MLIS (Masters in Library and Information Studies)

vicecreamsundae

vintagedee wrote: »

Hi was wondering if anyone can help with a career aspirations essay? Im wondering how personal it should be?

i was unsure about that too. and i wrote loads only to try paste it into the box and realise i needed to cut load of wordage out, so check that first!

i can't even remember what i left in mine, but i think just mention why you want to do the course and what area you'd like to end up working in. don't read into it as much as i did :P

quixie

This is a really interesting (sometimes scary) thread. Good to see people enjoying the job, but the employment market is somewhat terrifying. Shame to hear that the support at UCD still isn't so great - I had two friends do the MLIS in the nineties and it still sounds like the same story.

Anyhow, I'm signed up, and deposit paid for next year, so hoping that it'll be a year well spent. Can anyone who has done the course say roughly how many days per week you ended up spending at UCD? I was hoping to live at home n the North and come down for study days but I'm wondering if that's feasible...

Any rough guidance as to how many days on campus you might need? Only few months until I'm a student again...AGAIN...

parker kent

quixie wrote: »

This is a really interesting (sometimes scary) thread. Good to see people enjoying the job, but the employment market is somewhat terrifying. Shame to hear that the support at UCD still isn't so great - I had two friends do the MLIS in the nineties and it still sounds like the same story.

Anyhow, I'm signed up, and deposit paid for next year, so hoping that it'll be a year well spent. Can anyone who has done the course say roughly how many days per week you ended up spending at UCD? I was hoping to live at home n the North and come down for study days but I'm wondering if that's feasible...

Any rough guidance as to how many days on campus you might need? Only few months until I'm a student again...AGAIN...

Hey MLIS seems very popular these days! You are looking at anywhere between 3-5 days in UCD depending on your timetable. I think i had 4 days in semester 1 and 5 in semester 2. Now some of those days would just be one 2 hour class so that is a long trip for one class! This was according to the 2008/09 timetable so it might have changed a little, but I'd say it is a good indicator for how many hours you'll have.

I have no idea how long it takes to get from the North to UCD but you are looking at 4-5 trips per week if you decide to commute. I guess you could spend the day and get your work done in the library before or after class, but I guess it depends on how long you want to spend commuting.

I lived on campus, which was OK but I would not want to do it now given that first years might be in the same apartment as you. If there is any way you could move to Donnybrook, Ranelagh, Dundrum etc I would take that option.

quixie

Thanks for the tip.

I was hoping that it might be possible to go to campus three days a week, but that might sounds like it might not work. The thought of living with first years literally makes my stomach churn. I like Dublin and all, but it's an expensive place to live, and given that I'm forking out for the course I had hoped to avoid more expenses. Oh well, time to grit teeth and work hard.;)

parker kent

quixie wrote: »

Thanks for the tip.

I was hoping that it might be possible to go to campus three days a week, but that might sounds like it might not work. The thought of living with first years literally makes my stomach churn. I like Dublin and all, but it's an expensive place to live, and given that I'm forking out for the course I had hoped to avoid more expenses. Oh well, time to grit teeth and work hard.;)

It is cheaper these days to live off campus in many circumstances. Plus it is not just the first years living on campus that would make your stomach churn! Basically avoid living there at all costs (but get to know somebody who does, it can be handy as long as you aren't there all the time ) Some places are actually becoming decent value, I got lucky with my apartment after I did the MLIS so the same might happen for you too!

vicecreamsundae

i'm in the middle of my work experience and hoping to start the MLIS in september. through my work experience i've noticed that i'm working largely with middle-aged women, and i was just wondering if the course reflects this? i'm not saying it's important or anything, but i'm just curious -to people who have already completed the course, was the course pretty mixed when it comes to sex and age, or is it predominantly female?

really looking forward to starting and to moving back to dublin!!

Chinafoot

reddan wrote: »

there either just not bothered having another person in their work space.

Incredibly unfair and untrue statement. Public libraries have been hit very hard between losing staff that aren't being replaced and book funds being cut. At the moment there aren't enough staff to look after a work experience person. You can't just be left to your own devices, someone will have to show you what to do. And yes, you do have to sort out insurance.

reddan wrote: »

If possible look up the nearest academic library-they are constantly understaffed and are actually affected by the recruitment freeze-.

Mate seriously, you shouldn't comment on things you clearly have no idea about.

parker kent

vicecreamsundae wrote: »

i'm in the middle of my work experience and hoping to start the MLIS in september. through my work experience i've noticed that i'm working largely with middle-aged women, and i was just wondering if the course reflects this? i'm not saying it's important or anything, but i'm just curious -to people who have already completed the course, was the course pretty mixed when it comes to sex and age, or is it predominantly female?

really looking forward to starting and to moving back to dublin!!

Was about a 60-40 split in favour of girls and I'd say average age was 25-30. There were people either side of that age bracket but the majority would have been in there.

ComaWhite

Hey guys, just wondering did anyone else apply for the studentship in the National Library? Or has anyone ever gone for the interview?

I've been called for an interview tomorrow (eeek!) and have not a notion what they are going to ask me!

vicecreamsundae

can't help you there. i haven't heard of this before -is it something you do while doing the MLIS, or something you do for a year before the MLIS?

i'd imagine it would basic enough questions about any library experience you may have, or about your interest in the area?
best of luck in the interview!

ComaWhite

It's a one year paid studentship with the National Library, you'd do your degree the year after that.

I'm assuming that you can defer for the year? I've been accepted onto the MLIS course, but I'd hate to lose my place if by some divine miracle I actually got the job and decided to take it!

vicecreamsundae

ComaWhite wrote: »

It's a one year paid studentship with the National Library, you'd do your degree the year after that.

I'm assuming that you can defer for the year? I've been accepted onto the MLIS course, but I'd hate to lose my place if by some divine miracle I actually got the job and decided to take it!

i think you can defer, i think another person mentioned that earlier in the thread. sounds like a great opportunity alright!

ComaWhite

Not as scary as i thought it would be!

There was a panel of three people interviewing me, a very interesting interview to say the least!

Fingers crossed!

vicecreamsundae

can anyone who has done the course before give me some more details on the workload?
for example do assignments consist mostly of long essays, or more practical work? will there be work due to hand in every two weeks, or more or less frequently?

just going to be having a friend from a faraway land visiting during term time and trying to suss whether that should be no big deal, or if it would be better if they visited during midterm
[is there a midterm?!]

parker kent

vicecreamsundae wrote: »

can anyone who has done the course before give me some more details on the workload?
for example do assignments consist mostly of long essays, or more practical work? will there be work due to hand in every two weeks, or more or less frequently?

just going to be having a friend from a faraway land visiting during term time and trying to suss whether that should be no big deal, or if it would be better if they visited during midterm
[is there a midterm?!]

Assignments were due relatively frequently. None of them were very difficult but there were still lots of them. They vary from essays of about a few thousand words to shorter assignments. Very little of the course is practical so don't worry about that!

As long as you manage your time well you will be fine. There will be people in the class with jobs, children etc so everybody will be juggling tasks.

reddan

Chinafoot wrote: »

Incredibly unfair and untrue statement. Public libraries have been hit very hard between losing staff that aren't being replaced and book funds being cut. At the moment there aren't enough staff to look after a work experience person. You can't just be left to your own devices, someone will have to show you what to do. And yes, you do have to sort out insurance.

Mate seriously, you shouldn't comment on things you clearly have no idea about.

A belated belated apologies about any offence caused with that post. To be honest I was just venting after about a year and a half of having absolutely no joy getting work experience with any library organisations despite willing to wave any legal right you care to name just to be in the premises.

Of course I've no idea what operational problems public libraries are experiencing at the moment but at the same time the unwillingness-probably structural I know- or inability to take in people for work experience means we can only hazard a guess, in my case an inaccurate one.

30kmph

In terms of work experience to get into the course it says:

• A minimum of 6 weeks experience working in a library or information environment

Does this mean full-time work, as in 6 full weeks or can it be 6 weeks made up of weekend over the course of several months?

I have been doing part-time work in a library for several months now.

reddan

Hi 30km,

I think you'd be ok with that work experience built up over over a few months. They don't work out the 6 weeks to the hour or anything like that, from what I gather, but you should definitely check it out with the library information studies shool administrator.

http://www.ucd.ie/graduatestudies/prospectivestudents/taughtprogrammes/hstaught/masterslibraryinformationstudies/

vicecreamsundae

agreed, i'm sure you'll be fine if your experience is over time -most people can't take a six week block out to get experience if they have a job or other commitments i imagine.

quick question-can other people who are going to UCD for the first time login to UCD Connect/ blackboard/ SISWeb? in the last email I received it "many of you already have access to UCD connect" and i'm just a bit confused.

also does anyone know if, because we don't start til the 16th, we just go straight into classes, or is that first week our orientation week?

parker kent

vicecreamsundae wrote: »

agreed, i'm sure you'll be fine if your experience is over time -most people can't take a six week block out to get experience if they have a job or other commitments i imagine.

quick question-can other people who are going to UCD for the first time login to UCD Connect/ blackboard/ SISWeb? in the last email I received it "many of you already have access to UCD connect" and i'm just a bit confused.

also does anyone know if, because we don't start til the 16th, we just go straight into classes, or is that first week our orientation week?

Did you get a student number in any of your correspondence from UCD? If you did use it and your date of birth in the format DDMMYY.

We had 2 days of orientation in 2008 but I think you just start straight into classes now. If you have never been to UCD before go up the week before and join in with the orientation stuff there for first years like tours etc.

colx

I am interested in doing this course but unsure of a few things

1 I notice that Dbs run a course but is nearly 10k for the two years which I could struggle with

2 The Ucd course looks interesting but the part time option seems to involve classes during the day and I cant get much info from them

3 Ive noticed 14 different colleges in the uk doing offering part time and distance learning but can anyone recomend the most suitable? I hear the college in Aberdeen is popular for Irish students,

4 Job opps - I accept their isnt much in Ireland but one of the main reasons for doing something like this would be to emmigrate with it anyway, Can i get into Canada or Australia or the states with this?

Any help would be much appreciated.

vicecreamsundae

As far as I know, even part time the course takes place during the day, so you can't do it in the evenings. If you need to work full time, and can't get flexible hours at work, you might find the distance learning courses more suitable. I've heard great things about the Aberystwyth distance course.

I don't know too much about courses in the UK though I do have a friend doing the one at Aberdeen, and she seems to enjoy it. She also said the course is free there, which is kind of awesome and makes me wonder why I've decided to do it in Dublin after all!

The UCD degree [but not the diploma] is internationally recognised, so yes you will be able to use the qualification in the US and Canada, and assumedly Australia. I'm not sure how difficult/ easy the practicalities of moving there for employment in a library will be, I know it's what I plan to do and other people on boards have said similar.

As for the DBS course, it sounds very expensive alright, and I'm not sure it's accredited -it might be, but you should double check.

Ever2010

I did mine via Aber in Wales - to be perfectly honest everything I know about being a librarian I learnt on the job! My advice is to get as much library experience as possible - this is why working as a library assistant and doing a course distance learning is good. It's very very competitive in Ireland at the moment and if you come out of library school with only 6 weeks experience I doubt that you'll be employed quickly.

The DBS course is accredited (by one of the UK universities) but not too sure of the quality of the teaching.

colx

Thanks for the replies!!

Couple of quick points

Do you know how your friend got the course in Aberdeen for free?

also is it tough to get work experience in this area?

vicecreamsundae

my friend said there just weren't any tuition fees, only student service fees [around 700]. she didn't apply for any grant/scholarship, she said that's just the way it was.

I don't think it's very difficult to get work experience so long as you don't mind it being unpaid and are willing to travel. I applied to a couple of academic libraries and then my local public library, and the academic ones said they didn't have the resources to train anyone, but the county library was very happy to have the extra help [albeit i needed to commute to the next town]. email your local county council about it, that's what worked for me.

colx

Thanks, Just a questions about the Abeerdeen course did your friend just do one module for the 700, for the three years there its 7,300 stg and the course in wales is around 6k but doesnt include the study schools...

Yes the work experience is proving difficult

ComaWhite

Hey everyone,

I'm starting to get nervous and excited now! I'm still trying to make sense of the timetable, or maybe I'm not looking at it properly!

Also, is anyone else commuting from Maynooth?

vicecreamsundae

I'm super confused about the timetable too! I figure it will be explained better when we start!

vicecreamsundae

i've just received an email from UCD saying that my offer is still dependent on receiving my original transcripts?! they confirmed my acceptance ages ago so i'm a bit annoyed and a little worried!

can someone clarify for me how to obtain "original" transcripts? i went to my last college and paid to get the transcripts i sent to UCD, and just assumed those were original. sorry i know this is a bit off topic!

parker kent

vicecreamsundae wrote: »

i've just received an email from UCD saying that my offer is still dependent on receiving my original transcripts?! they confirmed my acceptance ages ago so i'm a bit annoyed and a little worried!

can someone clarify for me how to obtain "original" transcripts? i went to my last college and paid to get the transcripts i sent to UCD, and just assumed those were original. sorry i know this is a bit off topic!

Did they say what was the problem with them? Perhaps they need a stamp from the college or an official seal? Did you photocopy them?

If you paid for them from the college they should be correct, getting transcripts from UCD is the same method.