The education of the new-age librarian

With the rise of technological advances in libraries, many Masters of Library Science programs across the country have transformed into more innovative educational experiences.

Kent State’s program is no exception, the program aims to innovate and keep up with the changing scope of libraries.

Kendra Albright, a director, and professor of Kent State’s masters of Library and Information Science program says the field of MLIS has both expanded and fragmented since the presence of technology.

“When the internet came along it really expanded a lot of what it is we do,” Albright said. “We do the same things. It’s the same skill set, just in an electronic environment rather than on paper.”

According to Albright, Kent is one of about 54 library science masters programs in the U.S. and Kent State’s is the only one based in Ohio.

“We are the only one in Ohio,” Albright said.  “If you go to libraries in Ohio, the chances are pretty good that they will have at least one person who graduated from our program, if not most.”

The program is 100% online offering an option to earn a dual degree combining the MLIS degree with a masters in health informatics, knowledge management, user information design, Education or business administration.

The program is the largest graduate program at Kent State and sees on average about 230 graduates per year.

 

She said Kent State aims to mainly focus the curriculum on the users and the information.

“Librarians are the original data scientists,” Albright said. “I would say that the big difference is we really focus on users but not at the expense of technological change, we keep up.”

She believes the field is a service that will always be needed.

“The field of library and information science is not only interested in how we organize the record of information knowledge,” Albright said, “but we also try to understand the ways in which users use information so that we can provide better service.”

Meghan Harper, an MLIS Program Coordinator, and professor at Kent State says the curriculum also aims to focus on tech and marketing for potential users.

“We learn a lot about users and how you can market to different users really looking at the zero to twenty age group and how you can engage them,” Harper said.

Harper says members of the public who believe that libraries are on the decrease are incorrect.

“Libraries provide a very needed service in connecting people to the technology, and the information,” Harper said. “They really have done a good job in remaining relevant.”

Harper says prospective students interested in the MLIS should have one thing: curiosity.

“When you work with information and just learning about thinking about how do you communicate information, “Harper said. “My students are very engaged and a little bit of risk takers. They are actually looking at scenarios and case studies and developing solutions.”

The field of library science is broad. Harper says students can obtain a variety of different jobs. She says many graduates of the program receive jobs in corporate and business intelligence.

 

“There are library positions within those types of businesses,” Harper says. “Almost every big business has one. NASA has its own librarians, The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has its own library, The Pro Football Hall of Fame has its own library.”

Earning a degree of library science offers many more opportunities than some choose to believe.

“It’s not just typical,” Harper says. “People tend to think that the stereotypical librarian just checks out books. But, actually what a librarian does is really help people interpret information and find good authoritative and credible information.”

She says in recent years, the program has seen positive growth and changes in age demographics.

“It used to be students that came were say…over 35,” Harper said. “It was kind of a second career or they were moving up in their career. Now, we a really seeing a lot of people right out of their undergraduate programs because they have an idea of what they want to do.”

Harper says throughout the years the program demographics are widening as well.

“I think the demographics have changed a little bit,” Harper said. “We have students who come from education, communication, English, history, and sometimes the big movement is for digital librarians. Because so many companies are digitizing all of their work.”

When Darlene McKenzie, head of reference for Reed Memorial Library started her career as a high school math teacher before transitioning to the library science program at Kent State. She says the program looks very different since she first attended.

“When I went to school, probably 20-some years ago,” said McKenzie, “it was all classes and right now it’s not even a mixture. It’s just everything is pretty much online. That’s a huge difference. I think probably to the detriment of some students.”

McKenzie feels having an online-only degree can potentially make the transition to a career challenging.

“What do librarians do?” McKenzie said. “They talk to people a lot. If it’s all online, sometimes it’s really hard to know where to learn those skills to talk to people.”

She believes different personality types can have a hard time adjusting to the communication aspect of public and academic libraries.

“A lot of people go into librarianship because they are shy or they are introverted,” McKenzie said. “They are thinking oh, I can just be on the computer and read books; but no, it’s a people thing. That’s sometimes where I think the in-person classes a good too because you have to deal with more people.”

 

 

 

Kalyn Kappleman, a recent graduate of Kent State’s MLIS program and training and Special Projects Coordinator at Reed Memorial Library (RML) says completing the program 100% online allowed her more flexibility while working full time at RML.

“Interacting with professors was mostly online,” Kappleman said. “I got to meet a couple at the Library Council Convention. That was pretty much the only time I met any of them face to face.”

She also recognizes the downsides in online-only based education.

“It’s kind of a little sad because in my undergrad experience,” Kappleman said, “I can go back and see those professors and they understand who I am by sight. With these people, they may recognize my name, maybe. But, they didn’t necessarily have to learn it to call on me in class anyway.”

 

Kappleman says she appreciated being able to apply her education directly to her job at RML.

“I had already gotten the experience in a library and it was easy for me to sort of taking stuff and apply it right away and sort of test some of those things out,” Kappleman said.

 

With the changing speed of technology, are librarians still relevant. Learn about the education of the new librarian in my upcoming #rpp story. And also check out my teammate’s stories. https://t.co/07RYKyD78b

— Faith Riggs (@faith_riggs) November 28, 2018