The world is a crazy place right now; so I know that long-term planning might seem […]
Whether you’re at the very beginning, middle, or nearing the end of your career as a graduate student, library school can be overwhelming. In this often liminal space, the lines […]
This week marks the beginning of my final year of graduate school. If all goes well, I will graduate in December and walk the following May. So far, it has […]
Much digital ink has been spilled, both on this site and others, about the process of selecting a graduate program in library & information science and starting such a graduate […]
When I was in the fourth grade, I won the first book of the Cranberry Cousins series in a spelling bee. The series is about two cousins with clashing personalities […]
Those who are interested in this career path, have started on this career path, or are far into this career path already are familiar with some of the top responses to […]
The end of the year is almost always a time for reflection, to look at the past and apply lessons learned to the future. For some reason, one past experience […]
I’ve held customer service positions since my undergrad in college. I’ve worked in a call center, handled escalated customer service complaints for a food service franchise, and now staff reference […]
Around this time of year, I always find myself reflecting on the events of the past year and preparing for the new year ahead. This has especially been the […]
As the year draws to a close and we look toward 2020, I’ve been thinking about the promise of new things. Many of us use the New Year as a […]
Alternative careers for LIS graduates is something that’s not often discussed and, in classrooms, is often ignored. Yet you might be surprised to know that your LIS degree is good […]
Nearly everyone in grad school has dealt or is currently dealing with imposter syndrome. Those who claim to have never suffered from it are either lying or actually are the imposters. Alyssa wrote about imposter syndrome in September so, for this post, I’d like to focus on imposter syndrome as a person of color and especially for those of us who also have mental illnesses.
Once upon a time, there were those who came out with their bachelor’s degree/master’s degree/doctorate/etc, got that interview, got that job, and stuck with it until their eventual, on time […]
Did everyone hear that? That was the sound of one giant sigh of relief. If your school runs on semesters, you are very likely finished or close to finished with […]
During my day job, I handle copyright at an academic library, so I was supremely lucky this year that my manager was able and willing to send me to the […]
RBMS Conference Scholarships Available, with expanded eligibility! Power, Resistance, and LeadershipRBMS 2020June 23-26, 2020Indiana University, Bloomington, IN The Rare Books and Manuscripts Section (RBMS) of the Association of College and […]
It’s more than a little fitting that this post is being published today. Today marks the last class day of my third semester in library school. As hard as it […]
UNC-Chapel Hill’s School of Information and Library Science (SILS) recently had an event for its students to “hack” its graduate program. The hour-long event, titled “Managing Expectations,” was set up […]
When you hear the word “union”, what comes to mind? Do you think about dockworkers and miners, police officers and construction workers? If you like celebrity news you’ve heard about […]
The 2020 Census is upon us. After many months of controversy around which questions could or could not be asked (note: citizenship is not a question); come April 1st, 2020, […]
There have been several posts on self-care in the past two months, as Kerri wrote about the separation of work and school and recognizing secondary traumatic stress; Katelyn started a […]
(Content warning: Gun violence)
A few weeks ago, Katelyn Sabelko’s post about Burnout and Library School caught my attention. Does working during your LIS studies contribute to higher rates of burnout? Like Katelyn, I’m […]
In this second part, I cover the American Indian Library Association (AILA) and the Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA). At the end I touch on some other non-ALA groups that might be of interest to readers.
Confession: While I’ve been working in libraries since around 2011, I did not think I wanted to be a librarian until about 8 months ago when I started to look […]
As I near the end of my MLIS education, with my experience with my internship winding up, my candidacy approved, and my e-Portfolio class approaching, I have had some incentive […]
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 […]
As my previous posts have illustrated, starting graduate school isn’t always easy. During your journey in graduate school, you’ll likely experience a lot of different feelings, emotions, and life […]
Recently, LIS scholars have started exploring the potential connection between working in graduate school and burnout in librarianship. In the recently published article, “When Does Burnout Begin? The Relationship Between […]
Today is Veteran’s Day. In my mind, every day should be Veteran’s Day in some form. Given what the men and women in uniform have sacrificed, their time with families, […]
Sometimes, I feel like a library school unicorn. At this, the (almost) halfway point of my journey to my MLS, I seem to be the only one who hasn’t fallen […]
A few years back I read an article by Winston Rowntree titled “5 Responses to Sexism That Just Make Everything Worse,” and there’s a section on questioning institutions that has […]
I am a researcher and an over-preparer, and I am generally pretty quick on my intellectual feet. But a question at an interview this week (for my dream job, eek!) […]
image under creative commons license: flickr/quinn.anya This article was originally published on March 19, 2012. Ignore the graffiti above! HackLibSchool is all about how to make the most of your […]
I expected my graduate classes to be like my undergraduate classes – writing papers, revising papers, readings, discussions – just more in-depth and with higher standards. This expectation comes from […]
PLA 2020 in “Music City” is just around the corner! For many in the LIS field, conferences full of thousands of people can be an overwhelming yet necessary experience. This […]
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 […]
Society asks a lot of public library workers. Alongside our tasks of finding and providing books and other materials, leading programming for all ages, and answering all manner of questions, […]
Before even starting library school, students can join local and national associations, such as the American Library Association, often at a student rate. Within ALA are five ethnic caucuses: the American Indian Library Association (AILA), the Asian Pacific American Library Association (APALA), the Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA), the Chinese American Library Association (CALA) and REFORMA—the National Association to Promote Library Services to Latinos and the Spanish-Speaking.
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 […]
Photo courtesy of Aubrey Young I am at a number of halfway points in my library career: halfway through my internship, halfway through this semester, halfway through the trajectory of […]
It is both Canadian Library Month and LGBTQ history month (in the US, UK, and Canada); so to celebrate both of those together, I thought that this month I would […]
I listened intently while the instructor in my collection management class spoke about the importance of library policies. Of course, one assignment required that we review policies. It was during […]
Check out this HLS classic, originally published on October 3, 2011. As my fellow Hacker Zack Frazier pointed out in his most recent entry, many library school students experience considerable […]
Allison Jennings-Roche recently wrote about attending conferences outside of library land and I couldn’t agree more. In fact, just a few months ago, I was at a cross-disciplinary workshop facilitated […]
One of the classes I am taking this term is Information Access and Retrieval. Back in the day, I suspect this course would have simply been titled Reference, but the […]
As a hacker for HLS, I am challenged to consider some of the biggest ideas in the field of library and information science. Furthermore, one of the primary questions for […]
Last week I had the opportunity to meet with a delegation of Russian librarians, including the president of the Russian Library Association and the Deputy Dean of the St. Petersburg […]
As a follow up to my previous post about taking classes outside of your program’s core curriculum, I also want to recommend attending conferences outside of library land. Last week, […]
The University of Washington iSchool recently launched the Center for an Informed Public (CIP) in partnership with other school entities. This center works to research and combat misinformation because of […]
Hello everyone! Here at Hack Library School, we are always looking to publish new perspectives on library school and the LIS field. So, if you are interested in contributing to […]
I was recently invited to attend a presentation by the Librarian of Congress Dr. Carla Hayden along with library directors from across Wyoming. She gave a lot of information on […]
As I’ve mentioned before in my previous posts, starting graduate school can be stressful. This is especially true if you’re starting a program you have no previous field experience in; […]
At the beginning of my previous quarter, my Database Management professor announced to the class that we would be assigned a short quiz based on the lecture every week during […]
When I applied to library school, I knew I was taking a risk. I was finishing up my undergraduate degree in American Ethnic Studies (AES) and my classes were always filled with BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color). Sure, my English classes, my other major, were full of white people and I had grown up in a predominantly white suburb, but I felt lucky that I had so many positive experiences in AES. But looking around at my MLIS orientation I knew that this would be different. My program, and as an extension the field, looked nothing like me. How was I going to survive three years, especially as an online student?
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 […]
Photo courtesy of Stones15woon Over the past few weeks, I have had several opportunities to consider the confluence of library institutions and neuroatypicality.
The very first classes of my first semester of library school started on the 3rd of this month; which means that, at the time of writing this, I am about […]
Social media can be an excellent way to promote and market library services and resources. Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook open up opportunities to engage in conversation with patrons, increase library […]
Let’s face it. Most students who are getting a graduate degree are driven. Many, including me, work full time. And many are taking two classes and still trying to achieve […]
I am not exactly a novice when it comes to academic conferences. Not only have I presented and won statewide awards (twice!) before, but I also have experience from the […]
I’ve had the good fortune of landing a graduate assistantship with the Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries of Illinois (CARLI), which is one of the biggest consortia in the […]
If you read my last post, you know I went on a study abroad trip to the Netherlands with my MLIS program. I also traveled on my own for fun; […]
Many schools on the semester system are already back in session, but here I am thinking about ways to make my second of three years at the University of Washington […]
Starting graduate school, let alone college in general, can be a stressful experience. From selecting colleges and universities to apply to and being accepted to selecting a major, finding a […]
It’s the end of the summer term, and all my final projects are due soon. To make matters worse, back when I had more energy and the sun was shining, […]
At 16, I landed my first library “job” — a semester-long gig spending 90 minutes a day helping out at my high school media center for course credit. I loved […]
You’ve applied, made it past the interview(s), and have accepted a new position! But soon you realize that the workplace isn’t what you were expecting – in fact, it’s quickly going downhill. It started with a few questionable comments from coworkers and has spiraled into microaggressions, lack of support, toxic relationships, and maybe even harassment. Drawn from my own experiences and talking with others in the field, this article will discuss strategies for surviving negative workplace environments. It will focus specifically on student internships and jobs but is also relevant to those in temp positions. See the first two articles of this series (applications and interviews) for more information.
Photo Courtesy of dsleeter_2000 (CC BY-NC 2.0) In a few days, I embark on my fourth semester of library school. It will have been a full year since I started […]
It’s been 7 years since I graduated from my last program, the Library and Technician diploma program. I did take one history course through the university I work at in […]
This summer, we participated in the Atkins Fellows program at the J. Murrey Atkins Library at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. We were the fifth cohort of the […]
I am completing two literature courses this week: Picture Books Across the Curriculum and Young Adult Materials. In ten short weeks, I read 300 picture books and 10 Young Adult […]
What is a librarian without their library? This isn’t some ancient riddle that you only learn the answer to once you’ve earned that hallowed MLS (or MLIS, or MIS, or […]
I graduated high school back in 1996, when being a slacker was a legitimate life aspiration. Work was for sell-outs, cool people lounged around reading zines and being poor. Not […]
Sometimes, one of the best decisions you can make in your academic career is to go off the beaten track, and challenge expectations, even your own. After coming off one […]
In my previous post, I mentioned that part of my motivation for wanting to learn more about digital exhibits was to better tell the story of Rastovich Family Farm, Deschutes […]
I just finished a study abroad program in the Netherlands with my school, the University of Washington. The course topic was innovation in the cultural heritage sector with both honors […]
Libraries no longer act solely as repositories of books. They now act as living rooms, offering anything from craft programs and makerspaces to computer classes and technology assistance. But what […]
Speaking as someone who is relatively new to the library and information science field, the past six months have been a huge learning curve for me as I have continued […]
Ever since I discovered the New York Public Library’s Digital Collections, I’ve been interested in digital collections. The thought of those free and publicly available historical images filled me with […]
If you currently work at a library, take a moment to think about your user base. Have you ever served anyone who: Is depressed or anxious? Experiences panic attacks? Is […]
You’ve done your research, written your cover letter, and have just been contacted for an interview! But the research and preparation doesn’t stop now. An interview will allow you to directly ask about workplace culture, staff, and other important aspects about a job that could make or break a decision. This article is part of a larger series about navigating workplace culture – how to learn about the culture of an organization, decide what’s best for you, and dealing with negative experiences once in a position.
Cover Photo by Aubrey Young I am about halfway through the number of semesters that I have come to commit to my MLIS program. Looking back, it is one thing […]
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 […]
In our lifetimes, experiencing natural disasters is an inevitable reality. For example, being a native Southern Californian, earthquakes have been a consistent source of stress in my region; especially within […]
Learning about learning benefits us all. Whether you’re interested in public libraries, school libraries, academic libraries, archives, or museums, it’s highly likely that instruction will be part of your job […]
I am still recovering from and reflecting on my recent ALA experience in Washington, DC. A key highlight to my four-day experience was a visit to the Library of Congress […]
I have been reflecting on my experiences in graduate school and I want to share some of these thoughts, primarily related to survival. Since April, I have had conversations with […]
Library school (heck, graduate school in general) can be an all-consuming time-suck, if you let it become that. Even in my 1.5 semesters of library school (plus all of the […]
It’s conference season here at Hack Library School, and this weekend I dipped my toes in the conference pool for the first time. Well, almost the first time—20+ years ago […]
As most of us reading Hack Library School know, or at least have heard, the MLIS is a “minimum qualification” for actual employment as a big L academic librarian. Some […]
It has been discussed here on the Hack Library School Blog why LIS education must include social justice curriculum. Many schools are starting to incorporate this into their programs through […]
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 […]
For MLIS students hoping to gain full-time employment in the LIS field after graduation, work experience – whether through a job, internship, or volunteer position – is necessary to stand out from other applicants. Yet while we are told repeatedly by professors and professionals to complete an internship or another work experience during grad school, there is little discussion about what to look for in an internship, how to evaluate worksites, and how to handle poor treatment during the internship.
According to the Society for Human Resource Management (2017), over one-third of organizations have disqualified a job candidate because they had “concerning information” present on their social media profile or […]
Over recent months, a pattern has emerged in much of the networking that has shaped my professional life and the professional lives of those around me. In life and in […]