Cover Photo by Aubrey Young I’ve been doing assignments of late that involve me seeking out reference librarians and evaluating them with my inquiries and it’s got me thinking about […]
For those just entering library school I thought I would share something I wasn’t expecting: the assumption that you secure an internship, graduate assistantship, volunteer position, and/or apprenticeship sooner than later […]
It is important that children are introduced to books at preschool age. This is the period when the little ones best absorb the information and skills taught to them. Books […]
I have worked in an academic library for thirty years. First in technical services, then transitioning to Access Services. Yet here I am, getting my MSIS with a concentration in […]
It’s June, faithful HLS readers, and, for many of us, that means one thing – Pride Month! Beyond colorful parades and fabulous parties, there is a serious meaning behind this […]
I wrapped up my undergraduate degree in History last month. The capstone paper in my program was a historiography—for those of you who had enough sense to major in something […]
For the sake of context, I’m going to talk about myself for a moment. In addition to being a new contributing writer here at Hack Library School, I am an […]
It’s time for my final post, and is of course obligatory here at Hack Library School, I’ll be writing about finishing school and that dreaded job hunt. As Melissa so […]
For my final post at Hack Library School, I wanted to share some bits and pieces that I’ve gleaned during the incipient few years of my library career. Before I […]
Each week, we reflect on the top articles, blog posts, tweets, news, thoughts, and other tidbits we’ve found interesting or useful. Check out what our writers have spotted this week […]
The “first” of anything has the capacity to be stress-inducing, from first days of school to first days on the job and beyond. This is especially true when it comes […]
For those currently in library school, you have seen firsthand how social justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion make sudden, relevant appearances in most LIS courses. If you need a place […]
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 […]
Each week, we reflect on the top articles, blog posts, tweets, news, thoughts, and other tidbits we’ve found interesting or useful. Check out what our writers have spotted this week […]
As more MLIS programs integrate tech courses and requirements into their curriculum, many MLIS students who are not tech-savvy nor have a tech background struggle in these courses. At the University of Washington, there are numerous tech courses available for students and a requirement that every student takes at least one of these courses. I’ve heard stories and also personally experienced the struggles of these courses and even some of the mental breakdowns. Many students dread these courses and the long hours they often require.
If there is one thing that the average Master in Information and Library Science candidate is familiar with, it is the constant need for balance: school, work, internships, volunteering, and that is just a baseline that does not take into account added complications such as marriage, or kids.
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?
A year ago I was finishing up my first year as a full-time English professor at a community college in a semi-rural town. After 7 years of teaching as an […]
When you’re caught up in the minutiae of graduate school, remember the big picture. That’s the most critical lesson I learned during my first year of library school. For me, […]
Each week, we reflect on the top articles, blog posts, tweets, news, thoughts, and other tidbits we’ve found interesting or useful. Check out what our writers have spotted this week […]
Are you done? Have you submitted that last paper, or taken your final exam? Are you trying to catch up on all those chores you could not get to because you were […]
I am one semester into my Master of Library Science program and while my area of major interest (currently health librarianship!) has shifted and morphed over the past five months, […]
Happy summer movie season! To everyone beholden to the academic calendar, congratulations on the completion of another successful semester. I have a long list of fun and enriching activities that […]
Each week, we reflect on the top articles, blog posts, tweets, news, thoughts, and other tidbits we’ve found interesting or useful. Check out what our writers have spotted this week […]
See living document and feel free to add resources at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Zcu6d-Gbgf7VkZ43POEYeqhP8VtGV6Xb-tVr_yy0-yM/edit?usp=sharing Approaching difficult conversations: Crucial Conversations book Presentation/video recording: “The Surprising Connection between Vulnerability and Power”. This 90-minute virtual session […]
Disclaimer: This post represents my own perspectives and experiences. My opinions are not intended to be the opinions of any other student, faculty, or staff. Quick Overview I may be […]
I entered library school undecided as to what path I wanted to take in libraries. I had worked for four years in my college’s academic library, so I was leaning […]
A big trend in libraries everywhere is data. Usage data, collection data, user survey data, the list goes on and I’m sure you all can name several more types of […]
Each week, we reflect on the top articles, blog posts, tweets, news, thoughts, and other tidbits we’ve found interesting or useful. Check out what our writers have spotted this week […]
During my time as an undergraduate I began to realize that my familiar overthinking, irritability with people I logically did not want to be irritated with, and need for perfection […]
Picture someone you refer to as a “leader” and write down a few of the characteristics that define them as a leader. It can be a supervisor, a relative, or […]
When I was in high school, I knew exactly what I was going to do when I got older. I was wrong.
As I reach the end of my first semester in graduate school, I’ve taken some time to reflect on my experiences so far in my program. Being in an […]
Congratulations! You’ve been accepted as a poster presenter for a professional conference. You have a compelling project to share with the library world, a lot of gumption, and a tight […]
Each week, we reflect on the top articles, blog posts, tweets, news, thoughts, and other tidbits we’ve found interesting or useful. Check out what our writers have spotted this week […]
At 21 years old and about to graduate, I was afraid to move. Not only had I lived and attended university in the same area I grew up in, but I was worried I wouldn’t be able to support myself financially. So, I found myself again at the University of Washington (UW), this time in a library program that did not have an archives focus. Yet I wanted to become an archivist and the two or three archives-focused classes offered was off-putting. I was afraid I wouldn’t gain the skills that would make me a competitive applicant once I graduate.
A month ago, I attended a webcast seminar, ‘Transgender Inclusion in Libraries’, hosted by San Jose State University’s iSchool. This was the first webcast seminar, or webinar, I was attending under my own power since entering SJSU’s MLIS program, and this likely contributed to my wild underestimation of the number of audience members and, thus, overestimation of my ability to personally engage with the webinar speakers. Last semester saw the composition of my first academic paper written as an MLIS candidate, and with a sixteen-page paper on the queer information community in hand, I was eager to supplement the narrow spread of academic work that I had found that covers transgender issues in the library.
While working on my MLIS degree I’m also working as a library aide between two elementary schools. Let me tell you… kids are quite the patrons…
Each week, we reflect on the top articles, blog posts, tweets, news, thoughts, and other tidbits we’ve found interesting or useful. Check out what our writers have spotted this week […]
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 […]
By day, I am an academic advisor for medical students. I enroll students, counsel student, and generally make sure at least one small slice of the next generation of doctors […]
Like so many others before me, I too have now come full circle from aggressively reading this site’s entire archive while deciding whether to send out my library school applications […]
Each week, we reflect on the top articles, blog posts, tweets, news, thoughts, and other tidbits we’ve found interesting or useful. Check out what our writers have spotted this week […]
The Polish Immigrant and His Reading, by Eleanor E. Ledbetter, was published by the American Library Association in 1924. It was the first of a series of pamphlets put together […]
The biggest worry I had before starting library school was about group projects. Online group projects.
One of my last tasks in my library school career is my choice of end of program assessment, an online portfolio. As I roll the credits on my time in library school, I wanted to take a moment to talk about “the hard stuff.” My portfolio is essentially a highlight […]
Each week, we reflect on the top articles, blog posts, tweets, news, thoughts, and other tidbits we’ve found interesting or useful. Check out what our writers have spotted this week […]
As the 2018-2019 school year draws to a close, use these words of wisdom in the form of horoscopes as advice to inspire you as you continue toward the finish […]
Email alerts are disruptive, by design. Today, though, that disruption was exactly the encouragement I needed to reflect on library school, and life.
It’s that time of the semester, when students finishing their degree in the spring are frantically applying for jobs, and it’s all they seem to talk about. Or at least, […]
Each week, we reflect on the top articles, blog posts, tweets, news, thoughts, and other tidbits we’ve found interesting or useful. Check out what our writers have spotted this week […]
It is hard to believe that, in a little less than two months’ time, I will be graduating. Each day is filled with the expansive feeling, not unlike that of […]
Each week, we reflect on the top articles, blog posts, tweets, news, thoughts, and other tidbits we’ve found interesting or useful. Check out what our writers have spotted this week […]
Recently, I had the pleasure of reading Joy Lisi Rankin’s 2018 book, A People’s History of Computing in the United States. As someone who thinks a lot and writes a […]
I know for certain that we never lose the people we love, even to death. They continue to participate in every act, thought and decision we make. Their love leaves […]
Each week, we reflect on the top articles, blog posts, tweets, news, thoughts, and other tidbits we’ve found interesting or useful. Check out what our writers have spotted this week […]
The School of Information Studies at Syracuse University is “the original information school,” having been the first library school to rename itself in the 1970’s. Home to an undergraduate information […]
Have you ever heard of the Hype Cycle? I hadn’t heard of it until listening to the third season of one of my favorite podcasts, ZigZag with Manoush Zomorodi and […]
Each week, we reflect on the top articles, blog posts, tweets, news, thoughts, and other tidbits we’ve found interesting or useful. Check out what our writers have spotted this week […]
Many thanks to Karen Estlund for sharing her story!
When I was freshly enrolled in my MLIS and pouring over my courses for my very first semester, there was one class that I was very much not looking forward […]
Breaking News: The University of California System (aka ALL of the “University of California” campuses across the state: UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UCLA, UC Merced, UC Riverside, UC […]
“Do you have any good books?” If you’ve worked at a reference desk in a public library, you are all too familiar with this frustrating question.
Each week, we reflect on the top articles, blog posts, tweets, news, thoughts, and other tidbits we’ve found interesting or useful. Check out what our writers have spotted this week […]
I don’t know how many times I have heard the peer-reviewed journal article referred to as the “currency” of academia but, just as with other forms of currency, it seems […]
I wanted to share some interesting things I’ve come across in my research for my thesis project. The project focuses on digital tool development as a way for librarians, research […]
Each week, we reflect on the top articles, blog posts, tweets, news, thoughts, and other tidbits we’ve found interesting or useful. Check out what our writers have spotted this week […]
I was so shocked the first time I learned that most libraries require a masters degree for librarians.
I saw myself through to the end of my seventh year, and with reluctance and eagerness I retired my uniform, my rank, and my identity. I had aspirations to learn […]
Each week, we reflect on the top articles, blog posts, tweets, news, thoughts, and other tidbits we’ve found interesting or useful. Check out what our writers have spotted this week […]
In library school, you learn about many important leaders, trailblazers, researchers, and more who have shaped the field of librarianship. Your area of specialization can often determine who you learn […]
Many thanks to Christina Harlow for sharing her story! “Get your hands dirty. Go to conferences; sign up for workshops; propose the sessions and meetings you think are missing wherever […]
Each week, we reflect on the top articles, blog posts, tweets, news, thoughts, and other tidbits we’ve found interesting or useful. Check out what our writers have spotted this week […]
Today, I wanted to share a guest post that is a little off of our beaten path, but would be helpful for all of us. As graduate students who all […]
Each week, we reflect on the top articles, blog posts, tweets, news, thoughts, and other tidbits we’ve found interesting or useful. Check out what our writers have spotted this week […]
Library hand may sound like something a doctor treats you for after you’ve written too many catalogue cards, but it was actually a handwriting style designed to make the cards […]
Each week, we reflect on the top articles, blog posts, tweets, news, thoughts, and other tidbits we’ve found interesting or useful. Check out what our writers have spotted this week […]
Many HLS readers and several of our regular writers, myself included, are preparing to graduate from library school and to head into the real world. As Megan wrote last week, […]
Tumblr and Facebook’s decisions to censor and remove any adult or erotic material on their platforms has set the internet atwitter (pun intended). There were, of course, thinkpieces lauding or […]
I did it! I got my MLIS! Now what?
Nothing says self-confidence like a young girl wearing jean overall shorts and oversized glasses, playing the recorder, and dancing her way through her neighborhood in a music video. This is […]
Each week, we reflect on the top articles, blog posts, tweets, news, thoughts, and other tidbits we’ve found interesting or useful. Check out what our writers have spotted this week […]
Or, how singing with two year olds prepares you for librarianship. It’s here— your first story time. You’ve taken the Children’s Services courses, you’ve watched your colleagues run a few […]
Well Hack Library School, this is it – my final post on these hallowed pages. I’m starting a job in February at a Science Library, which is basically my dream […]
Each week, we reflect on the top articles, blog posts, tweets, news, thoughts, and other tidbits we’ve found interesting or useful. Check out what our writers have spotted this week […]
When I arrived at grad school, I was certain that I would not do research. I had chosen a course-based program for a reason – I wanted to learn from […]
It seems like I always say the same thing around this time of the year — how is it the end of the year already?! I still remember exactly what […]
Each week, we reflect on the top articles, blog posts, tweets, news, thoughts, and other tidbits we’ve found interesting or useful. Check out what our writers have spotted this week […]
It is with a heavy heart that I must tell y’all this is my last post for Hack Library School. When I agreed to write for the site I did […]
What did you think the last time you checked a book in and found notes in the margins, or passages underlined, or pages dogeared? Most of us, I’m sure, are […]
With the popularity of video games and more libraries circulating non-traditional materials, Burlingame Public Library experiments with offering a video game collection.
Each week, we reflect on the top articles, blog posts, tweets, news, thoughts, and other tidbits we’ve found interesting or useful. Check out what our writers have spotted this week […]
Over the last few years, there has been an increase in the in glossy books of profiles of women in history, bringing alive stories that have been forgotten or ignored. […]
This series on tribal collections highlights three projects from across the libraries, archives, and museums space that focus on Native American communities and culture, using best practices set forth by […]
Each week, we reflect on the top articles, blog posts, tweets, news, thoughts, and other tidbits we’ve found interesting or useful. Check out what our writers have spotted this week […]
Networking. It’s a word that’s thrown around a lot and is an inevitable part of professional life. Some previous HLS writers have given their thoughts on the topic. One wrote […]
Each week, we reflect on the top articles, blog posts, tweets, news, thoughts, and other tidbits we’ve found interesting or useful. Check out what our writers have spotted this week […]
I recently had the pleasure of writing a post about some topic modeling research I did for a Digital Humanities class I took last year for our fellow library blog […]
Some programs might be a bit different, but at my school, the University of Denver, we get a long break between our Fall and Winter quarters—from about mid-November to the […]
