🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <84203@ut-emx.uucp>, jshouman@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Joan-Marie Shouman) writes...
>I'm pursuing a Masters of Library and Information Science at U.T. Austin, and,
>as I sit here writing a pointless paper for a rather questionable assignment,
>I am wondering what other programs are like.
> 
>Tell me what your program is like.  
> 
>Do you think library school is a good thing (Ignoring entirely the fact that
>most positions require an MLS/MLIS/MIS)?  Should it be worth a graduate degree?

Well, speaking for my experience at the University of Buffalo,
I can say that library school is *not* a Master's level
experience.  How can I say this?

1.  Both of my parents have Master's degrees.  They got them
at a time when I was cognizant of their efforts.  My father
got his when I was in 8th grade, my mother when I was in 9th.
Both of them worked at a much harder level than I have been
asked to and have seen my co-students do.

2.  The kind of work one does to receive a Master's, at least at
the University of Buffalo, is not what I would consider on par
with work I've seen in other Master's programs.  Too many of
the courses are simply how-to-do-it (esp. cataloging & classification).
Library school is simply not very rigorous.

3.  Several of the courses taught at UB are on par, if not easier,
with my undergraduate work.  The computer and information science
courses are, from what I've seen, on par w/ undergraduate courses.
There is, for instance, a course on microcomputers and data
management.  The final project involves creating a database on
dBase using its programming language.

4.  I've not detecting the science in library science.  I've seen
lots of work that might qualify it as practice, but not science.

I'm of the opinion that an MLS is no more challenging (or academically
valuable) than any undergraduate degree.  It should be part of a
regular 4-year degree, perhaps a Bachelor's in Library Studies.

Please, feel free to rebut my opinions.  I'd love to hear from
any other UB student who feels differently (or the same way!)

David Anderson