Hack Your Program: Simmons Graduate School of Library and Information Science

*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 apply to any other LIS programs.  I was living in London and wanted to move back to Boston where I lived during and after my undergraduate program.  So my decision to come to Simmons was based on location, its prestige in the profession, and the numerous people I spoke to who all had nothing but fantastic things to say about the program.  While I have had some personal ups and downs throughout the past two years, with the program, and with my own path, I have not regretted my decision in the slightest.

Location of GSLIS program - most classes, tech lab, lounge, faculty offices

 

Staying Connected

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 made more exciting as I am very lucky to already have full-time employment as a Research Analyst.

It all has me thinking, though, how will I stay connected now that I will not be going to class and interacting with other students on a regular basis?  How will I keep myself a part of the profession?  In my previous career I became pretty insulated and it was hard to continue that learning process.  I really want to make sure that doesn’t happen to me now, especially working in a fairly private environment.

Non-Traditional Roles in LIS

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 I won’t go into that again.  But what I did want to talk about is this whole idea of using the skills taught in the MLIS degree and how you can apply them to positions outside the “typical” library setting.

Advocacy in Library School

Art by Andrea Davis

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.

Peer Review in Library School – helpful or headache?

Disclaimer: I am discussing the very last class, also last required, of my MLIS degree.  I may speak with a tad of “senioritis.”

One of the required courses in my MLIS program is Evaluation of Information Services.  I have been kind of dreading this course because I knew it would be very theory heavy and I’m kind of a more practical person when it comes to my learning style [I think we will be discussing more of theory vs practice very soon on this blog].  However, I understand that grad school should and is about challenging yourself.  And, well, a requirement is a requirement.