Riley -
Here's my question to you: WHY do you want to be a systems librarian?
And even more specifically, why a systems librarian and not just an IT
person? What do you think a systems librarian does all day? The title
is as varied as other any job title in library world -- I'm a systems
librarian and I can name at least half a dozen other system librarians
who have wholly different job duties than I do yet we all have the
same title.
What do you _really_ want to do and not do?
Now on to Ross:
On Thu, May 29, 2014 at 7:38 AM, Ross Singer <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> If you want to be a systems librarian, I wouldn't bother with the MLIS,
> honestly. Yes, it's still a requirement on a lot of job postings _now_,
> but more and more that's being dropped from systems roles in lieu of
> relevant experience.
I mostly agree with this, but it will vary from market to market and
industry to industry.
>
> The other sad reality is that an entry level systems librarian position
> probably makes less than a developer or sysadmin position in the same
> department.
As someone fairly new in the field, and in her first position out of
school, it varies from market to market and industry to industry. I'm
a systems librarian at a community college in a mid-sized city and I
make $62K. Other job postings I've seen have ranged from $35-80K --
but cost of living, location, industry, experience, and more add
whether or not you're going to have hookers and blow lifestyle.
> Fwiw, I have no masters in anything, a BA in theatre (the BEST degree, but
> that's another thread), and have worked in library technology
> professionally for 20 years (oh, hey there, ravages of time). While not
> having an MLIS has kept me out of consideration for some jobs in the past,
> almost all of them just wanted a masters in _something_, which, in that
> case, get a masters in CS or CE.
To reiterate Ross' point about experience -- I worked as a network
engineer for nearly a decade before dumping it all and going back to
undergrad and doing a double major in English/Art History, then on to
two masters (one in humanities and then my MLIS). I took some unix
classes while my first foray into college and loved it as well as some
programming classes and hated those.
During my networking career, I was working on my CCIE but everything I
learned was either self-study or on the job training and experience. I
wouldn't have had it any other way.
(Interestingly, when I graduated from undergrad, I couldn't get hired
for beans in any field I was applying because it was assumed I was
going to jump ship back to tech, which wasn't the case.Which is why I
went on a Masters obtaining spree. But in the long run, my having two
masters means I can command more money in academia so hey, it worked
out in the end.)
YMMV.
--
Lisa M. Rabey | @pnkrcklibrarian
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