Riley,

I have an BA in Anthropology and Music from a small liberal arts school as
well as my MLS and MS in Information Management from Syracuse University
While I sometime wish I took the computer science path, there are just as
many other times when I'm super grateful for my cultural anthropology
background. IMHO, if you are going to build systems that work well you need
to understand your user's needs. How the system is going to be part of
their lives. Good troubleshooting can benefit from this thinking as well.
Studying and watching people in their lives is a big part of cultural
anthropology. Being able to know how to do ethnography and put on that hat
when building systems has been a godsend. I feel like the another virtue of
my liberal arts education was the fact I had to develop general critical
thinking and analytical skills which I find invaluable in my career.

Whatever you degree you choose to get, get real world practical experience
as much as possible. Every internship I've had has been worth its weight in
gold. Through one I found out what I DIDN'T want to do which saved me
countless $$s and time.

Best of luck,

Karen


On Thu, May 29, 2014 at 8:46 AM, Maura Carbone <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> I'd echo what others have said and say either CS/CSE or MIS/IT. You might
> want to make that choice depending on the school you go to--my undergrad's
> MIS program is fantastic but I know a lot of people weren't as happy with
> the CS department. I'd also like to +1 what Lisa said about what you want
> to do as a systems librarian. I worked as a systems librarian in a public
> library and I most definitely did not need a CS degree, but MIS or IT would
> have been very useful. Look at job postings, see what sounds like what you
> want to do, and then go from there.  Also see what you like in terms of
> classes! You might find the CS theory stuff less interesting than more
> hands-on type IT work, or you might fall in love with Physics (you can
> always grab a minor in CS, since there's quite a bit of overlap for the gen
> eds).
>
> I also wouldn't completely ignore the liberal arts--if you want to work in
> libraries, being able to communicate with your co-workers and with patrons
> is VERY important. While you might get a job that's just IT or programming
> work all day, more than likely you will have to interact with non-tech
> people. Being able to coherently express yourself, and being able to break
> things down for people, is crucial to having a good working relationship
> with your co-workers. At my public job, I was also the person who more
> often than not helped patrons with their tech questions, from computer
> trouble shooting to setting up an iTunes account, to even helping someone
> build a website once.
>
> For the record, I was a history undergrad who took a few CS courses, who
> then got an MLIS and took a few more CS/IT/Tech courses. I work at a
> university, which means I have the benefit of being able to take free
> classes (which I plan to take advantage of to take some MORE CS classes
> :-D).
>
> Good luck!
>
> -Maura
>
>
> On Thu, May 29, 2014 at 9:16 AM, Pikas, Christina K. <
> [log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> > I highly recommend a Physics degree. 1) not as many required courses as
> > engineering so more electives, more opportunities to study the important
> > Russian Literature you might need as a surgeon :) 2) heavy math, heavy
> > computer science but in a solve-a-problem sense, not in a
> maintain-a-server
> > sense which gets out of date quickly 3) fascinating stuff in class 4)
> > people who graduated with me went on to PhDs but others went on to do
> MDs,
> > law degrees, and some started work immediately as computer scientists :)
> >
> > Christina, BS, MLS
> > Oh, and adding a BS after your name is fun, too!
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Code for Libraries [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
> > Riley Childs
> > Sent: Wednesday, May 28, 2014 11:17 PM
> > To: [log in to unmask]
> > Subject: [CODE4LIB] College Question!
> >
> > I was curious about the type of degrees people had. I am heading off to
> > college next year (class of 2015) and am trying to figure out what to
> major
> > in. I want to be a systems librarian, but I can't tell what to major in!
> I
> > wanted to hear about what paths people took and how they ended up where
> > they are now.
> >
> > BTW Y'All at NC State need a better tour bus driver (not the c4l tour,
> the
> > admissions tour) ;) the bus ride was like a rickety roller coaster...
> 🎢
> >
> > Also, if you know of any scholarships please let me know ;) you would be
> > my BFF :P
> >
> >
> > Riley Childs
> > Student
> > Asst. Head of IT Services
> > Charlotte United Christian Academy
> > (704) 497-2086
> > RileyChilds.net
> > Sent from my Windows Phone, please excuse mistakes
> >
>
>
>
> --
> Maura Carbone
> Digital Initiatives Librarian
> Brandeis University
> Library and Technology Services
> (781) 736-4659
> 415 South Street, (MS 017/P.O. Box 549110)
> Waltham, MA 02454-9110
>
> email: [log in to unmask]
>