Why I've Fallen Off the Face of the Earth

If you are a regular reader of my blog (I know there are so many of you out there! :) ), you've probably been wondering why I haven't been blogging lately. Not to sound like a whiner, but it mostly has to do with me being super tired all the time. My crazy schedule of 2 grad classes, 1 undergrad French class (that's everyday!!), my internship, my GTA, and my job in the reading room is finally catching up with me. I leave my house before 8 and only get to come home before 9 one day a week. So naturally, I'm exhausted. Not to mention the fact that I have a twenty to twenty-five page research paper due the Monday after Thanksgiving hanging over my head...but that's another story.

The other big thing in my life is trying to find a job. I'm applying to 2-3 jobs a week, but have yet to get more than a "thanks for your application, we'll let you know something some time soon" letter/email. I've started having trouble sleeping and often find myself panicking in the middle of the day about being unemployed. My mother lovingly added to that stress by informing me that my insurance expires January 1, when I'm out of the country. How fantastic is that?

So school and job hunting are overwhelming my life right now. Graduation is officially 29 days from today (yay!! and glup!!), and turning in this paper is my last school project (maybe forever? scary thought), so hopefully, things will flow fairly smoothly over the next few weeks and I'll actually get stuff done. Highly doubtful as I do love to procrastinate; however, I have high hopes on being productive.

I'm going to a grant writing workshop next week, and planning on posting something about that. I also have completed a project for my public libraries class that I would love to share. So look for those two things in the near future. Have a great day!

I'm Joining the Debate

This month's issue of American Libraries features an article about the fabulousness that is an online MLIS. Distance Education (DE) is a touchy subject with me; I have mixed feelings about the program and its ability to truly educate students, but that's another discussion for another time. DE is incredibly popular in the library world because the majority of the library schools are located in the eastern portion of the U.S. For many, there isn't a library school nearby, so the options are either to move to where there is a program, or get an online degree. For many, moving isn't an option for a variety of reasons, so getting a degree online isn't just practical, it's financially smart. For the most part, DE programs offer the exact same degree online as they do in person. At UA, we have a large DE program. Students going through the program get exactly the same education, taught by the same teachers. The only difference is that it takes a little more time. Students enrolled in the DE program usually take between 2-3 classes at a time versus the on-campus students who often take 3 or four courses at a time.

So if these DE students are getting the exact same education, what's the problem? According to our favorite library argument starter, The Annoyed Librarian, a lot. She seems to the think the online MLS is useless. Check out her posts on the topic here, here, and here. Her problems with the online program are plentiful, but it mostly boils down to the quality of students being accepted to online programs are sub par. I can sort of see that. These online programs are fairly new, and in order to meet admissions numbers, programs are having to accept students that might not be up to the same academic level as they would like. But the point still remains that in order to be accepted to a library school, students must meet some minimal requirements. I know for a fact that very few students are accepted who do not meet these minimum requirements. Therefore, I don't think that we should be arguing that the students are the problem, perhaps the problem is the standards for admission are to low. That makes it the problem of the schools not the students.

Another problem the Annoyed Librarian sees is that library school is boring. When students take the classes online, they have full access to the world around them and no one to tell them to pay attention. Yes, library school is boring. I hate sitting in class for 3 hours learning about research methods, out-of-date technologies, or something obscure that I'm never going to use. But that's a fact of life in graduate school. I have friends in a lot of different programs around the country and they are all bored most of the time. It's just the way school works.

The Annoyed Librarian touches on other topics, but those two stand out the most to me. While I wouldn't personally choose a DE program for myself (I've learned by taking an online class that it's not for me), I can understand why people would choose (or be forced) to obtain their degree that way. Does that mean that their degree has less value than mine? Absolutely not. Does it mean that the MLS is without value? Again, that's another discussion for another day, but in this library school student's opinion, the degree does have value. If not for other things, at least for the sole purpose of qualifying me for a number of library jobs.

A Day in the Life of a Library Student

This summer I blogged about the trend of blogging about your day. I even posted one of my mornings in the reading room. I'm not sure if it's still a trend, but I thought I would bring back the concept here and share with y'all what my Tuesdays are like. Note: Because this was accreditation week, my day was not as typical as some.

6:15 - wake up to the construction crews outside my building making way too much noise for 6:15 in the morning.
6:50 - actually get out of bed and get ready for the day.
8:00 - arrive at Rogers after a battle to find a decent parking spot. I won, at least for today.
8:05-9:00 - check email, facebook, twitter, TFLN, MLIA, and my blogs. Gchat with some friends.
9:00-9:40 - look at various schools' use of the LibGuides system and take notes. Contemplate the best way to present it and play around with a PowerPoint.
9:45 - walk to Gorgas for a meeting.
10:00-10:40 - meet with the accreditation team about being a student leader. Meeting goes well, but not as many student leaders showed up as I had hoped.
10:45 - quick stop for tea on my way back to Rogers.
11:00-12:30 - continue working on the LibGuides project and decide to scratch the PowerPoint idea; decide that a word document is fine. Make a decision to create my own template after looking at too many different features that I like.
12:30-12:50 - eat lunch at my desk while surfing the internet.
1:00-1:50 - French class, better known as the hour where I'm completely bored out of my mind.
2:00 - make an executive decision that getting a second masters/Ph.D. in history is not what I want to do right now, instead I really want to get a job and have a real life. This also results in me not going to the history class I was auditing.
2:15-3:15 - leave campus (yay!) and head to the drug store to pick up some things I desperately needed and run them home.
3:30-7:00 - work in the Reading Room. And by work I mean sit at my station and play on the internet, do homework, and occasionally refill the copier, or solve a technical problem. It was a very quiet evening.
7:30 - head to a friend's house for girls night!

Tuesday is my short day, which is kind of scary, but it is. And now that I'm not going to history anymore, I get a chance to leave campus and go home or go run some errands for an hour or so. Thursdays are even better because I have 3 hours of free time. I'm learning to value these little bits of time; they are my saving grace right now.

This is definitely been my busiest semester ever. Some days I get to campus at 8:00 and don't leave until after 9:00. I'm sure it will only get worse when I start having major assignments due. But this is also my last semester, so I'm just thrilled that I get to graduate and move on with life.

So how was your day? Was it as busy as mine? Please share!

It's Accreditation Week!!

I'm not sure if I've mentioned it before, but UA's MLIS program is undergoing continuing accreditation this week (I've been told this is the proper way to phrase the process). Accreditation is a huge deal mainly because it affects students' ability to get a job. 99.9% of the job postings I've read in the last few weeks (which is a lot) have required "a masters degree from an ALA accredited program". Thus, it's important that these three days go well. It also means that my life is officially crazy. I'm currently serving as the acting president of the Student Advisory Committee (SAC) because the old president graduated so I have to meet with the External Review Panel (ERP) today and tomorrow. Yesterday, we had a very nice reception to welcome the committee and I spend the time running around introducing myself to the panel and making sure they felt welcomed by the student body. Yesterday's reception went nicely as did the breakout sessions that followed. Members of the panel met with students, alumni, employers, and adjunct faculty and we talked about what did and didn't like about SLIS. I was pleased to hear that most people are very satisfied with the education they are getting. I know I've been very pleased.

I had the privilege of walking the panel over from the hotel this morning (all part of my duties as a GTA apparently) and I felt that they were satisfied with how things are going so far and they didn't have a lot of probing questions for me, which I took to mean they think our program is doing okay. Really hope I interpreted that correctly, fingers crossed. I certainly don't think that SLIS is in danger of losing its accreditation, but I think our program is on the rise, and I would like it to stay that way. Today, I'm meeting with several members about SAC's involvement which makes me nervous because I haven't prepared for this at all, so I'm hoping they don't ask me anything I don't know the answer too. Tomorrow all the student leaders, including the remaining SAC members, and the officers of the various student groups are meeting with the panel to discuss student leadership. After that, my duties are over.

Mostly, I'm just hoping this visit goes well and that the panel leaves with a good vision of SLIS and its students. The weeks leading up to this visit have been incredibly stressful, so I'm definitely looking forward things calming down and life getting back to normal.

Intellectual Freedom

"A truly great library contains something in it to offend everyone." This quote, said by Jo Godwin, may be one of the truest things ever to be said about libraries. No library can be truly complete, cannot provide a well-rounded and comprehensive education to all, without containing books that offend certian people. Because no two people are alike, what is offensive or vulgar to one person, is beautiful art to another. A librarian cannot have an opinion one way or the other, but must simply collect the materials to suit the needs of their patrons.

This is a concept a lot of people don't understand about librarianship. They don't understand how a librarian can remain entirely impartial on the removal of a book (such as Harry Potter or Heather Has Two Mommies) or the guy watching porn on the computer in the corner. Non-librarians don't understand how we can stand by and watch some sort of injustice (whatever that may be) go by. However, this so-called impartiality doesn't really exist. A librarian seeks to serve its patrons and provide the freedom to read (or listen or watch) regardless of age, sex, gender, or race. This freedom is one of the greatest gifts we have. It protects you from being judged, ridiculed, or criticized because of your choice of reading material. And a librarian is the protector of this freedom. So librarians aren't impartial; they care deeply about protecting this important right. It's a massive responsibility, but one I feel honored to uphold.

I think this is the most important thing taught in library school. It's more important that cataloging or reference or even better technology skills. The foundation of understanding that every person who enters into a library has the right to read whatever he or she wants is something that isn't easy to learn or accept, especially when the library you grew up may not have felt that way. Just as it is not the librarian's job to babysit your children while in the library, it is not her responsibility to decide what is inappropriate for your child to read. That's your job as a parent. So don't ask us to restrict, don't ask us to judge. Because we won't. Because we believe that everyone has the freedom to read.

For more information about the American Librarian Association and the Freedom to Read Foundation, visit http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/othergroups/freedomtoreadfoundation/index.cfm.

Summer = School = Creating this blog

Hello All!

I'm starting this blog as part of my Information Technologies class required in library school. I often think about blogging but never can settle on a topic. But not that I have to, writing about my adventures in library school seems like a pretty good way to get started. While there are a ton of blogs out there, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of blogging going on about library school. So here I am, writing about school.

Just some for some background...I'm beginning my third semester at The University of Alabama's School of Library and Information Studies. I graduated from UA and decided to stay on for graduate school. I will graduate in December and finally get to leave Tuscaloosa after 5 1/2 years! (Although I am looking forward to that 6th football season in the student section.)

If you had asked me a few weeks ago I would have told you I was going to be an academic reference library and one day open my own small independent bookstore. Now, however, I seem to be leaning more and more towards staying in school and pursuing a Ph.D. in history and one day teach at the collegiate level. While I love library school and find being a librarian interesting, my passion lies with history and I think that is where I'm supposed to be.

However, I'm in library school now and taking summer classes. I'll do my best not to dwell on my possible career change, but instead focus on the fascinating subject of library school.