Library World Upgrade

[bloodyrosemccoy]

Been trying to find a good university that offers an online Library Science masters program. Given the dumb shit our Liberry administration is pulling right now, I will not be getting much in the way of promotions anytime soon anyway, so I might as well go ahead and become more qualified for any less dysfunctional libraries out there.

I’m still pretty damn sick of academia, but less so than I was when I graduated. And at least if I start doing school stuff I won’t have to feel quite so guilty about my continued existence—at least, that’s what I’m hoping, because right now THE GUILT IT BURNS US, and that is tiresome.

I considered doing an on-site school program, but Utah doesn’t have one, and, y’know, money. Unless someone knows of a full-time job I can get while going to the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, it’s pretty much online school for me.

And hey—maybe by the time I’m done with a Masters, the Liberry staff will have pulled their heads out of their asses and I can get a better job!* Anything is possible


*Although frankly, I would not object to being a full-time, benefits-packaged, high-paid book shelver.

Comments

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

Ooh, that's good to know, thanks. I'm asking various of my library supervisors and whatnot if it's something they'd recommend, and nobody is really sure. So it's just one of many options--I'm also trying to see what other masters degrees might be useful for getting actual jobs, and of course I'm hoping to sign a giant lucrative book deal and become a Famous Author, but, y'know, I should probably do something else while I wait for THAT to happen.

I'm mostly sick of being a statistic right now illustrating the Poor Economy. I gotta do something.

[pghbekka.livejournal.com]

Depending on what you like to do, library wise, there are actually a variety of non-traditional jobs available. While traditional and academic library jobs are scarce and highly competitive, you can check into law librarianship and other jobs in the information management field. A variety of different companies have discovered there's value in data management and research.

I got my Master's Online at University of Pittsburgh (I live here, so I could have gone on campus, but I worked full time while completing my degree). Provided nothing's changed, they do require one weekend a semester on campus, the rest is through Blackboard. I was already working in my field (I manage the donor database for a nonprofit), but the degree helped me to get a new and better job with a more professional standing, away from the place that treated me like an unskilled automoton. If you like mucking about with information, I highly recommend you check out the Special Library division of ALA.

This info dump was brought to you by obsessive!library!Bekka. :-)

[pghbekka.livejournal.com]

Oooh! And obsessive!nonprofit!Bekka asks if you're interested in/ have looked into grantwriting at all?

[kadharonon.livejournal.com]

I do have to add, now that I've thought about it, that if you can manage to get to a place with your current library and job where it's basically "finish the degree, we might give you a little bit of financial support to finish, and we can pretty much guarantee an upgraded job when you're done", then it becomes worthwhile. Or in your current library system, if not your specific branch. However that goes. But it sounds like right now they're dealing with crazy and it may take a long while before they're up to taking that step.