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Post by thegreyelf on Jun 17, 2009 7:51:18 GMT -6
This is AWESOME. I was POSITIVE I wasn't getting in.
The acceptance is provisional, meaning just that I have to get at least a B in my first two classes to continue--not an issue since every student in grad school has to maintain a B average anyway.
It's for a Master in Library and Information Science degree; I'm focusing on the School Librarian Certification track.
At this point it's looking like about 4 years going year-round to finish. In addition to the 36 credits for the MLIS, I need to take 15 more credits worth of undergrad courses to get my PA Teaching Certification.
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Post by calithena on Jun 17, 2009 8:42:38 GMT -6
Congratulations! I hope it all works out well for you.
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Fandomaniac
Level 4 Theurgist
I've come here to chew bubblegum and roll d20's and I'm all out of bubblegum.
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Post by Fandomaniac on Jun 17, 2009 8:45:51 GMT -6
Congrats Jason!
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Post by Deleted on Jun 17, 2009 9:03:14 GMT -6
Congratulations . . . Great degree, by the way. All my best friends are librarians. Do you have to pick a particular field - kid lit, technology or something like that?
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Post by thegreyelf on Jun 17, 2009 10:15:01 GMT -6
Yeah, I'm going for the School Librarian track. I'll come out with a degree in MLIS and a Pennsylvania Education Certification.
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Post by Finarvyn on Jun 17, 2009 10:43:39 GMT -6
I'm opposed to this. Anything to pull you away from Old School gaming can't be a good thing. Reconsider while you still can!
(Sorry, just a flashback from my youth where my mom made me put away most of my gaming stuff for a couple years while I got my degree. I really intend to congratuate you!)
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Post by thegreyelf on Jun 17, 2009 10:47:08 GMT -6
Hah. Fear not; this isn't going to pull me away. After all, I still have a company to run.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 17, 2009 12:07:25 GMT -6
Congrats! What was the criteria which you believed would keep you from being accepted? I am curious because I will be applying for graduate school next fall but my GPA is not within the acceptable, even though my last few years of school have been relatively excellent in comparison to my first year. While schools are likely different in how they accept and deny applicants based on their GPA, I assume there is some sort of modicum of applicability to my own situation which is why I ask.
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Post by thegreyelf on Jun 17, 2009 12:16:04 GMT -6
I was in *exactly* the same boat as you are, Christopher. Minimum listed GPA was 3.0 and I graduated with a 2.47, though I carried straight-A's my last 2 years and graduated with honors from my department (though not the University).
I was sure the low GPA was going to screw me. But I got two excellent letters of recommendation and did a very honest, heartfelt personal statement, and they let me in.
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Post by Haldo Bramwise on Jun 17, 2009 14:14:05 GMT -6
Congrats!
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agcias
Level 3 Conjurer
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Post by agcias on Jun 17, 2009 17:10:34 GMT -6
Mucho Congrats. That is fantastic. Best of luck with the next 4 (or so) years.
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Post by ragnorakk on Jun 17, 2009 18:15:31 GMT -6
Congrats!
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Post by doc on Jun 17, 2009 18:31:29 GMT -6
Good for you! That ominous shadow that you see blocking out the sun is the gigantic mountain of work and deadlines that you will be responsible for, and that may at times have to come before fun, family, girlfriends, and your job. Can't say you weren't warned  Congratulations and welcome to the club! Doc |
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Post by Zulgyan on Jun 17, 2009 20:21:03 GMT -6
Good news! Congratulations!
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Post by Deleted on Jun 17, 2009 20:36:48 GMT -6
Conga-rats!  |
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Post by amityvillemike on Jun 18, 2009 9:28:59 GMT -6
As someone who has treaded the path the leads to a degree in LIS, let me say welcome to the club. You're in for a challenging, but rewarding couple of years. Since you're going for School Media Specialist, if your college's degree path is anything like mine was, you'll have a few opportunities to take a course or two that tie in nicely to the hobby (I remember seeing a Storytelling course and one on Young Adult fiction that had a lot of fantasy/sci-fi required reading). Although I ended up in Archives and Records Management, I still have a few friends who were wiser than me and went for the SMS degree. If the coursework ever starts to get to you and you feel like you can't take it anymore, let me suggest the following mantra: "193 workdays a year"  |
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Post by tavis on Jun 22, 2009 18:59:05 GMT -6
Congrats, Jason, that's awesome! I've been seeing some interesting posts on RPG-industry lists about gaming in library programs; knowing that you and Mike are in that field, I'll try to find some linkage (unless, of course, you already know more about it than me!)
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Post by aldarron on Jun 22, 2009 19:19:52 GMT -6
Congratulations Jason! And Christopher - the most important, key part of getting into most graduate schools are the letters of reccomendation. Second is to have made contact with a particular professor at the school you are applying to who's research you are interested in and who will be your advisor if you are accepted. Third is to have a good personal statement.
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Post by gkaralunas on Aug 30, 2009 5:55:46 GMT -6
Congrats
My Off-springs & Son-Out Law are all taking courses for a Teacher Cert here in Texas, been in school for years due to Medical Problems, but hope they will grad soon - since I'm the Co-Signer on the Loans.
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Post by badger2305 on Sept 5, 2009 19:55:21 GMT -6
First off, congratulations! Secondly, some advice from someone who got his PhD relatively recently (so the horror hasn't completely departed): - The perfect is the enemy of the good; don't try to do your best work all the time. It'll kill you. This is a big difference between grad school and undergrad.
- Pace yourself. A little bit of work every day will be much better than trying to pile it in all at once.
- Find an adviser you can really work with.
You might know these all already, but I figured I should mention them.... Good luck! |
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Post by thegreyelf on Sept 8, 2009 8:32:50 GMT -6
I'm quickly learning the thing about completion rather than perfection. Best. advice. ever.
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Post by longcoat000 on Sept 24, 2009 15:33:21 GMT -6
Congratumacations. With a disportionate number of people in the LIS field, I have to ask: What does someone with a LIS degree do or need to know? Judging by what's been said here, I know that it involves archival record retention, but there has to be more to it than mastery of the Dewy decimal system. Care to give a top-level view to someone who's curious?
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Post by evreaux on Sept 27, 2009 16:43:51 GMT -6
Just saw this thread. Congratulations Jason! And Christopher - the most important, key part of getting into most graduate schools are the letters of reccomendation. Respectfully, I couldn't disagree more. Letters of rec are largely formalities since they are unnuanced and glowing 99.999% of the time. Even if it's someone well-known in the field writing it, the constant political and psychological need for academic departments to establish their independence and rigor will work against the name recognition. Second is to have made contact with a particular professor at the school you are applying to who's research you are interested in and who will be your advisor if you are accepted. Third is to have a good personal statement. Now you're in the wheelhouse. Read the recent publications of the department members, know what their research interests are, find a good match, and talk extensively about it in your personal statement. Be specific. Nobody at the graduate level is interested in how long you've wanted to study X, or how inspiring your personal story is, or who at another school thinks you're amazing. They want to know how much will need to be invested in you to turn you into a professional practitioner of whatever the field is. The more knowledgeable and prepared you are--i.e., the closer you seem to already being a practitioner--the stronger a candidate you will be. Making contact early with department members and getting to know them helps a lot. Their opinion of your ongoing correspondence will be more important than your letters of recommendation. My two cents. |
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Post by stonetoflesh on Sept 30, 2009 0:00:20 GMT -6
Jason, congrats on getting into the MLIS program! I did my MLIS a few years back with an emphasis in academic music librarianship and special collections, but ended up working in the public library sector (and I love it!) Library school certainly has its share of challenges, but I'm sure you'll do very well. You're one step closer to joining the Old-School D&D Librarians Club!
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Post by stonetoflesh on Sept 30, 2009 0:09:02 GMT -6
What does someone with a LIS degree do or need to know? There are certain classes most library students have to take - basic cataloging, reference & research skills, collection development, developing library programs, and such. Beyond that, there are a variety of specializations within the LIS field. Of course there are those focused on traditional public and academic libraries. Archives & Special Collections were mentioned by Amityville Mike. Some people get into the computer-oriented aspects of Information Science such as database design and management. There are also a ton of subject-specific "special libraries" focused on law, business, film, rare books, photography, music, etc. Not to mention the crossover potential with Museum Studies. It's a remarkably broad field... |
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Post by thegreyelf on Oct 2, 2009 19:22:08 GMT -6
gnombient has it right, save that the basic skills he says are emphasized aren't what I'm taking. My courses this semester are school library media center management and understanding information. It's true those skills you mention are basic skills librarians are expected to know...generally the graduate program assumes you have the chops to do that basic stuff. What is an LIS degree? Quite simply, it trains you to be an expert in information, and the finding, organization and dissemination of the same, as well as a technology and media expert. Someone with an LIS degree these days can be a systems administrator as easily as they can read a library card catalog. Reference and research skills are paramount, yes. But the librarians of the future aren't going to be bookish tweed-wearers behind the desk guiding you through an arcane catalog to find a musty tome on a shelf. Everything is electronic, now. Everything is linked in a gigantic, miscellaneous network. I just completed a paper, wherein I made the following argument: "Once, the librarian was Gandalf, Tolkien's seminal gray wizard, scouring ancient scrolls in Minas Tirith for rumors about the One ring, or holding back the Balrog after he offers one final piece of advice: 'Go quickly, and choose paths leading right and downwards.' Now, he is Strider, the Ranger who can follow the faintest trail. For him, 'a bent blade...is enough to read.'...the availability of information in electronic format is growing and stands to become more common as time goes by. As patrons seek more electronic information and as the deluge of 'e-information' grows, future librarians will need to cat less in the role of gatekeeper and more in that of pathfinder." ...and yes, it's getting to me. I've never been so stressed out and on edge, and I am terrified I'm going to flunk out in the first semester  |
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Post by stonetoflesh on Oct 11, 2009 22:47:31 GMT -6
"Once, the librarian was Gandalf, Tolkien's seminal gray wizard, scouring ancient scrolls in Minas Tirith for rumors about the One ring, or holding back the Balrog after he offers one final piece of advice: 'Go quickly, and choose paths leading right and downwards.' Now, he is Strider, the Ranger who can follow the faintest trail. For him, 'a bent blade...is enough to read.'...the availability of information in electronic format is growing and stands to become more common as time goes by. As patrons seek more electronic information and as the deluge of 'e-information' grows, future librarians will need to cat less in the role of gatekeeper and more in that of pathfinder." AWESOME!!! I hope you get an A++ on that paper! |
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Post by thegreyelf on Oct 12, 2009 10:14:18 GMT -6
Got 14/15 on it.
I probably will not continue with this program after this semester. I wasn't prepared for this and I can't devote the kind of commitment required for it right now. Maybe, someday? Who knows? For now I'd rather focus on my writing, and researching opening my coffeehouse.
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Post by irdaranger on Oct 12, 2009 13:26:09 GMT -6
I probably will not continue with this program after this semester. I wasn't prepared for this and I can't devote the kind of commitment required for it right now. Maybe, someday? Who knows? For now I'd rather focus on my writing, and researching opening my coffeehouse. Only you can decide whether that's the correct path for you, but congratulations on making the decision at all. Some might stick it out for years (maybe even get a degree they never use) out of shear fear of change. Good luck! |
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Post by Random on Oct 12, 2009 18:54:34 GMT -6
Got 14/15 on it. I probably will not continue with this program after this semester. I wasn't prepared for this and I can't devote the kind of commitment required for it right now. Maybe, someday? Who knows? For now I'd rather focus on my writing, and researching opening my coffeehouse. I can relate to being overwhelmed by the commitment. This is my first semester of graduate school and I am completely absorbed by it... except for the occasional jaunt to these forums, walking my dog, and spending quality time with my family. I would love to get some sleep! This week is especially kicking I disagree because of midterms. I am also slightly annoyed that I have to proctor (and possibly help grade) a Calc1 midterm the night before one of my own midterm exams. Anyways, good luck with your chosen course of action. *edit* lol @ the profanity filter That should be "... is especially kicking my a ss because ..." |
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