Yes, experience trumps education completely in my experience as far as
developing skills in libraries and technology. Some employers will demand
the degree, but it is really of secondary value to hands-on experience.

One possibility would be talking to a systems librarian or anyone else at
your university whose job interests you and explain to them that you are
looking for some mentoring and experience. It is quite likely that they
could whip up a student worker position just for you. At least I know I
would if a student approached me that way. All the libraries where I've
worked have had fairly free reign with student worker hours. Chances are you
are going to end up doing some kind of student work position anyway, so you
might as well use it learning something valuable rather than raking leaves
or cooking pizza.

Josh Welker


-----Original Message-----
From: Code for Libraries [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
Fleming, Declan
Sent: Thursday, May 29, 2014 1:05 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] College Question!

Hi - I'm also an English undergrad.  This was after miserably failing out of
a Math/CS program (although I learned a lot).  The English degree forced me
to write a lot while in college - a time when one's mind needs some
expanding lest it get caught in ruts.  This helped my communication skills
immensely.  Despite what Giarlo says.

I also agree that a background in informatics is going to be really helpful
in the years to come.  We are awash in data, yet little of it has the
semantics needed to automate the extraction of meaning.  I think there are
going to be many years of smart people plowing meaning back into the data
sets that we're struggling to put away at the bit level now, and I think it
sounds like fun work.

Another common thread I agree with, and one my kids have heard since they
were in diapers, is GET A JOB!  Especially in the area you think you're
interested in.  You'll learn more practical things there than in any class.
You may suck at it at first, but hey, they're paying you anyway!  If you
like doing it, you'll get better, build your resume, and be better able to
see if it's something you want to do long term.

Year later, after working in corporate IT for a while and getting sick of my
profession being treated like an expendable commodity, I went back and got
an MBA to better understand business - and learned that corporate IT is an
expendable commodity...  I wasn't really OK with that, so I came back to
academia to do more meaningful work for far less money ;)  With the MBA, I
was able to come back at a director level and influence change, so that's
kinda cool.

Good job getting ahead of this!  You're a neat person and I appreciate what
you do for the community!

Declan

-----Original Message-----
From: Code for Libraries [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
Henry, Laura
Sent: Thursday, May 29, 2014 5:51 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] College Question!

My undergrad degree is in English, and it actually has come in handy at
times. Good communication is important, regardless of what you end up doing.
If I could do it again, I'd seriously consider informatics - but I didn't
know it was a thing until I started library school.
http://www.soic.indiana.edu/informatics/

As far as IT, I learned a lot from the tech-support job I had right out of
college, and after that I'm self-taught. I imagine it's a steeper learning
curve than if I had some sort of tech degree.

 If you're going for an ML(I)S, major in whatever interests you. Librarians
come from all kinds of backgrounds. In my class there were a ton of English
and History degrees, but we also had people with degrees in astrophysics,
soil science, and accounting.

Laura C. Henry, MLS
Assistant Systems Librarian
Beaufort County Library
311 Scott Street, Beaufort, SC 29902
Phone 843.255.6444   [log in to unmask]
www.beaufortcountylibrary.org
For Learning ♦ For Leisure ♦ For Life

-----Original Message-----
From: Code for Libraries [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Amy
Drayer
Sent: Thursday, May 29, 2014 12:50 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] College Question!

Dear Riley et al:

I was thinking the same thing as Coral.  I have a humanities undergrad
degree; a computer science oriented degree would certainly have been
beneficial, especially with an emphasis on network and server
administration, or even web development depending on your interest (as a
systems librarian I also managed the website and catalog).  The
library-oriented education can wait until grad school.

Honestly, I think we come from a variety of backgrounds.  My liberal arts
foundation works for me (I feel my education was well rounded in a way a
science or IT degree may not have been), but I would definitely have wanted
some more technical classes such as I mentioned above if I had known I would
be in this field.

In peace,

Amy

In peace,

Amy M. Drayer, MLIS
Senior IT Specialist, Web Developer
[log in to unmask]
http://www.puzumaki.com


On Wed, May 28, 2014 at 11:24 PM, Coral Sheldon-Hess <[log in to unmask]
> wrote:

> Riley,
>
> Whatever you do, don't major in library science as an undergrad. Maybe
> minor in it, along with some other major, if you want, but it's not
> useful by itself as an undergraduate degree--most libraries want
> librarians to have the MLIS. And what if you change your mind after a
> few years and don't want to get the masters? Do something you could
> get a career in--or work in, part time, to afford the MLIS.
>
> If you want to be a systems librarian, why not get a degree in systems
> engineering or IT? (Seriously, there are degrees in
> IT<http://www.ccsu.edu/page.cfm?p=332>now, what a world!) Computer
> science wouldn't hurt, if you don't mind theory, and you can get some
> good foundational stuff that will help with the information science
> part of "libraries and information science."
>
> The school where I got my MLIS had an "Information Science" department
> that was mostly IT, too. So, that's a possibility.
>
> --
> Coral Sheldon-Hess
> http://sheldon-hess.org/coral
> @web_kunoichi
>
>
> On Wed, May 28, 2014 at 7:17 PM, Riley Childs
> <[log in to unmask]
> >wrote:
>
> > 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
> >
>