Why Oral Is Awesome
Us librarian types, we’re all about literacy, and we all acknowledge the power of the written word. Writing helped shape civilization as we know it; of course it’s powerful. Our […]
Imposter Syndrome as a Barrier to Library Use
Library school isn’t my first graduate school experience, nor is it my first experience at the University of Illinois.
The Value of Librarianship: A Worthwhile Pursuit
While studying History in undergrad, I was assailed all too frequently with “So, what are you going to do with that degree?” And now, when I tell folks that I […]
2018-19 ALA Presidential Candidate Interview: Terri Grief [Series]
Editor’s Note: In order to learn more about the candidates for President of the American Library Association, HLS asked the candidates a few questions about topics relevant to students and early […]
Weekly Round-Up!
Each week, we reflect on the top articles, blog posts, tweets, news, thoughts, and other tidbits we’ve found interesting or useful. Enjoy!
2018-19 ALA Presidential Candidate Interview: Scott Walter [Series]
Scott Walter is University Librarian at DePaul University, and an adjunct member of the faculty of the San Jose State University School of Information and the Dominican University School of Information Studies.
Tips for Attending Big Conferences
I just got back from attending the Association for Asian Studies (AAS) annual conference. It was the biggest professional conference that I’ve ever attended and going into it I was […]
2018-19 ALA Presidential Candidate Interview: Loida Garcia-Febo [Series]
Loida Garcia-Febo is an international library consultant, researcher and expert on topics such as human rights, advocacy and services to multicultural populations.
A Quick Guide to Choosing Classes
Hello Hackers! My name is Chloe and I’m a new writer at Hack Library School. I have two bachelor’s degrees in English and Theater with a focus in creative writing. […]
Creating Community: Five Simple Steps to Help You Become Involved On and Off Campus
Getting involved as a student is an important part of the MLIS experience but it’s easier said than done (especially for those of us who are introverts!) Here are five short and simple ways to get involved on and off campus as an MLIS student:
Weekly Round-Up!
Each week, we reflect on the top articles, blog posts, tweets, news, thoughts, and other tidbits we’ve found interesting or useful. Enjoy!
Dispatches from DERAIL!
This post is about the recent Diversity, Equity, Race, Access, and Identity in LIS (DERAIL) Forum held at Simmons College, in Boston, MA on March 4-5, 2017. Both authors (and […]
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 […]
I Break Books (And Put them Together Again): The Sacred Book and Book Conservation
With some trepidation I laid a ruler on the book, just at the hinge of the spine, took up my scalpel and sliced right through the book cloth. With another quick incision along the back, the spine was loose and I peeled it off the text bock. The book lay before me in pieces.
Weekly Round-Up!
Each week, we reflect on the top articles, blog posts, tweets, news, thoughts, and other tidbits we’ve found interesting or useful. Enjoy!
The Myth of the Neutral Library: Why Social Activism is Integral to Librarianship
In 2014, following widely reported incidences of police brutality leading to the deaths of two African Americans, the Black Lives Matter movement dominated headlines as the grassroots initiative grew to […]
#LibrarianGoals?: Pop Culture and the Librarian Brand
Every year on President’s Day, the public library where I have been gainfully employed for the past two and a half years holds a massive Staff Development Day for all […]
Weekly Round-Up!
Each week, we reflect on the top articles, blog posts, tweets, news, thoughts, and other tidbits we’ve found interesting or useful. Enjoy!
So You Wanna Do a Thesis? Part 5: The Literature Review
Welcome to my new series about my decision to do the thesis option for my program, and my advice to those of you considering the same. Are you considering doing […]
Choose Your Own Adventure: Maryland’s Individualized Program Plan
ach semester, every MLIS class I take begins the same way. “All right, class. Let’s say your name, your specialization…” If you’re like me, you may not have an easy shorthand in your program’s specialization lingo for indicating where your professional interests lie.
Introducing Our New Writers!
Drum roll please! Here they are: HLS’s twelve newest contributors. We can’t wait to hear how they will “hack” library school!
Hungry, Angry, Lonely, and/or Tired? HALT!
As the political climate, and our semesters/quarters, have waxed and waned, I am in solidarity with continuing to find ways to resist. However, if you’re anything like me, sometimes you […]
Weekly Round-Up!
Each week, we reflect on the top articles, blog posts, tweets, news, thoughts, and other tidbits we’ve found interesting or useful. Enjoy!
Our Work, Our Selves: Using Our Tools for Resistance
In the transformation of silence into language and action, it is vitally necessary for each one of us to establish or examine her function in that transformation and to recognize […]
What’s your library obsession?
Well, it’s the day after Valentine’s Day, and whether that leaves you feeling relieved or longing for more, I hope it was a good one for you. In spirit of […]
ASpace: The Archival Frontier
ASpace: The Archival Frontier. These are the voyages of the Star Ship UIowa. Its continuing mission: to explore strange new information management systems, to seek out new tricks and new […]
Weekly Round-Up!
Each week, we reflect on the top articles, blog posts, tweets, news, thoughts, and other tidbits we’ve found interesting or useful. Enjoy!
An Escalator That’s Only Going Up: What I’ve Learned From Failed Patron Interactions
I’ve worked at a public library for almost two and a half years now, and while I overwhelmingly love my job and working with my community, I have also had […]
Weekly Round-Up!
Each week, we reflect on the top articles, blog posts, tweets, news, thoughts, and other tidbits we’ve found interesting or useful. Enjoy! Annie Information professionals in the news! According to Quartz, in the past month,”hackers, librarians, scientists, and archivists had been working around the clock… to download as much federal climate and environment data off government […]
#dearHLS: Announcing HLS’s Very First Twitter Chat!
Mark your calendars! Hack Library School will host its very first Twitter chat on Tuesday, February 21, 2017 at 8pm CST.
So You Wanna Do a Thesis? Part 4: Paper Structure
Welcome to my new series about my decision to do the thesis option for my program, and my advice to those of you considering the same. Are you considering doing […]
Weekly Round-Up!
Each week, we reflect on the top articles, blog posts, tweets, news, thoughts, and other tidbits we’ve found interesting or useful. Enjoy! Annie Information professionals in the news! According to Quartz, […]
Social Context and Assessment
Decontextualization is becoming one of the most dangerous concepts we face. In libraries. In our personal lives. Everywhere. When I say decontextualization, I am talking about removing social factors from […]
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 […]
ESOL Programs in Public Libraries
Public libraries offer a variety of programs for their patrons, from music concerts to DIY programs, and even English classes. Knowing that libraries are places where people seek information and […]
Weekly Round-Up!
Each week, we reflect on the top articles, blog posts, tweets, news, thoughts, and other tidbits we’ve found interesting or useful. Enjoy! Kristina Hack Library School is seeking new writers […]
Archives, the academy, and the community
This article includes input from Carissa Hansen, Des Alaniz, and Samantha Abrams, three LIS-archives students interested in non-traditional archives settings and ways archivists can help make archives work more community-oriented. […]
Gaining Practical Experience (Without a Library Job)
You’ve done it! You’ve begun library school and are well on your way to earning your MLIS and reaching your goal of becoming a full-fledged librarian. In your excitement, you […]
Weekly Round-up!
Each week, we reflect on the top articles, blog posts, tweets, news, thoughts, and other tidbits we’ve found interesting or useful. Enjoy! Kristina: ALA Midwinter is just around the corner. […]
When Information Professions Collide: Applying the ACRL’s Framework to News Media Consumption
For me, the election results were a wake up call.
Hack Your Job Search: Keep It Organized!
Like many hackers before me, I embarked on my post-MLIS job search over the winter break. As I have only been doing this for about a month, I don’t have […]
Need an Internship? Here’s How to Apply
Rachel Friedman attended Pepperdine Law School before deciding she would prefer a career in library science. She is currently enrolled in the University of Southern California’s MMLIS program, and volunteers at the Studio City Branch of the Los Angeles Public Library and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. This is her […]
So You Wanna Do a Thesis? Part 3: Keeping Yourself Accountable
Welcome to my new series about my decision to do the thesis option for my program, and my advice to those of you considering the same. Are you considering doing […]
Hack Your Program – University of Hawaiʻi Mānoa Library and Information Science
Aloha! I wanted to share with all of you some information about an LIS program you might not know much about. Though many people think of Hawaiʻi as a vacation […]
Weekly Round-up!
Each week, we reflect on the top articles, blog posts, tweets, news, thoughts, and other tidbits we’ve found interesting or useful. Enjoy! Kristina The Internet Archive aims to preserve 100 terabytes […]
Adieu 2016…Bring It 2017
A year ago I was finishing up my last days of being a speech therapist. A year ago I was leaving Chicago, my home of 10 years, only 25 miles […]
Adventures in Book Studies: Taking a Class inside Special Collections
As an LIS student, I’ve spent a lot of time in the main library on campus. My classes are there, I work there, and some mornings I even eat breakfast […]
Weekly Round-Up
Each week, we reflect on the top articles, blog posts, tweets, news, thoughts, and other tidbits we’ve found interesting or useful. Enjoy! Kristina The 2017 ALA Call for Posters has […]
Just one more thing…
(Well ok, it’s actually going to be five more things but the Columbo picture wouldn’t have made sense if I’d given it that as a title). So here we are, […]
The Fight Against Restricted Access to Information: An Interview with Emily J.M. Knox
If you remember, back in early 2016 I wrote one of my very first posts about my personal challenge with balancing radical anti-neutral librarianship and intellectual freedom, and how this […]
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 […]
Weekly Round-up
Each week, we reflect on the top articles, blog posts, tweets, news, thoughts, and other tidbits we’ve found interesting or useful. Enjoy! Kristina North Carolina State University (NCSU) is actively […]
The Glamorous World of Data Modelling
This semester, I am enrolled in a Digital Humanities seminar. I wanted to get a theoretical foundation for how evolving technology is shaping […]
Review: Real-World Teen Services Librarianship with Jennifer Velasquez
Allison Randall Gatt is in her sixth and final year at the San José State University iSchool, studying to be a youth services librarian. When not taking classes, writing for […]
Moving Past “Diversity and Inclusion” In Troubling Times: A Response to the SAA
It’s been a rough few weeks for everyone, it seems. The election of a Trump/Pence administration was not unexpected, but brings new urgency to the same calls for equity and […]
Beyond “Moana”: Hawai’i/Pacific Resources
Even if you haven’t gone out yet to see it, you probably know by now that Disney’s new film, Moana, is the story of a chief’s daughter who navigates across […]
Weekly Round-Up!
Each week, we reflect on the top articles, blog posts, tweets, news, thoughts, and other tidbits we’ve found interesting or useful. Enjoy! Kendra The UCI Libraries have released an innovative […]
Hack Your Faculty: Building Relationships with Professors
Networking can be one of the most daunting tasks for new library professionals, so much so that we’ve discussed it here at Hack Library School several times before. If you’re […]
Technology & Coalition Building: A Critical Review of Online Platforms
Last September, Hack Library School outlined three initiatives to work on over the next year. Since then, we’ve made some changes according to these initiatives–some expected, some not. What has come out of those […]
The Library Bubble: Why It’s Important and Why We Need to Burst It
In the last few weeks, I’ve been thinking a lot about the bubbles I create for myself – the bubble that made the recent election results so utterly unimaginable to […]
The Ultimate “Malquestion”: Online or Face-to-Face Classes?
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 […]
Conference Planning 101
On November 11 and 12, Hawai’i Library Association held its annual conference in Hilo (on the “Big” Island). As a state-wide conference (in a small state), it’s obviously a much […]
Weekly Round-Up!
Each week, we reflect on the top articles, blog posts, tweets, news, thoughts, and other tidbits we’ve found interesting or useful. Enjoy! Carissa Have you heard about our new collaborative […]
Thesis or Internship- What’s Best for me ?
We know that as graduate students we have to do a capstone project our last semester. Usually this capstone is a thesis, which may be scary and overwhelming. Some graduate […]
So You Wanna Do A Thesis? Part 2: Moving Forward
Welcome to my new series about my decision to do the thesis option for my program, and my advice to those of you considering the same. Are you considering doing […]
Weekly Round-Up!
Each week, we reflect on the top articles, blog posts, tweets, news, thoughts, and other tidbits we’ve found interesting or useful. Enjoy! Kristina – If you aren’t already, do yourself […]
Making Connections: Your SLIS-mates and You
As I’m sure many of you know the last month or so of the semester is a real time crunch. (We do have some posts on managing it all here, here, […]
Speed Mentoring- Can it Work for You?
The importance of mentoring has been addressed often by Hack Library School contributors (here, here, and here). In an effort to learn more about how to obtain a mentor, I […]
Every e-reader their digital book
In studying for an MLIS in Digital Library and Information Services, one of the subjects we’ve covered in detail is digital reading. This has been from the viewpoints of the […]
Weekly Round-Up!
Heather: The New York Public Library has revamped its storage process. This method has been used in commercial warehouses for quite a long time, glad to see it’s helping out […]
Why Am I Here? End of Year Reflections
As we move through our individual degree programs, it is incredibly easy to get bogged down in the details of assignments, the job-hunt, and attempting to maximize our time in […]
Human Library: Forming Community one “Book” at a Time
In September, the Human Library Champaign-Urbana had it’s inaugural event! Here are the experiences of the event and how it relates to libraries written by two of HLS’ writers. Nisha […]
Digital, Digital, Digital: Content & Collections
Co-authored by HLS Contributing Writers, Carissa Hansen and Kendra Werst. This post is meant to serve as a primer for beginners interested in digital collections work. There are three sections: […]
Weekly Round-Up!
Each week, we reflect on the top articles, blog posts, tweets, news, thoughts, and other tidbits we’ve found interesting or useful. Enjoy! Kristina: Halloween is just around the corner, […]
Hack Your Halloween: Costumes for Library Students
Halloween is Monday! Do you know who (or what) you’ll be? Halloween costumes (or costumes for any event) can go a long way toward expressing enthusiasm in a school, public, […]
Weekly Round-Up!
Each week, we reflect on the top articles, blog posts, tweets, news, thoughts, and other tidbits we’ve found interesting or useful. Enjoy!
So You Wanna Do A Thesis? Part 1: Preparation
Welcome to my new series about my decision to do the thesis option for my program, and my advice to those of you considering the same. Are you considering doing […]
Bilingual Preferred?: Library School and Foreign Language Requirements
Last year I wrote a paper about services for non-English-speaking patrons in public libraries. As I studied the history of the library’s relationship with languages, I couldn’t help but feel […]
Weekly Roundup!
Each week, we reflect on the top articles, blog posts, tweets, news, thoughts, and other tidbits we’ve found interesting or useful. Enjoy!
Traveling Libraries: Librarians Thinking Outside the Box
Libraries are like safe havens to our patrons, but what happens when they can’t get to one? We have heard of the book mobiles, and some libraries throughout the nation […]
How to participate (when you can’t participate)
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 […]
Giving Yourself Credit(s)!
As my previous HLS posts have urged, it is important to take it easy on yourself, stay grounded, speak up, and trust the process. Well, in this post, I am […]
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?!”
Weekly Roundup!
Each week, we reflect on the top articles, blog posts, tweets, news, thoughts, and other tidbits we’ve found interesting or useful. Enjoy! Kendra Elizabeth Felicella spent five years documenting how […]
First steps in Information Retrieval
Before starting an MLIS in digital librarianship I have worked in libraries for around nine years. Despite being involved and enthusiastic, a lot on the course is new to me. […]
Cataloging the Margins: Zine Librarianship
Zine librarianship presents an interesting intersection of archival practices and librarianship, while also posing a number of challenges for fitting zines into the practices and standards developed around printed books.
Day in the Life: Typical Tuesday
Many of us have written about a typical day in the life of a MLIS student and in an earlier post I described how all my days went in my […]
Confronting the Myths of Coding and Librarianship
This semester I enrolled in LIS452, “Foundations of Information Processing.” I am learning Python. I’m learning how to code!
Weekly Roundup! (Banned Books edition)
Each week, we reflect on the top articles, blog posts, tweets, news, thoughts, and other tidbits we’ve found interesting or useful. This week we are sharing resources related to anti-censorship, […]
Hack Your Program: University of Wisconsin, Madison (Update)
Disclaimer: This post is an update of Tomissa Porath’s 2011 “Hack Your Program” review of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s MA Program in Library and Information Studies with an emphasis on […]
Metadata and Cataloging, Past and Present
This past summer, I took a Digital Collections Institute course. It was a one week, all day intensive course that delved into all aspects of the digital collections lifecycle, and […]
Weekly Roundup!
Each week, we reflect on the top articles, blog posts, tweets, news, thoughts, and other tidbits we’ve found interesting or useful. Enjoy! Des This week, the Atlantic reported on an amazing digital […]
Professional Development While Oppressed
This post was inspired by something that happened to me, but I hope to make it relevant and helpful to all of our amazing readers. (Thank you all for filling […]
How to IFLA Right
Through generous professional funds offered in conjunction with my post as a resident librarian at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, I was able to attend the International Federation of […]
What’s Mine is Yours: A Love Letter to Interlibrary Loan
When I started working in interlibrary loan two years ago, my experience with the system was limited to getting one book on vintage hairstyles through my public library and frantically […]
Weekly Roundup!
Each week, we reflect on the top articles, blog posts, tweets, news, thoughts, and other tidbits we’ve found interesting or useful. Enjoy! Carissa In case you missed it, our new Librarian […]
We Called, You Answered
I must confess, we weren’t entirely sure what would happen when we opened our ears to readers. Sometimes, blogging can feel a bit lackluster, a vain attempt to articulate some […]
Becoming Impossible
Let’s start by acknowledging that this post isn’t going to yield any job offers—not for you and certainly not for me.
Weekly Roundup!
Each week, we reflect on the top articles, blog posts, tweets, news, thoughts, and other tidbits we’ve found interesting or useful. Enjoy! Jennifer – The Athens-Limestone Public Library was getting a […]
