Job hunting is a tricky beast to master. The process is emotionally draining at times, there are so many things to be excited/anxious about. For some of us who have just finished our last semester of school, this is the prime time to start looking. Most people advise that you […]
Do you feel that buzz in the air? Or maybe you can actually feel the vibrations under your skin and drumming in your ears. You might even be thinking “I don’t have time to read Hack Library School right now!” It isn’t just the caffeine you’ve been living on. If […]
One of the long-standing jokes of librarianship is that we all got into the profession because “we love to read”, the punchline of course being that we’re all too overworked to read for fun. While I don’t think anyone should enter professional librarianship with the expectation that reading is a […]
I’ve just completed my first year of grad school at the University of Tennessee School of Information Sciences. It has been an incredible experience. At various times and sometimes simultaneously, I’ve been overwhelmed, frustrated, excited, angry, amazed, and bored. Yet, through all these emotions, I have grown as a person […]
Ashley’s previous post on ethnography got me thinking about a topic that has been buzzing around in my mind–the importance of context for information and for learning. While Ashley focused on learning the tools of a different discipline, anthropology, for direct use in librarianship (i.e., librarian as ethnographer), I wonder […]
This semester at the University of North Texas I am taking SLIS 5445, History and Culture of Youth Services. A good portion of the class has focused on ethnography and its application in youth services. I won’t pretend to be an expert on this type of study and fieldwork. However, […]
Following in the footsteps of previous posts that focus on a specific field of librarianship (such as Annie’s post on art librarianship and Chris’s post on data curation) today I wanted to explore special collections librarianship. I’d like to work with digital projects for special collections or archives after graduating from Indiana […]
Good librarianship is an art. The distinct combination of talent, education, experience, and affinity that librarians possess must come together into a cohesive unit, guided by the librarian’s sensibilities, in order to provide the professional level of service expected and required of librarians today. Why, then, are our training models […]
Though the trademarks of the library profession like bridging the digital divide for children and adults, protecting freedom of information and promoting literacy, connect directly to service-learning, many LIS programs do not have a service-learning component. Service-learning programs connect LIS students with schools, libraries and other social service agencies to […]
In this, my second term of library school, one of my required foundational courses is “The Organization of Information.” This class is our theoretical precursor to more specific practical courses down the line – cataloging, metadata, and so on. We talk about Dewey and Brown and Bliss and Ranganathan, and […]
A classmate from my Transformative Learning and Technology Literacies class at San Jose State University sent me a LinkedIn connection request about a month ago prompting a total revamp of my oft-neglected and unfinished LinkedIn profile. I realized that my profile needed to be presentable if my classmates were going […]
Over the last couple of weeks, we have brought you a series of posts about preparing yourself for the job search. Ashley gave you general advice she gleaned from an interview with a hiring manager. Rose brought you advice on filling out your job application and creating a cover letter. […]
Photo credit: Lifehackery A few weeks ago, I signed up to attend McGill’s School of Information Studies’ annual career fair, which was held last week. Over thirty employers were going to be present from all over Quebec and Ontario. As the fair approached, the organizers began to send e-mails about […]
A few weeks ago, Rory Litwin posted a bit of a treatise on professionalism in librarianship on the Library Juice Press blog. He addresses several trends he notices in the deprofessionalization of librarianship, and though the blogosphere was only one point of many, that’s the issue that got the most […]
The word “curation” in common usage has lost some its meaning. We think of it more in terms of collector, aggregator or disseminator and not as “caretaker” as is its true definition. We future and current archivists and librarians, are all curators of information. We are shepherds and superintendents of […]
image under creative commons license: flickr/quinn.anya Ignore the graffiti above! HackLibSchool is all about how to make the most of your library program and how to engage the library profession at large. A running series of posts, Hack Your Program, offers overviews of the curricula and cultures of various library […]
To follow up on Ashley’s post earlier this week on advice from a hiring manager, I thought I’d share my own perspective. I recently served on a search committee for a tenure-track academic librarian position and reviewed applications for a paid (!) summer archival internship. Nothing I’m going to share […]
Guess what everyone? We are pleased to announce that we have our first Conversation Starter Proposal for ALA Annual this year! Conversation Starters are 45 minute, discussions focused on emerging topics and trends. Ours will be a facilitated conversation focused on issues surrounding the library school experience. We hope it […]
Last semester I took an Academic Libraries class that required me to interview an academic librarian. I reached out to Courtney Young to help me complete this assignment. Ms. Young is Head Librarian & Associate Professor of Women’s Studies at Penn State Greater Allegheny and serves on the ALA Executive […]
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 […]
This is the third post of our Declassified Series, in which we focus on exploring the similarities and differences between courses on the same topic that are offered at different schools. Previous posts include Reference and Information Architecture. Below, Brianna and Barbarajean discuss their experiences in Digital Humanities classes.
“New Librarianship” is a buzzword, especially here at Syracuse, but what does it mean? Here’s my take: New Librarians and people-who-work-in-libraries are two very different things. The latter is a job; there’s nothing wrong with that, and I believe very strongly that libraries need passionate, good people to help fulfill […]
Let me start off by saying, I am NOT attending Library School to become a Library Media Specialist. My knowledge on the topic of Accelerated Reader and other reading management systems is something that I have only begun to explore. I’d like to thank fellow Hacker, Britt Foster and my […]
One concern that has been mentioned in many of my classes is the lack of marketing about the library. Librarians and libraries perform vital services but many people are unaware of what these services are. This affects all kinds of libraries. One professor, who also worked at a public library, […]
Expanding on the theme of diversity within HLS began by Micah and within the LIS profession by Rebecca, I would like to take a moment to add a queer perspective to this discussion. My identity as a queer person has played a major role in my entry into this wacky […]
Librarianship is a profession that’s all about helping people, which means we need to be able to work with them. Even if you don’t work with patrons, you’ll still have to work with coworkers that run the gamut. Cat lovers(ahem), gamers, tattooed drinkers, the sweet old lady who doesn’t know […]
Author’s note: My interests within the LIS field are data curation and e-science librarianship. This is a hot topic that is growing every day, and skilled e-science librarians are needed to fill the gap. If you’re interested in learning more about data curation librarianship as a future career, leave a […]
I was reading Fast Company today, and it strikes me that one particular feature is missing from the bulk of library blogs; profiles of effective librarians. Sure we have lots of good product reviews to help with efficiency and lots of us write about our work flows, but not many […]
I’m in my second term of library school. My experience so far is still mostly about foundations and required courses, learning the common language of the library, and coming to grips with core concepts and basic skills. I’ve had some theory, I’ve had some history, and I’m getting my first […]
I’m sure you’ve all heard a million times by now that libraries are looking for young professionals with technology skills. And I’m sure you’ve all thought to yourself “But of course, I use technology all the time! I’m proficient in the Microsoft Office Suite, I conduct online research like a […]
It’s hard to describe the feelings that flashed through my head as I read through the email welcoming the new batch of HLS Hackers. Excitement, certainly, with a decent amount of giddiness in the mix, but also some apprehension. After all, this was a blog I’d been reading since my […]
About a year ago, I started spying on the HackLibSchool project. Anonymously peeking at the original Google doc, figuring out how to use Twitter so I could see what the big deal was, reading other students blogs. I had no clue what I was doing online then, I was just […]
Dear friends, The way I see it, there are a few different ways I could write this. I could be super sappy, writing about how much this blog has meant to me, what a joy its been to work with such amazing peers/colleagues, how proud I am to see Hack […]
Here we are in the second month of the semester and if you are new to your LIS program, you’re probably just trying to get your feet under you (as I was a year ago). Old hands are re-acclimating to the familiar not-enough-hours-in-the-day feeling and we are all looking at […]
I know it seems really whiney, but it seems that these days I just don’t have any time. I feel constantly overwhelmed and no matter how much I do, I have a hard time keeping all my balls in the air. I know that I’m not alone in feeling this. […]
so much dependsupon a red wheelbarrow glazed with rainwater beside the whitechickens. The literature fan in me can’t help but begin with William Carlos Williams’s well-known poem from his collection Spring and All (1923), if only with the flimsiest excuse of lifting the phrase “so much depends” for this post (and for the […]
This semester I’m taking ‘Distributed Learning Librarianship’ online at the University of North Texas. Needless to say online learning is on my mind. In August of last year Rose L. Chou contributed a great HLS post In Defense of Online LIS Education, and Laura Sanders’ recent post on Teaching Methods […]
Carrying on the tradition of past end-of-semester wrap-up posts, we’ve pulled together some articles from Fall Semester, 2011 for your viewing enjoyment. Some of you may be in your last semester in library school (congratulations!) or maybe you’re still in the first year (hang in there!). Either way, to keep you […]
Disclaimer: This post is a product of my experiences as an IU-B SLIS student. Please know that my opinions are not intended to be representative of the opinions of any other student, faculty/staff member, or librarian. All criticism is meant to be constructive. So, first things first: My name is […]
Since I was a high school teacher before I started library school, I’m finding it really hard to switch off my “teacher brain” even well into my second semester. This makes sense, considering that I want to become a teacher-librarian. However, it has also had an unintended side effect: I […]
In my program, like many others, graduation is contingent on completing a culminating project. At the University of Texas, that is called a “Capstone experience.” The overwhelming majority of students choose an internship or semester-long project with a library, archive, or local business or nonprofit. At the end of the […]
We got a question on Twitter over the weekend about reading material for LIS: RT @brandontlocke: Any recommended reads for aspiring/future MLIS students? It is difficult to respond to such a question in 140 characters or less. I made the attempt by suggesting reputable blogs and e-news sources for LIS […]
Did you know your ALA-accredited master’s degree is accepted in countries other than the good ole USA? That’s right, the US is not the only place where you can use your ALA-accredited master’s degree to work in a library. As Laura explained in her post on becoming an international school […]
In case you haven’t yet had the opportunity to be introduced to the idea of professional networking, here’s a quick intro: librarians near and far, from all varieties of the field, twice a year attend gigantic conferences hosted by our preeminent organization, the American Library Association. There are constant debates […]
Today, while the SOPA/PIPA debate is very much in the forefront of people’s thoughts, we’re happy to welcome this guest post on SOPA. By way of introduction, you might also check out the “Black Wednesday” post from this morning on the internal Hack Library School debate to weigh in on […]
Even if you are not actively involved, if you have been listening to the news or surfing the web in the last few weeks you have likely heard about the debates and activism swirling around SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (PROTECT IP Act or Preventing Real Online Threats […]
Before the new semester starts, I’d like to address the academic tradition of the “final paper.” I don’t understand why so many professors assign research papers as a final assignment. Research papers are difficult to execute well when under a severe time constraint, especially when most of the knowledge you’re […]
First of all. Let me just say. This day came way faster than I thought it would. Here I am at the close of my career as a library student and the start of my career as an informational professional. Hack Library School has played a significant role in my […]
In the spirit of new beginnings, the Hack Library School crew has inducted eight new contributing writers. We had a huge amount of interest and wanted to diversify the group as much as possible. We’re very excited for you to meet our new bunch, so here we go! Amy Frazier: […]
A year and a half ago I wouldn’t have described myself as an advocate for much of anything. Ive always kept aware and informed on ‘the issues’ and I always vote—but until recently I didn’t sign petitions, or call congresspeople. I’ve spent the past year of my life coming to […]
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog. Here’s an excerpt: The Louvre Museum has 8.5 million visitors per year. This blog was viewed about 140,000 times in 2011. If it were an exhibit at the Louvre Museum, it would take about 6 days for […]
The job market is lurking in the minds of many of us who are about to finish up our degrees. It’s a tough market out there and getting a library job is not an easy feat. Fortunately, ALA has great webinars that help prepare job seekers for the library job […]
Jared Harmon is pursuing his MLS with a Technology Management Specialization at Indiana University Indianapolis. He also helps run an ILL consortium at the Indiana State Library and works the reference desk at the Indianapolis Public Library. Jared is interested in how technology is shaping our libraries, and he hopes […]
Today’s Guest post comes from Amy Frazier, who just finished her first term with Emporia State University’s School of Library and Information Management in Portland, Oregon. Before entering library school, Amy studied film in London and taught film making skills to community members here in Portland. You can read more […]
A few weeks ago we wrote about how libraries fit into the Occupy Wall Street movement. In the comments there was a discussion of emergency plans so I wanted to write a bit of an update on what has happened with the Audre Lorde to Howard Zinn (A-Z) Library at Occupy […]
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 your semester. Congratulations! Now is the time we should all relax and spend time with our neglected friends and family. […]
Hello! Here at Hack Library School, we pride ourselves on providing engaging, thoughtful, and useful resources for Library and Information Science students. The best part of this experience, in my opinion, is the community the writers have with each other and our readers. Unfortunately, because we’re a blog by and […]
An interesting post from Justin De La Cruz, who has written for us before about doing an online MLIS. I’m in a unique position. In the second year of my MLIS program at Florida State University, I’ve been granted the opportunity to work and study abroad in Florence, Italy. I’m […]
How many of you have had to do group work in graduate school? What’s that? All of you? Okay, I thought so. Like it or not, group work is integral to library science curriculum. When I first started, I wondered why I had to do do so much group work. […]
While graduate students in any field are prime candidates for burnout, it is my belief that library students face special challenges where work/life balance is concerned. We must pay tuition but we are rarely offered the teaching assistantships or other forms of financial aid that our counterparts in other fields […]
It’s nearing the end of the term—and that means course evaluations are looming. To be honest, I start thinking about course evaluations on the first day of class. I like to keep mental notes on my classes throughout the semester so that I have coherent comments to offer up at […]
For those of us preparing to graduate in the next several months, it’s time. Time to get ready to job search. Or, as I’m known to do, it’s time to prepare to get ready to job search because, hey, you can’t be overly prepared, right? This piece isn’t about applying […]
I had a little bit of a freak out a few weeks ago. It was the (obligatory?) “Holy crap, I’m Graduating!” freak out. Library school is a great time, but it has a goal, (hopefully) a job when you graduate. Despite all the work I’ve put in up to this point, […]
Gloria Gonzalez is currently mixing her interests in informatics with an archives specialization at the UCLA Graduate School of Library and Information Science. She works for the Center for Primary Research and Training at the Charles E. Young Research Library Department of Special Collections and enjoys researching philosophy of information, […]
I’ve always been a fan of the Huffington Post. It’s been a great resource for (liberal) news and staying on top of viral videos. That’s why I was initially excited when I heard that the site started a page dedicated to librarians. Until I clicked over. Go ahead, check it […]
Our student group at USC, LISSA, has a rather unique fundraiser that happens around this time every year; The Mildly Attractive Men of Library Science. What is the Mildly Attractive Men of Library Science? The Mildly Attractive Men of Library Science is calendar that we make and sell annually to […]
“I learned that the most important thing about teaching is not what you do in the classroom but what you do outside the classroom. You go outside the classroom yourself, bring your students outside, or have them bring you outside the classroom, because very often they do it first and […]
Many of us start out library school with a particular area of focus in mind. Mine was art libraries, and while I have explored other areas of librarianship, this one is still of interest to me. There are many ways to be an art librarian, so when people would ask, […]
I’m halfway through my MLIS program, yet there are still countless words and concepts that I’m not confident I actually understand. I feel like a fundamental vocabulary lesson is missing from most of my core intro classes — and I don’t think it’s all going be covered by the time […]
We’re going to be taking a week off to finish up some midterm work, but wanted to leave our readers with something to ponder. Feel free to add comments to this post and/or continue the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Open Access is an idea that should be familiar to […]
During my first semester of school, and into my second semester I read children’s books because I had been told it was an important part of being a children’s librarian. Over the past year I have found that this is true—but it takes more than a belief in this theory […]
There has always been a hesitation to fully embrace the new. This existed when the codex,or books, with pages that you turn, took the place of scrolls that you roll, as illustrated by this hilarious video. Next, came the invention of movable type, in particular Gutenberg’s printing press. That was […]
Alexandra Carter is the Digital Imaging Librarian at the University of Maryland Libraries in College Park, Maryland, and previously worked in both public and academic libraries. Her current interests include the digital humanities and reference service in archives and special collections. When not busy with library things she reads and […]
I love theory. The ideas that disciplines and professions are based off of. The bedrock of our world views. The base of our ideologies. Some of my favorite courses in library school were the foundation courses. At the time they were frustrating, because I wanted to be working in a […]
For graduate students, ‘practical experience’ can mean a lot of different things. For some of us this means traveling to foreign countries for digs and research, volunteering in labs, internships at potential employers, or simply participation in conferences and papers. Regardless, practical participation in our fields is extremely important to […]
Alex Galarza Zotero has become my favorite tech tool for three reasons. I have had great success organizing my personal citations, collaborating with my peers in coursework, and building group a group library for my field. I use Zotero as a giant net to catch all of the citations relevant […]
This post is written by GradHacker writers and is part of our crossover week, check out Hack Library School’s advice about advisor/advisee relations on their blog here: GradHacker. In graduate school, creating the perfect advisor/advisee relationship can be a daunting if not impossible task. Trent, Cory and Katy give their […]
All, I am pleased and honored to introduce something special that we are doing this week. We will be working with our colleagues over at GradHacker in a collaborative blog post-a-thon. Here at HackLibSchool you’ll be reading posts from some GradHacker writers, while we will be posting over there this […]
It’s not every day that I’ll take the time to stay up late to blog something – but I think this is important and wanted to share it with our readers. I’m sure you’ll hear and read many things about the Digital Public Library of America in coming days(weeks, months, […]
Project CHART: How eight months in the basement of the Brooklyn Public Library turned me into a Digital Project Manager. Nora Almeida is a Brooklyn-based poet and MLIS student at Pratt Institute, where she is currently working towards a certificate in Digital Curation. Some of her LIS interests include: new […]
As my fellow Hacker Zack Frazier pointed out in his most recent entry, many library school students experience considerable anxiety about their job prospects upon graduation. We all know (maybe too well) how tight the job market in North America is. That’s why, whenever a classmate expresses an interest in […]
Today’s post is from Allison Mennella. *Disclaimer: These are my personal opinions and are not representative of the student body or Dominican University staff or faculty. I started in Winter/Spring 2010 as a part-time student and will be graduating in January 2012. If you have any other questions after reading […]
It seems almost every year we in the library science field torture ourselves about the glut of graduates emerging from our programs and the shortage of jobs that exist within the profession. One thing I continually hear from people is that library schools should make admissions harder. The argument is […]
In honor of Banned and Challenged Books Week, Britt and Rebecca want to discuss the assumptions, implications, and consequences of challenging and banning books in public and school libraries, particularly for youth. We think that library school is the best time to explore these topics so you can develop intellectual […]
In honor of Banned and Challenged Books Week (Sept 24-Oct 1), we’d like to share some of our new and old banned favorites with you! Join in the conversation in the comments below or on Facebook, Twitter or Google+ and spread the word during this fantastic week to celebrate the […]
Eric Phetteplace is the Emerging Technologies Librarian at Chesapeake College in Wye Mills, Maryland. He reads philosophy, writes poetry, and is sort of obsessed with the differences between various web browsers. He graduated from GSLIS in May of 2011. Disclaimer The opinions in this post are solely mine and do […]
As soon as you start library school (or maybe before) people will ask you— “Why?” Besides asking why you specifically are going to grad school to get your MLS they will ask questions like: “Why does a librarian need a master’s degree to check out books to people?” or “Why […]
Usually within the first few weeks of library school, you are asked what type of library you want to work in. If you’re like me, you might have had some vague idea of what you wanted to do before you started school. I had wanted to be an art librarian, […]
Download the book or read it on Scribd. Available in a multitude of formats (.mobi, .epub, .pdf, .rtf, and more!), this free ebook is written by Fast Company writer Anya Kamenetz with support from the Gates Foundation. The book is based on the premise that the traditional process of attending […]
Continuing our Hack Your Program series, where current/recent students give the insider perspective on their LIS program, here’s a post from Tomissa Porath. Tomissa Porath is a second-year library and information studies student at the University of Wisconsin — Madison. Interested in academic libraries, she hopes to work at a major research […]
The School of Information Studies at McGill University Hello everyone! I’m excited to write my first post as one of the newest contributing members of Hack Library School. My name is Laura Sanders and on September 1st I began my MLIS at McGill University’s School of Information Studies in Montreal, […]
In addition to writing for Hack Library School as a contributing editor, the other big extracurricular activity on my plate is helping plan InfoCamp SC. InfoCamp SC is University of South Carolina’s port of InfoCamp, a two day unconference started in Seattle. I got involved in the InfoCamp project because […]
As a library school student or a recent graduate, it is all of our hopes that we’re not getting this degree in vain. The job market however, cannot support all of us and we have to wonder how to keep the balance. Many people point to the library school programs […]
Earlier this week, Ashley discussed some of the ways to hack your advisor–but what if you get stuck with someone you don’t like? Or doesn’t know much about your field of study? Or just plain stinks? Lucky for you there is an oft-neglected source of sage wisdom and comforting words: […]
Alyssa Vincent is entering her second (and final) year with Emporia State University’s School of Library and Infromation Management Program in Portland, Oregon. She is a library assistant at the University of Oregon-Portland Library and Learning Commons and a Data Management Intern at One Economy. She also volunteers in Bitch […]
I have an awesome academic advisor. You may be thinking “Is that a typo? Did she say awesome?” I’ve had conversations with my advisor that drastically changed the look of my coursework and could ultimately change my career. My advisor provides honest, inspiring, challenging feedback that every student should be […]
Continuing in the tradition of the ALA11 retrospective post and to promote more archives posts on HackLibSchool, I decided to create a collaborative post of session summaries from the Society of American Archivists (SAA to all you non-archives students) 2011 Annual Meeting, which was held in Chicago this past week. Many […]
In online discussions about the current state of LIS education, I’ve seen heavy criticism of online education. Of course, I can’t seem to find many of these discussions now that I need to reference them — but you can check out these blog posts, especially the comments, for some context. […]
Greetings from New York, This is my first official post as a new contributing writer for Hack Library School and I’m psyched to share a bit of my experience from the past week (08/20/11 to 08/27/11) both as a new library school student at Pratt Institute School of Information and […]
