Now that I have had a bit of time to unwind, it is time to reflect on this past semester and the courses I took at Southern Connecticut State University. I am still trying to wrap my head around the fact that at this point I am more than halfway done with my MLS program. The four courses I took this semester gave me an additional twelve credits, which brings me to 21 out of 36 credits needed for the degree. This semester reaffirmed the belief I posted before that I feel I have found a profession that seems like a good fit for me. Two of my four classes this semester continued my goal of getting the mandatory courses out of the way, leaving me only with my academic library course and the course that begins my special project, but more on that later.
ILS 506: Information Analysis & Organization
This course title is just a fancier way of saying that this is required course in cataloging. I came into this course not quite knowing the full scope of material that would be covered, but at least having a good idea of what would be involved. Knowing this, I was not overly concerned that I would have any issues with this class, and I was correct. I found a lot of the information in this course to be self-explanatory and once I understood how to use certain tools, like the Anglo-American Cataloging Rules, and the LoC’s authorities engine, it became very easy. This course attempted to provide both a theoretical basis for information organization and a practical foundation for making the information accessible to users. For the former, the professor tried to build a foundation on which the practical matters we learned could be applied to theoretical concepts. I personally feel that it did not do so well for this, but this was not the fault of the professor.
I feel that this course accentuates some of the struggles that exist as librarianship tries to fit itself within the typical American education system. Much of the matters that are taught to librarians are practical as much of the focus of ILS students is for practical work in libraries. There is little need to emphasize on the theoretical beyond a basic understanding that gives meaning to why we do things in a certain way (for example the ways in which we select access points). Yet, one of the main purposes of the Master’s degree in many disciplines is to emphasize theoretical research and to seek to grow the body of academic knowledge. The MLS is caught in this limbo of trying to provide training in the knowledge and skills needed to run a library, while also trying to live up with the academic expectations of the Master’s degree in the universities. This course seemed the same way, and by tying to meet both objectives, it spread its focus thin.
ILS 534: Technology in Libraries
I have really mixed feelings about this class. It managed to be about split almost exactly halfway between usefulness and a waste of credit hours for me. From my impressions this course would have been an ideal continuation from the subjects covered in ILS 501: Introduction to Information Technology (which I talked about in my posting about last semester here), and in a perfect world this would have been true. Instead, half the material in this course overlapped with what was covered in my 501 course, while the other half was new. As I think more about it, I feel that a reworking of both this course and ILS 501 into a single mandatory course would be the best direction to take it.
The new information covered in this course was interesting, and in my opinion very useful as well. I loved finding out about library-specific technologies. Material also covered open source technologies and developing technology plans (back the practical matters discussed above). In particular, I appreciated the couple of assignments that required us to expand beyond the class required readings and explore topics of our own choosing. It gave me a chance to brush off my somewhat rusty research skills (because to be perfectly honest, they haven’t really been challenged yet in this program), as well as gain knowledge that I am acutely interested in. If you want to see what assignments I worked on, they’re all posted here.
Part of my mixed reactions for my experience in this class comes from the confusion that reigned at the beginning. The usual instructor for this class was on sabbatical this semester, and there were issues setting up the account for the replacement instructor that had been newly hired. This meant that for the first several weeks, we had an interim instructor, who never really took the reins of the course. It says something about us as students that we dutifully followed the schedule in the syllabus and carried on our own discussions with little instruction input. Once the new professor took over, there was also a little confusion as she organized the inherited schedule and course materials. This meant at times that due dates changed, or instructions for assignments disappeared or were modified. In the end, we all muddled through, but it appeared to be a less than professional effort.
ILS 565: Library Management
From talking to other students in the ILS program who have been studying longer, this course was only very recently returned to the ranks of a mandatory course for the degree. The story, as I heard it, was that once upon a time it had been required, but as emphasis in libraries shifted in the late 80s and early 90s to increased technology, focus on management skills and training moved to the background. When there was a rise in concern about library students being unprepared for management duties in their jobs, it became an important item in the curriculum again. I appreciate this wisdom, because this will most likely be one of the better courses that I will take during the course of acquiring my MLS. The course actually balanced the theoretical with the practical quite well, with much of the readings focusing on theory, the assignments being primarily practical exercises, and the discussions falling in between.
One of the most notable lessons I learned during this course, was not from the readings or exercises, but rather the discussion that rose from one of the assignments. This assignment – the final of the semester – involved us taking the role of a library director at a fabricated library and handling our in-box of issues. The assignment was a fun exercise in applying what we studied and our own decision-making skills, but what was revealing was when discussion was opened in the class about our decisions. It was fascinating to see so many different approaches to the same material. Some people focused on information that did not seem important to others, or made decisions that baffled the other students. One issue that cropped up that I feel may signal a pending crisis in librarianship, was the situation that involved a library employee that reported about finding pornographic links in a public computer’s browsing history and suggested filtering. Many of my fellow students in the class approved the idea of filtering and made decisions to pursue this direction. I personally was horrified to see this, as the idea of internet filtering should be fought tooth and nail, not willingly accepted by the rising classes of librarians. Oh well, enough on this, I’m sure I will have plenty of opportunities to fight this fight in the future.
While I don’t feel that this course fully prepared me to be an excellent manager (is there even a course that can do this?), I feel that I at least have an idea of some of the responsibilities and pitfalls of being a library manager. I will also have a better idea of what resources to explore when I’m in the position to need additional support.
ILS 599: Methods for Creating Digital Archives using Open Source Software
Wow, that is quite a mouthful. I’m not going to go in depth too much with this course, since much of my thoughts and experienced are chronicled over at the blog I created for this class: Memoria Praeteriti. This was an extra course that was funded by a large education grant to the VOICES of September 11th project. It provided an excellent introduction to digital archiving and using the Omeka software to build a digital archive. Please check out my linked blog for more of what I learned, and browse the other blogs of the class and my other classmates. I must admit, though, this class did a lot to damage the decision I made early last year to turn away from archival work in the interest of ultimately being more employable. I really enjoyed what I did in this class, and it made me realize how much I actually enjoy this area. I feel that ultimately, it will be the area that I end up in.
In the End
This was a fulfilling semester. Despite some stumbling blocks the material was interesting and helped me dig deeper into what makes a librarian. This upcoming semester (which starts in two weeks!) my schedule is going to be a little different. I am only taking two traditional classes. One will be on academic libraries, and the other will be about instructional design. I had originally intended to start my special project course this semester, but the sections for that filled up very quickly. I then decided that I will take this course during the summer, which allow me to focus better on my courses for the spring semester, as well as better focus on the special project in the summer. For my third course, I will actually be doing an internship at the library at Naugatuck Valley Community College working on increasing my experience in the reference and instruction areas. I will definitely be reporting more on that in the near future. Until then, cheerio!
Posted by FSkornia 
