<p>I'm planning to become an academic science librarian, and I've seen a lot of job postings and advising columns from my school's SLIS that say a second masters in an academic discipline is "preferred" or even required for some positions higher on the food chain.</p>
<p>I would be most interested in a masters program in plant biology (I'm about to finish my Bio BS and have several years of lab experience), but because I have already applied and been accepted into several MLS programs, it's too late to apply for dual degrees. I could defer enrollment for a year and get some hard-core library/lab experience if it would be better to begin both programs at once. I'm afraid once I finish my MLS and begin working I won't have the time or motivation to begin a Bio MS, and I'll forget all my chemistry etc. and have a hard time getting back into it later. On the other hand, (a) it would probably be better for my sanity to focus on one or the other at a time, since the two disciplines are so dissimilar and there are no crossover course benefits, and (b) I don't want to be in $50k+ debt by the time I finish school.</p>
<p>I should probably email the SLIS adviser about this, but what do you guys think?</p>
<p>Try to see if your school offers formal dual degree programs.</p>
<p>I plan to do a dual master's degree so that I can have 2 degrees in 3 years. Make sure you really want to go this route. It's not for the faint of heart, and it looks better if it's related to your career goals. </p>
<p>If you want to work in a lab, apply to PhD bio programs. I don't see how a library science degree would help here.</p>
<p>I will use Michigan as an example. Their library science school offers dual degrees with law, business, medical, social work, public policy and nursing. Dual degrees IMO make sense for professional reasons.</p>
<p>Get your MLIS. Get a job at a university that offers a degree in another field you are interested in. Also, I believe you can get into the dual degree once you choose a school and arrive on campus. Give yourself time to get acquainted with the profession and what's out there. These are just a few thoughts from a librarian who is considering going back to school to move from one library field into another.</p>
<p>My school does offer formal dual degree programs...in English, Russian, African studies, History, Folklore & Ethnomusicology, Journalism, Public Affairs, or Comparative Literature...but not what I'm interested in. Michigan's programs are great for those who want to be medical/law/business librarians, but I don't. The only professional move that would make sense for my intended career is a second masters in either chemistry or biology.</p>
<p>Re: suggestion of Bio PhD, I hate working in a lab. I have no intention of continuing to work in a lab if I can help it, but if I were to defer graduate school a year it is probably the only job I could get in this town that would pay the rent. Kudos to the people on the boards who want to be researchers, but I couldn't do it. I'm not so passionate about science that I can endure the grant quagmire, the tenure ladder-climbing, the publishing quotas, the nit-picky paper formatting, the self-promoting at conferences, the "You stole my idea!" accusations for papers published post-conference and "You stole my daphnid DNA!" hissy fits when the freezer door breaks (true and sadly often occurrence in my former lab). As a science librarian, I can bask in the glow of what /other/ people accomplish after dealing with the mess themselves :p</p>