This is a great thread. I've always been impressed every time I read
Riley's signature. My hunch is you're in for a great and successful ride,
no matter the particular path.


Brian Zelip
---
MS Student, Graduate School of Library & Information Science
Graduate Assistant, University Library's Scholarly Commons
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
zelip.me


On Thu, May 29, 2014 at 8:58 AM, Karen Coombs <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:

> 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]
> >
>