Friday, February 11, 2005
Library School
As some folks know, I've enrolled in the MLIS (Master of Library and Information Science) program at San Jose State. One can complete the SJSU program without ever needing to find one's way to San Jose. Satellite locations include Fullerton (southeast LA) and San Diego. My plan is to take 1-2 courses per term, which will have me completing the degree in roughly 3 years. I will be focusing on academic librarianship and special librarianship, with the hope of being employable in either a law library or a university library. Meanwhile I will continue working FT as a paralegal.
When I was wrestling w/ the vocational demons in 2002-3, the best fit overall for A Career Outside the Church seemed to be as a librarian, but one can't get professional-level work in the field w/o an ML(I)S, and that takes at least 1-1/2 yrs to get even going full-time. (It's a 42-credit hour degree.) So it wasn't an option, given I needed a job in a matter of months, not years. The paralegal approach seemed the best fit given the time constraints. And I figured if it put food on the table, it could also buy me time to investigate other more demanding options, such as getting an MLIS. So, now I'm following up on that.
Today was my first actual day of classes. I'm taking 2 courses this spring: 202,"Information Retrieval," and 200, "Information and Society." Each is taught primarily via the Web, with only 2 full days of face-to-face instruction for each course, at a public library in Scripps Ranch, about 12 miles from here. Today and tomorrow are the in-person days for 202. The in-person part of 200 will be the last Sat. and Sun. in February.
A few retired librarian friends from other parts of my life have asked me to blog about my experiences, so they can hear what the SJSU program is like. Those of you who don't really care about such details can quit reading now. :-)
For 202, "Information Retrieval," my professor is Judy Tessier, who is a retired FT faculty member at SJSU who now simply teaches a few courses a year. There are about 25 students in my section. There are eight sections of 202 this semester, however; it is one of the "core" courses everyone must take. The MLIS program at SJSU is the biggest program at the school and one of the biggest MLIS programs anywhere; I think there are about 1350 students enrolled total. Because it is so conducive to distance-learning, the program attracts students from much further away than just San Diego. One fellow in my class started the program and got about half-way through while he lived in San Diego but has now moved to Edinburgh, Scotland. He flew in from Scotland for the weekend to do this one course, b/c all the other courses he has left he can do totally via the web. Another fellow in another section is from Cornell/Ithaca, NY.
The class members all seem like very interesting folks w/ somewhat similar backgrounds to mine: a bunch of liberal-arts types, mainly. I took notes as folks introduced themselves, and will reproduce the annotated class list here. Their genders are fairly obvious from their names; the ones whose names are "neuter" all happen to be women.
Debra, IT manager for NCR, Escondido CA, wants to go into information side rather than tech side of IT
Sean, Barnes and Noble employee, native of London, UK having relo'd to Mission Valley,San Diego, wants to work in public libraries
Yvonne, currently employed in a library (?), wants to be academic librarian, Vietnamese of Chinese ethnicity, lives in LA
Susan, lives in SD, wants to be a special or public librarian
Cheryl, librarian and technologist at UCSD, wants to specialize in special or art libraries
Adrianne, works for City of LA housing dept. Wants to learn more about IT and information design. Only African American in group.
Alison. Stay at home mom of 3 kids under 5.
David, museum cataloger and webmaster for a private collection of Jewish ritual objects, LA area. Focusing in archives.
Liz. USNA grad, USNR officer PT and church secretary PT. Lives in SD.
Kristin. Lives in Hillcrest, SD, wants to be an academic librarian.
John, Chula Vista (south of SD, near Mexican border), public HS English teacher.
Rori. SysAdmin at UCLA, which she does via remote, lives in Oceanside. Interested in digital archiving.
Matthew. Physical therapist who lives in Hillcrest, SD and does lots of volunteer work in local archives; wants to be archivist. If Episcopalian, he should join Integrity and worship at the Cathedral, if you take my meaning.
Cherie. Torrance, CA, works at auto parts company.
Michael. Murrieta. Works as cataloger, wants to move into special libraries focused on financial industry.
Michael. LA area. Public school substitute teacher, surfer dude.
Amanda. Full time mom. Wants to focus in academic or special librarianship.
Tom. Works for SoCalEdison.
Adrianne. SysAdmin at UCLA Med Ctr. Between LA and SD.
Nazreen. Law librarian. LA area. Of Middle-Eastern background.
Jim. San Diego. Retired software programmer and manager. Wants to move into academic or public libraries.
Salena. Northern SD County. Teaches anthro at a small college. Wants to be academic librarian.
William. Edinburgh, Scotland. Rare-book librarian.
Oh, and me. :-)
That's more than enough for this entry.
When I was wrestling w/ the vocational demons in 2002-3, the best fit overall for A Career Outside the Church seemed to be as a librarian, but one can't get professional-level work in the field w/o an ML(I)S, and that takes at least 1-1/2 yrs to get even going full-time. (It's a 42-credit hour degree.) So it wasn't an option, given I needed a job in a matter of months, not years. The paralegal approach seemed the best fit given the time constraints. And I figured if it put food on the table, it could also buy me time to investigate other more demanding options, such as getting an MLIS. So, now I'm following up on that.
Today was my first actual day of classes. I'm taking 2 courses this spring: 202,"Information Retrieval," and 200, "Information and Society." Each is taught primarily via the Web, with only 2 full days of face-to-face instruction for each course, at a public library in Scripps Ranch, about 12 miles from here. Today and tomorrow are the in-person days for 202. The in-person part of 200 will be the last Sat. and Sun. in February.
A few retired librarian friends from other parts of my life have asked me to blog about my experiences, so they can hear what the SJSU program is like. Those of you who don't really care about such details can quit reading now. :-)
For 202, "Information Retrieval," my professor is Judy Tessier, who is a retired FT faculty member at SJSU who now simply teaches a few courses a year. There are about 25 students in my section. There are eight sections of 202 this semester, however; it is one of the "core" courses everyone must take. The MLIS program at SJSU is the biggest program at the school and one of the biggest MLIS programs anywhere; I think there are about 1350 students enrolled total. Because it is so conducive to distance-learning, the program attracts students from much further away than just San Diego. One fellow in my class started the program and got about half-way through while he lived in San Diego but has now moved to Edinburgh, Scotland. He flew in from Scotland for the weekend to do this one course, b/c all the other courses he has left he can do totally via the web. Another fellow in another section is from Cornell/Ithaca, NY.
The class members all seem like very interesting folks w/ somewhat similar backgrounds to mine: a bunch of liberal-arts types, mainly. I took notes as folks introduced themselves, and will reproduce the annotated class list here. Their genders are fairly obvious from their names; the ones whose names are "neuter" all happen to be women.
Debra, IT manager for NCR, Escondido CA, wants to go into information side rather than tech side of IT
Sean, Barnes and Noble employee, native of London, UK having relo'd to Mission Valley,San Diego, wants to work in public libraries
Yvonne, currently employed in a library (?), wants to be academic librarian, Vietnamese of Chinese ethnicity, lives in LA
Susan, lives in SD, wants to be a special or public librarian
Cheryl, librarian and technologist at UCSD, wants to specialize in special or art libraries
Adrianne, works for City of LA housing dept. Wants to learn more about IT and information design. Only African American in group.
Alison. Stay at home mom of 3 kids under 5.
David, museum cataloger and webmaster for a private collection of Jewish ritual objects, LA area. Focusing in archives.
Liz. USNA grad, USNR officer PT and church secretary PT. Lives in SD.
Kristin. Lives in Hillcrest, SD, wants to be an academic librarian.
John, Chula Vista (south of SD, near Mexican border), public HS English teacher.
Rori. SysAdmin at UCLA, which she does via remote, lives in Oceanside. Interested in digital archiving.
Matthew. Physical therapist who lives in Hillcrest, SD and does lots of volunteer work in local archives; wants to be archivist. If Episcopalian, he should join Integrity and worship at the Cathedral, if you take my meaning.
Cherie. Torrance, CA, works at auto parts company.
Michael. Murrieta. Works as cataloger, wants to move into special libraries focused on financial industry.
Michael. LA area. Public school substitute teacher, surfer dude.
Amanda. Full time mom. Wants to focus in academic or special librarianship.
Tom. Works for SoCalEdison.
Adrianne. SysAdmin at UCLA Med Ctr. Between LA and SD.
Nazreen. Law librarian. LA area. Of Middle-Eastern background.
Jim. San Diego. Retired software programmer and manager. Wants to move into academic or public libraries.
Salena. Northern SD County. Teaches anthro at a small college. Wants to be academic librarian.
William. Edinburgh, Scotland. Rare-book librarian.
Oh, and me. :-)
That's more than enough for this entry.
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