<p>I'm a sophomore History major at a small (3,000 students undergrad) school in Wisconsin. I've got a 3.89 GPA right now and I've got a great relationship with my History advisor I'm looking at Masters in Library Science or Public History programs (or some such combination as that). I want to work in archives or work with National History Day after I have finished my graduate program.</p>
<p>As I'm looking at programs, I am finding I don't really know what I should be looking for. I know, with public history and also with library science, I will end up on the East Coast but I'm okay with that.</p>
<p>My favorite program so far is a dual degree at NYU and Long Island University but that's merely because I like the specializations (NYU has a MA in history with a specialization in Archives and Special Collections and LIU has a MLIS with a specialization in Rare Books). I also have browsed programs at University of Maryland, University of South Carolina, University of North Carolina and IUPUI - all of which are ranked.</p>
<p>What should I be looking for in programs? Is there a way to tell what one school weights more in your application like undergraduate schools sometimes publishes? Is there a good way to find out how many people get funding from the university?</p>
<p>I’m planning to do MLIS, too. I made a spreadsheet of different schools I’m interested in and facts about them. I focused on things that were important to me, like cost, access to online programs, and admission requirements. You can see it if you want : ) I keep hearing that with MLIS it’s really just a personal choice, reputation and ranking aren’t so important. I also hear that the programs don’t publish their acceptance rates? Let’s keep each other posted as we research this!</p>
<p>Oh, and I got my info from each school’s website…we might see if U.S. News has any info besides rank (they do with other fields)</p>
<p>US News has very little info other than ranking and specialties.</p>
<p>Ranking is only important if you want to go into academic librarianship (professor track) and then it matters a great deal since it’s extremely important to have research and publications in order to be seriously considered for positions. </p>
<p>In most other cases, it’s your job experience and personal contacts that are more important than the name on your degree.</p>
<p>@ annieca Funding for MLIS programs is extremely problematic—IOW there just isn’t much. You’ll find many of your fellow students work at least part time (and in the online programs, I would venture that nearly 100% of the students hold part or full time jobs. Many are already working in libraries/as librarians and are getting their MLIS to advance their professional status.)</p>
<p>I love archives! I do both archives and medical librarianship at a small medical research not-for-profit. Love my job. Love my career, but jobs in the field are scarce and for the most part don’t pay well for the amount of education required.</p>
<p>@annieca–</p>
<p>One more thing, if you have an interest in archives, consider becoming a student member of SAA (Society of American Archivists) and join the their listserv. Best place to find out about new job openings and lots of very informative discussion about best practices and issues/problems archivists face.</p>
<p>SAA also offers some minor scholarships.</p>
<p>Admission to MLIS programs is not particularly competitive. There are usually plenty of seats to go around, especially now that so many programs offer online options. </p>
<p>Most programs require a GRE score (600V, 500Q–higher at UIUC and other highly ranked programs) OR a completed Master’s degree in another field.</p>
<p>It also helps if you have library experience (student work study or volunteering is fine) and a LOR from a librarian. </p>
<p>It also helps if you have any computer skills beyond web-browsing.</p>
<p>@annieca</p>
<p>Also look at Temple for a dual MA history and MLIS (thru Drexel). Very well regarded program.</p>
<p>Southern Mississippi also has a strong reputation in archives, esp in preservation & conservation.</p>
<p>wayoutwestmom–someone can become a librarian and THEN earn their MLIS? I’d like to hear more about that HAHA</p>
<p>Actually there is absolutely no requirement to have MLIS to be a librarian. Some states even offer a certifying exam that anyone with a BA/Bs can sit for. (Or in some cases anyone with an AA.) However, non-professional librarians (non MLIS) can usually only work in community-based libraries. Most of those jobs also tend to be in rural areas or smaller towns.</p>
<p>When I lived in Illinois and processed ILL for the central region of the state, I would guess that 95% of the librarians in the farming communities in the surrounding area were non-professional.</p>
<p>In my state, there are few professional librarians outside of a half dozen metro areas. In fact, I know a children’s librarian at a fairly large 'burban library in a town near here. She sat for the state certifying exam AFTER she was hired 2 years ago. Her degree is in elem ed.</p>
<p>I’ve also seen some college library positions, esp at smaller regional colleges, go to non-professionals who have 5+ years experience working in library services.</p>
<p>Also in corporate & government settings, there is huge crossover with records management and there are lots of people who are functionally librarians but who have degrees in information technology or database management.</p>
<p>The biggest disadvantage of being non-professional is that you’re fairly limited in your job description. You can’t move into management or supervisory positions and you can’t usually work in the larger metro areas. </p>
<p>Also school librarians in most states don’t have to have MLIS, but do need a teaching certificate.</p>
<p>Interesting! Well I live in the capital of my state, metro metro! I’ve been looking at job postings and they all require MLS/MLIS degrees…but now I know : )</p>
<p>Thanks for all the information! I’ve got an Excel spreadsheet right now just looking at what programs are online (I don’t want that) and how long they take. The complete list, including all MLIS and Public History programs is something like 120+ universities so I’m going slowly.</p>
<p>Annieca–Are there really that many ALA accredited programs? Well I went to their database and searched for Primarily face-to-face programs that offer a dual degree master’s and it showed 16 including 3 of the unis you mentioned! Pretty cool : )</p>
<p>@summerskiss:There’s 63 total programs - I’m also including Masters in Public History/MA History with Concentration in Public History ones as well from [Public</a> History Resource Center](<a href=“http://www.publichistory.org%5DPublic”>http://www.publichistory.org)</p>
<p>I’m not sure if I’m wanting to do a dual degree yet. (I’m meeting with my advisor soon to discuss this.) So right now I’m just weeding out the non-face-to-face programs (like the University of Kentucky).</p>