Hi there!

I'm exploring getting an MLS degree online, maybe through the University of Illinois - Urbana/Champaign or the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee. I'm currently still an undergraduate working towards a BA in History, so this is just a thought experiment for the time being.

I was wondering if getting an MLS online means that the diploma is any different (meaning that the fact you completed the degree online is indicated), or if it's necessary to specify that you accomplished the program online on resumes. I understand the degree is the same, whether on-campus or online, but I'm wondering if future employers balk at hearing "online degree" in any way. Has anyone here had a negative experience as a result of completing an online degree? (Of course, I'd love to hear positive experiences, too!)

I got my MLIS online through the University of Southern Mississippi. The diploma is exactly the same as if I'd attended classes on campus. I did not indicate that it was an online program on my resume and so far I haven't had anyone question it. Of course I haven't really applied for many jobs since I finished my degree since I was already working for a great library system when I was going to school.

Future employer here!

I can speak from the other side (having been on several committees where we've hired librarians). A good chunk of the "not online" degrees take place online anyway. One of our newest librarians got her degree from MU then transferred to U of I and most of her coursework and participation was done online. Most libraries should be pretty aware of this trend, thus, shouldn't be a problem.

We don't tend to differentiate - if it's an ALA accredited program, that's good enough for us.

HOWEVER. The thing we look at the most is experience. This doesn't mean you have to have five years of reference desk work under your belt before we'd consider you. But the prospective hires we value the most are those that have worked in libraries in some capacity for some time. If you've got an MLS (online or otherwise) and little experience, you're at a disadvantage.

Work in libraries, volunteer, intern. The more you have under your belt, the more we'll want you (sorry, we're in a hiring freeze statewide now!).

I'm in agreement with fugitive. As long as the degree is from an ALA accredited program and not a diploma mill, you'll be fine, and experience will give you an edge over those without it, on-campus degrees or not.

Thank you all for the solid advice. I feel a lot more comfortable with an online degree than I did before! And as always, nothing beats true experience (I know that from my burgeoning career in stage management!). I'll definitely know I can keep this as an option if I ever decide to pursue it.

I'd also like to say that I've only been a member of LibraryThing for about two weeks, but I've never felt more like a part of an online community than I do now! Everyone is very nice and eager to reply with thoughtful words. I really like it here. :)

I agree with what's been said above, I just thought I'd volunteer that UIUC's program isn't entirely online. You still have to come to campus once a semester for about a week to do in-person stuff.

That's fine; I live in Chicago and I'm sure I would find a way to make it out there if my work situation allowed....in 5-10 years or so.....
:)

The below is one opinion on one experience from someone who admires ALL library staff - paraprofessional, professional, part-time, full-time, school, children's, reference, tech services, public services... etc.

I'm in an online degree program right now for an MLS, but am employeed as the Reference Librarian at a rural public library (I got hired with the understanding that I would pursue an MLS and had a BA in English and a MAT for secondary ed. English).

I do not like the experience so far. I hesitate to name the school because it's ALA accredited and considered good. My experience has been that with the distance education classes, EVERYTHING is difficult - from registration to advising to contacting professors. I had an experience in which the grade the TA gave me via e-mail did not show up correctly at the end of the semester. It was like an act of Congress getting my grade to display correctly.

Another thing is the professors are very fly-by-the-seat-of-the-pants. They frequently assign assignments with books that are VERY difficult to find.

It seems very disorganized. At the beginning of the semester some professors take nearly a week to upload a current syllabus and give information for the edition of the textbook to buy (and expect you to buy it sometimes in like 2 days!)

I ALWAYS have to call the university for registration - every semester. Because I'm coded wrong in the computer. Once, I called the university a total of 6 times before they got my schedule straight.

Kind of ridiculous. The undergrad school I went to and got a BA in English - I was on campus but frequently had online classes, chats, and lectures via Blackboard - was NOT DIFFICULT at all. Neither was registration - it was a zip - one-time, quickly, at a computer. And you're set. They had better rules for professor communication with students - professors were required to abide by their posted office hours and answer student e-mails promptly. Professors were required to give timely feedback on assignments so no student was "surprised" with their grade at the end of the course.

I've already been told as a student (after enrollment!) that some "technology-intensive courses particularly with lab, equiptment, etc." are NOT available to students not on-campus.
I was not told this before I enrolled in the program! I was given a course catalog and thought I could take any course offered from the university.

Maybe my experience will get better as it goes along.
And I AM getting paid (full time + benefits for a reference librarian) while going to school. But I DO hope before I graduate to have a pleasant experience (with at least one class) so I feel comfortable recommending this university to others. Right now, I would not recommend the program I'm doing to anyone that I halfway like.
And I'm certainly NOT going to get a PhD from this school.

The above is one opinion.

I was a full-time, on campus student for library school. Two of my classes were online, and I didn't like that format.
Tcplgal points out the challenges of being a distance ed student. Ensuring distance ed/online students who need accommodation (for a physical disability, learning disability, etc) are actually getting it can be a challenge as well. I met a woman enrolled at a local school who made repeated requests for special equipment for her visual impairment.
Another concern is the possibility of academic fraud. In an online environment, how you verify who the person is and that person is actually doing the work?

Mensagem editada pelo seu autor, Jun 13, 2009, 4:12pm.

>1

Out of curiousity, if you're still an undergrad, why are you planning on doing a master's degree online instead of in person?

I'd like to emphasize fugitive's point about library experience: I did my MLS after getting a PhD in English, thinking academic librarianship would be a good complement to my scholarly training. No one at my library school bothered to tell me the importance of experience (which I did not get while a MLS student), and now, five years and several hundred job applications later, I am working in academic publishing, having gotten a total of two interviews for library jobs.

>11

And don't forget, it has to be the right kind of experience. I went for my MLS straight after my BA; while in grad school, I worked in technical services at one of the university's libraries. However, I was studying to be a school media specialist, so my field experience was in two different local grade schools. Unfortunately, I decided during my field experience that I much preferred the university setting - but my technical services experience (and lack of a second masters) is apparently not good enough. I've applied to several academic libraries and only scored one interview. Thus I became a corporate librarian. Other librarians love to trash the corporate sector, but I find the environment to be much more open-minded about past experience and how it can apply to the current task at hand.

Sorry to hear that tcplgal is having such a bad experience. I did my MLIS online at an ALA accredited school and had a wonderful experience. Our program required a weekend campus visit every semester, which allowed us to interact with the professors, other online students, as well as on-campus students. We worked on group projects, did presentations, and got to socialize a bit. Students flew in for this from all over, and it made a real difference to our program. We got to know each other in the real world as well as the online world. I also would highly recommend internships, especially if you are not currently working in a library. This will help you decide the area of librarianship best for you while getting real experience in a library. Like beatlemoon, it was valuable to learn where I fit better (for me public library rather than the academic, where my internships took place), but the experience was still valuable for its exposure to technical services, reference, government documents, archives, collection development and a taste of academic politics. Go for it, but be prepared to spend hours on a computer and occasional feelings of isolation!

Sorry to hear about the bad experiences with online classes. I thought I'd offer some of the positive things I experienced in my program. I was able to complete my program faster than I ever could have if I had to waste time in lecture, I could put better thought into class discussions before posting a reply than I would have if I was sitting in a class discussion, and I could do all my work when I thought the best, not when it was decided I should be in class. If it weren't for the online option, I would not have been able to do my degree, let alone in a year and a half. It also worked very well for me because, though I am TERRIBLE at listening to lectures, I'm pretty good at forcing myself to keep up with readings and motivate myself to get work done. If you can't do that, you may want to consider a face-to-face class. Plus, UNT mangaged to work out most of their kinks before I started the program.

If you can feel a personal connection to people in message boards, then isolation in online classes shouldn't be an issue. I'm still Myspace/Facebook friends with a few of my classmates from my online program.

Another factor for online classes is that in general (at least at the school I'm currently attending) TAs (or GAs) do all the work - they grade papers, they e-mail students, moderate class discussions, etc. On my transcript it says that I've taken a course in my first year of the Library Science program with the HEAD of the School of Library Science - and it was ALL TA - the man didn't do anything - post lectures or anything. The materials were YEARS old and obviously hadn't been updated. EVERYTHING went through a TA - grading including.

I think students should know this before enrolling in a program - I'm definitely in the future going to check published school statistics for TA involvement in classes.

At the undergrad university I went to, upper-level courses had NO TAs, professors were mandated to have a certain number of office hours, actually be in their office, answer student e-mails in a timely manner, provide feedback on assignments in a timely manner, and HAD TO assign more than a midterm and a final for the course. My grad school experience so far is VERY DIFFERENT and not what I'm not used to - I think I may have been spoiled.

Some online classes I really wonder what I'm learning because there's a midterm and a final - and that's basically it.

Wow, tcp, that's the exact opposite of my experiences. Yes, TAs (generally, PhD candidates) did SOME grading and moderation of message boards, but the materials we had were very current, I got feedback within a few hours (from the professor for most questions, though many were basic questions that could have been easily answered by even an undergrad TA), grading of major papers were done by the professor, and the profs constantly checked in on message boards. I also had far better luck getting clear answers and good explanations from my TAs than I ever did as an undergrad (though, granted, LIS is easier to explain than microbiology most of the time LOL).

As for assignments, we had very few actual tests-that was left behind in the undergrad days. Most of our assignments were research and writing. Even in the classes where we only wrote two papers, I probably learned more than I would have just studying and turning in short assignments because I had to spend more time thinking about the information in a more critical manner than I would have spent on memorizing and then forgetting facts.

But even with all the positives and negatives (which will exist even at the very best and the very worst schools) what you learn in grad school is nothing compared to experience. You learn theory and ethics, which are very important, but for the day-to-day work, nothing beats practical experience.

> 16
> ". . . what you learn in grad school is nothing
> compared to experience."

And you can (should; must) get experience WHILE you're pursuing the degree.

When I started the two year full-time MLS program at UCLA (is it still?) I had zero experience working in libraries. The program had set aside jobs in the libraries restricted to people in the program. I applied for one and began on my first day. I spent 20 hours per week over two years working as a student assistant at the reference desk (often by myself).

My experience actually working in the libraries aided my coursework, more than my coursework aided my desk work.

I interviewed for two positions, and was offered the one I've been in since 1991. The economy was super sucky in 1991 and I was one of almost 200 applicants for an entry level position as a reference librarian.

An MLS (or MLIS or whatever you young whippersnappers call it these days) is a necessary, but not sufficient condition for becoming a librarian and getting a position.

@15

I had largely the same experience in an on-campus class with the head of the school.

I currently "attend" class through Wayne State University. I had to go to Detroit for orientation but live in Colorado. Everything else is fully online. It's a little weird to get used to. I am only in my first semester, but I do miss the daily interaction among students. The professors are great. Setting up technology was kind of a nightmare, but everything is settled now and working fine. It's nice to "go to class" when I want to, whether that's 5 am, 5 pm or on a Sunday night!

#10: I am currently planning on (and on my way to) becoming an Equity stage manager for my career. I live in Chicago and the best opportunities for theater don't necessarily correlate to the best opportunities for MLS's. There are surprisingly few universities in Chicago that offer an MLS, and I can hardly make my way to Steppenwolf if I'm stuck in Urbana-Champaign. I'm not even sure I would have the same kinds of opportunity for work that I do now if I went up to UW-Milwaukee. Again, this is just a thought experiment--if I ever did want to get an MLS, I was just curious to see how online degrees worked.

I did my MLIS through the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee 2004-2006, and it was a great experience. The instructors were very helpful and accessible. The program is ALA accredited, and I did not have any difficulty getting hired upon graduation. Although the diploma does not distinguish between on site and distance, I would not hide this from employers. In most cases, potential employers were interested in hearing more about the program, and it may even count towards you if you show that you were taking these courses while working at the same time.

^21 Also, since the trend is towards more online education, having received your M.L.S. online (as long as it's accredited) may be seen as showing you're current with the trends.

Like goydeah, I had many of the same experiences as tcplgal, but while attending an on-campus MLS program. (It was still a good program overall, however.) It's really an issue of the school rather than the format.

I completed my MLIS in May 2008 from the University of South Carolina. I was a part of the Maine cohort that started the program in August 2005. We had a combination of online and closed circuit classes. For several of my classes, the professors made the trek to Maine for a Saturday on-site class at some point in the semester. My experience was a great one. The opportunity to interact with other students throughout Maine and with the professors did make a big difference.

I will say, that based on my many classroom experiences, that going to school online is a bit of a challenge. You don't have the true support network that you would have if you were on campus. You're doing projects in groups that are scattered, whether in Maine or other cohort sites. You have to be flexible and patient. In my first class was televised, you never saw the faces of the students, so you could never guage whether you were having the same problem in understanding the material that was being taught. It took some getting used to. But, overall, it was worth the time and effort. I am happier now in my profession than at any other time. I went from volunteer to substitute to assistant director to director in a very short time. It has been a perfect fit for me. Go for it!

I am getting my masters (Information and Library Science) through the University of Arizona's distance education program. I am really enjoying it! This is my second semester and the staff at the school have been great helping me with problems I encounter since I am out of state. You even have the option of taking week long courses or courses that meet briefly throughout a semester if you like. I have been impressed with what I am learning and the instructors.

I did half of my MLS on campus and half online. I found that my classes online were really great. A lot of the extra (and time wasting) yapping was cut out while you could focus on the reading or the lesson. However, it was also nice to spend time on campus, getting to know your professors and other students. I was really happy with my experience and lucky to be in the position to combine oncampus/online work. It really comes down to how you learn. If you are someone who needs to be in class and learn from a professor/classmates, online is not the environment for you. However if you enjoy independent work online might be the way to go. Incidentally, I had many different kinds of online classes. Some required you to post responses on a message board to questions proposed by the professor, others just had homework questions assigned and you had to upload your responses. One class I had required you to log in to a chat room at a specific time each week and the prof would lecture and pose question to which we had to respond, another professor recorded a lecture you listened to while screen shots came up of what he was talking about (this class was about internet resources), although the one thing I loathed about online classes was a few required us to do group work, that was just cruel and unusual punishment!

I think there are pros and cons to every program and/or school. I just completed a distance/online MLIS and understand a lot of the problems mentioned here, including unprepared professors and school procedures not ready to handle out of town students. I mean, as a recent example, it was surprisingly difficult to arrange pickup of cap & gown when one does not live nearby.

Especially when it comes to professors, a lot comes down to how important it is to them to understand the technology and to care about their teaching quality--online or not. Some handle it brilliantly, others struggle continuously and the learning experience can deteriorate as a result. A few times online students in my program felt like we are tacked on and not as visible as residential students. Such issues came to light through dynamic open meetings held each quarter and a online students-only (no staff or teachers allowed) discussion board.

Overall, though, I think I received a quality education. To study in distance mode takes a little something extra than maybe the traditional classroom approach. Self-discipline is a must (to-do lists saved me!) and you have to be prepared to feel isolated at times. Depending on fellow students living nearby, sometimes you can get together with them though, so it helps to be on the look out for such opportunities.

>27

I agree. There are pro's and con's to every program, whether online or in person. I happen to be enrolled with an online program and I think it's wonderful. There are classes I like and don't like, just as it was with my B.A.
What's more important than online or in person, is that the program is going to give you the classes you need and perhaps the intern opportunities for the field of librarianship you are considering. That is more important because in the long run because it will affect where and if you get a job after you graduate.

And if you're interested, I go to San Jose State University's online program. They have a good variety of classes for different fields of librarianship.

Mensagem editada pelo seu autor, Jun 25, 2009, 12:01pm.