Many of you are new to the MLIS program. Perhaps you’re taking INFO 200, or thinking of taking it next semester. It’s one of the four core classes you’ll be required to take in the program. Each of the core classes are different, but each class teaches skills that are fundamental to Library and Information Science. We asked Dr. Michael Stephens to tell us what it takes to succeed in a class like INFO 200. An associate professor and coordinator for INFO 200 as well as instructor of INFO 287 “The Hyperlinked Library,” Dr. Stephens is a leading voice in librarianship, teaching about reflective librarianship, emerging technologies, and leading with heart. We hope you’ll find his advice insightful, thoughtful, and helpful as you embark on your MLIS journey!
What is the main takeaway for students in INFO 200?
The takeaway is twofold. Students will learn how to research library and information science databases as well other scholarly databases, then synthesize that research into multiple blog posts and other written assignments into something called the literature review matrix, and then into a graduate level research paper that satisfies the graduate writing assessment, or “GWAR.”
Students will also gain insights into how their selected communities use, create, and exchange information and what information behavior theory and models can be applied to various communities, what the information search process looks like, and some of our foundational theories of the library and information science field.
Any tips on how students can stay organized with the large amount of reading and writing required in the course? (Especially for those who have been away from academia for a bit).
I would say pay careful attention to the syllabus, the course schedule, and due dates provided by your info instructor. Be on top of the amount of time it takes each week to do what is required. Success in Info 200 is based on the expectation that students will spend three hours per unit per week (with one hour used for lecture), so that’s a minimum of 45 hours for each unit, or 135 hours that you should plan to devote to Info 200. Because of the graduate writing assessment requirement, and because we are giving students exposure to a lot of foundational stuff, it does take a lot of time, so I would suggest being on top of time management. I would also say, please don’t take all three core classes, plus INFO 203 all at once. If you have not been in academia for a long time, it might be good to start with less than three classes and INFO 203. Just my opinion.
What surprises you most about the students who take your course?
We have a diverse range of students coming into INFO 200—from undergrads who just finished an undergraduate degree, all the way to second and third career folks who are coming back to get their MLIS, so it is a broad continuum. I love that. I think it makes for a really interesting group of folks that come together, to learn together. I really appreciate the wide range of interests and the diversity of folks and ideas and walks of life. I also appreciate the very wide and interesting and unique communities that I have seen go by, from ufo-ology to cryptologists to the true crime fans, the murderenos, the web sleuths. I’ve had witches, I’ve had pagans. All of these are viable Information Communities. When I get to learn all about an information community that I knew nothing about (and that usually happens every semester with somebody doing something unique that I didn’t know about), I love that.
Are there areas where students tend to struggle, and how can they overcome this?
Writing could be a problem, because graduate level writing is expected in Info 200.
We have a lot of resources early on to help you get going, including a module devoted to research and academic writing. We have the Writing Center which is incredibly helpful and I would certainly urge anyone who would like to improve their writing to schedule a session with the Writing Center if they’re just coming into INFO 200.
The other area where students tend to struggle is time management. Maybe they’re taking too many classes, maybe they have too much going on in life… and that can be a problem. Please work with your instructor. Let them know what’s going on. That really feeds into the third area where students tend to struggle, and that is—not communicating. If a student is struggling with time management or writing, let us know. I have always told my students, “suffering is optional” and it’s exactly this: do NOT suffer in silence without checking in with your instructor and saying “hey I’m dealing with life intervening, i’m dealing with family health issues, I’m dealing with my own health issues…etc.” Our faculty is very understanding, especially in the last two years of what we’ve been living with. Absolutely, communicate, always communicate.
Finally, take care of yourself and your family or those around you. Always schedule time for INFO 200 but also schedule time for taking care of yourself. Self-care is so important because those things can recharge you and help you to be ready to come back to all the academic pursuits.
What is the best way to prepare for a career in public or academic libraries?
Take all the classes you can find about outreach into communities, about creating programming, and about creating learning opportunities. Take all the hands-on, “people type” classes, because that’s what we need in public libraries. People skills and soft skills are so important. Look for ways to hone your creativity. If you get a chance to create an artifact like a video or an audio podcast or write a podcast script or something super cool like that, do it. Look for opportunities for anything that gets you thinking about how to meet the information needs of folks in communities you may serve in the public sector.
For academic librarians it’s similar, but the community you’re serving is faculty, students, and staff. You might have to have a better understanding of bibliographic instruction, creating, teaching students, how to use library resources…and that’s where understanding information behavior needs gets is so important. It’s also important to understand scholarly publishing and scholarly communication as well as understanding the research process. I would also suggest a good academic focused class like 285, and anything and everything related to what is happening in progressive and innovative academic libraries at this time, be it the creation spaces, the digital learning labs, or the hands-on technology spaces in academic libraries. The spaces where students can come together and work… that’s what I think academic librarians should do. This is a career about people and how we can help them. Keep that in mind and look for opportunities to do just that.
Thank you so much for your pearls of wisdom, Dr. Stephens! You can find more of his wisdom in his books, The Heart of Librarianship (2016) and Wholehearted Librarianship (2019).
