DISQUS

Absolutely point it out. I hate when people voice opinions about movies they've not seen.

And then read the rest of Heart of Darkness!

I'll let you know. My aunt finished it last weekend; here's her comment:

I'm just about finished reading Bill Bryson's A SHORT HISTORY OF NEARLY EVERYTHING & have just loved it. It's fascinating & humourous as well. But not for those who are wedded to Genesis. This is one of my favorite things:

"Darwin kept his theory to himself because he well knew the storm it would cause. In 1844, a book called VESTIGES OF THE NATURAL HISTORY OF CREATION roused much of the thinking world to fury by suggesting that humans might have evolved from lesser primates without the assistance of a divine creator. Anticipating the outcry, the author had taken careful steps to conceal his identity, which he kept secret from even his closest friends. Some wondered if Darwin himself might be the author. ... In fact, the author was a successful & generally unassuming Scottish publisher named Robert Chambers whose reluctance to reveal himself had a practical dimension as well as a personal one: his firm was a leading publisher of Bibles". Is that rich or what?

I hope you all love that as much as I did.

Friday and Saturday nights are, in my house, time for the three of us (four, counting the cat) to gather in our family room and spend the evening doing a variety of things. Our daughter works on her latest drawings; I read (right now, Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything); my husband plays on the computer or watches sports. More often than not, though, we're watching episodes of Star Trek: Voyager or Next Generation. Yep, we're all geeks.

My prior library experience was sporadic, but I'd worked a bit in libraries overseas (private high schools), volunteered in school libraries, and had just quit working at a law library where I'd been for 4 years. So I guess I'd absorbed library experience that way and could build upon it, but mostly I saw Drexel's program as validation - fairly expensive validation at that. What I wanted to do was to work in libraries as a research librarian. The market is tough, but believe me, it's far tougher if you have only a little experience and no degree. So perhaps the small amount of prior experience did help.

As for the professor, she (not he) left Drexel a couple of terms after the disastrous research class. And I was so glad to see her go. Having been raised by a teacher, married a teacher, and taught briefly myself, there are obvious do's and don'ts for teachers. She drove me up a wall by frequently pointing out that we were graduate students, and we had to produce work of a higher quality. No kidding!

The assistant dean was my advisor, but I didn't know to avoid her until partway through the term. She should never be teaching.

I've read your post a couple of times now, and taken some time to digest what you've written. As a recent Drexel grad myself, I'm really very torn about Drexel's program. On the one hand, I learned quite a bit. On the other hand, as you discovered, some of the classes were a complete waste of time and I'd love to get a refund for them. I applied to Drexel for a number of reasons, primarily because an online program fit perfectly with my family's needs at the time. While I missed the interaction of a traditional classroom, the online program forced me to be far more participatory than I would have been otherwise, which made it a good vehicle for my goal.

Your assessment of the required courses is essentially the same as mine. Statistics was a joke, especially since it made no sense at all. Try teaching statistics to someone with a math learning disorder - it's hell for both teacher and student. The research classes were part interesting and part worthless for me. The worthwhile section was taught by a wonderful professor who did NOT focus on Dialog. The worthless section was taught by another professor who is phenomenally bad, and accused several of us of plagiarism (completely baseless). The review of literature process was familiar to me, but the way the prof taught it was so convoluted and confusing that we were all lost.

Other classes ranged from frustrating to interesting, but I agree completely with your observation that none of the currently available tools such as blogs, wikis, etc. were discussed in any detail in the classes. Oh, and the class taught by the assistant dean was just a vehicle for her self-aggrandizement. She annoyed me highly.

So overall, I don't regret spending the time and money to go to Drexel (ok, not much). Honestly, I don't believe that there is sufficient consistency in MLIS programs to guarantee that the grass would be greener elsewhere. Some programs are making strides in a particular area, but in general there needs to be a curriculum overhaul. In the meantime, I'm learning more on the job than I did in school, and I'll pursue whatever professional development I can grab. Thanks very much for posting this. It would be wonderful if the dean and assistant dean at Drexel's iSchool would read this, but there's a great difference between reading your well-written observations and actually having them act upon it!

And obviously, I can't spell today: "big of a challenge" should have read "bit of a challenge." Sheesh.

Here's an odd question for you, and others: do you hang yours on the wall of your office (or cubicle) at work, or is it at home?

Yay, congrats! I had the same questions when my diploma arrived from Drexel. Why the heck is it so big? My undergrad diploma is a modest 8x10. Finding a frame for the diploma for Drexel was a big of a challenge.

And while I think I understand the reasoning behind just indicating "Master of Science" on the diploma, I object! After all, we worked hard to get this degree, and it would be awesome to see the words, "Master of Library and Information Science" on that expensive piece of paper. It's not too much to ask, is it?

I second Jonathan's welcoming you to the MLIS club, having recently become a member myself! Those are awesome grades and you should be proud of your accomplishments. I had to chuckle when I saw your grade for INFO 515, because that was only one of two classes in which I also got a B. The other was McCain's INFO 620. *twitches at memory of that class*

As for your comment about paying for it for the rest of your life, I know exactly what you mean: my loans just came due.

Many congratulations! Make sure to frame you diploma as soon as it arrives.

Nicole,

I clicked on the link to your survey and was told that the survey is closed. Did you already close the survey? If not, I'd like to add my input.

Thanks!

Way to go!!! I remember that feeling so well. Expect to feel rather dazed for a few days, and to have a powerful desire to sleep. Go with it, and enjoy the fact that there is no homework due!

Nicole,

Congratulations on moving and getting your MLS in a month! It's a great feeling to submit the final assignment, sit back and think, "Wow. I'm done."

Have you seen mapmyrun? It is geared toward runners, but is an awesome workout tool for not only those who run but also walk, bike, etc.

http://www.mapmyrun.com/

How's the school term so far?

Congratulations!

After I asked you about six sigma I poked around and found some articles - and my head swam!

But it's such a neat and tidy little stack of school things! I've been mucking out my home office, which after 2 years of grad school had become a black hole. It's amazing, the things I've been finding.

Good luck with all the end-of-term assignments. I found that the cataloging project was actually pretty easy.

This might be a stupid question, but can you explain "how to apply six sigma to a library?"

Hey, the light at the end of the tunnel is finally visible! How is this term for you so far?