Distance Master of Library Science?

Previous posters are absolutely correct in stating that librarianship is overcrowded, and librarians are overworked and under-rewarded. And to those wishing to go for an online library degree, it behooves you to do your research. Some online programs are to be avoided if at all possible. E.g., the Southern CT StateU online program has somewhat selective admission criteria, but much of the faculty is pitiful - borderline involvement in their courses, borderline responsiveness, can hardly write a correct paragraph in the English language, and have less wattage than many of the students.

 

Much of what's been posted on this thread is contrary to my own experience, so I can only conclude that librarians' jobs vary greatly based on specialization (reference or cataloging, for example), environment (college, public library, etc.), and degree of involvement with new technologies and developments in scholarly publishing.

Several conferences I've attended in the past few years have included discussions highlighting the difficulty of finding qualified librarians in acquisitions, collection development, cataloging, and related areas. My impression is that there is no shortage of reference librarians, but a near-shortage of =qualified= candidates in many other areas.

I agree that ALA accreditation is essential for entry-level positions. At the same time, some professional library positions (often at the supervisory level) have gone to people with master's degrees in related fields. In many cases, the job announcement will say something like "graduate degree required; ALA-accredited MLS preferred."

My own MLS program was essentially a series of job-training courses, none of them difficult and none of them requiring true graduate-level study. Some were interesting, certainly, and many were useful -- but I would never dissuade someone from getting an MLS due to the difficulty of the academic work.

Someone stated that "public and university librarians have nothing to do half [of the] time," but I find that the opposite is more often the case. I would agree with Penseur that librarians tend to be over-worked and under-rewarded, but there are definite advantages to librarianship as well. After all, I get to buy books with other people's money!

If you're considering librarianship, make sure you know what the job is really about -- within the context of the career you'd like to have. In terms of job duties and qualifications, a university archivist is likely to have little in common with a children's librarian at the local branch library.

The choice of a particular MLS program is probably not that important. There is a hierarchy of MLS programs, but there is no problem with a degree from a lesser school if your credentials are otherwise good. The degree matters less than what you do with it.

 

Dr. Walters post, from my experience, is spot on.

I was somewhat puzzled by the denials that there is a job shortage. I have never heard or read that there was much of a current shortage, at least nationally. I have heard presentations at several conferences that claim that there is a general shortage coming, based upon current demographics and the inability of library schools (given the number that have closed over the last dozen years) to meet future needs.

As Dr. Walters states, librarians have different specialties and shortages should be assessed accordingly. There has been a growing shortage of librarians in technical service areas, particularly in bibliographic control (cataloging/metadata). My impression is that library schools, many of which dropped mandatory cataloging courses for the MLS, are beginning to rectify the situation somewhat. Whether they will be able to turn out sufficient numbers waits to be seen. A librarian who claims that there is not enough to do needs to transfer to technical services, where there is so much to do, it is always difficult to keep up.

The MLS/MSLS/MSIS/etc. provides a basic level of job-training for librarians. Someone with this degree is supposed to have the fundamental knowledge of how a library is run. Most real specialization takes place after being hired. Librarians may, all things being equal, start out the same (that's why it doesn't matter too much which school awards the degree), but they certainly don't end up the same. This is true not only for specializations within a library but also with repect to types of libraries (public, academic, corporate, etc.).

While you should look carefully at the school in terms of its strengths (children, school, health, archives, corporate, law, technical, etc.) and its ability to deliver online (though I must confess I don't know how to do this short of asking opinions from boards like this or taking sample courses), I wouldn't worry too much about the job market. This will vary according to locale and specialization and, of course, will change constantly. There is certainly not a general glut similar to the dismal situation for PhDs in the humanities.

Decide what you want, find a good school that you can afford that does what you want, and go for it. Library studies, IMHO, is one of the least difficult disciplines to learn online.



marilynd

 

I agree with Marilynd,

Library Science was one of the least difficult disciplines to learn online. It didnt tax me not one bit. Now history is another story. I took 24 hours online at UNT and enjoyed it. I am a librarian at NASA cataloging images. As a public librarian, I felt more like I was a baby sitter. Although I enjoyed helping the children with book reports, my main duty at the reference desk was about how to turn the computer on, how to save and what the heck this button was for. At NASA, I catalog captions that come from either the International Space Station( ISS), the shuttle or pictures from around Johnson Space Center(JSC). Although I do enjoy, it doesnt give me the rise that teaching and studying history does. I primarily got my Master of Library Science to get a job. At least it is more marketable than a MA or PhD in history. This is my opinion. It can be a great field. Working the reference desk at Duke, UNC-Chapel Hill or UH is very stimulating. It is very hard to get into the academic library setting ,at least it was and is for me. I am going to my second Texas Library Association (TLA) conference in April. Maybe I will get stimulated then. Just my four cents