IP: To what extent has it delivered this? OY: The course at UCL has provided a good mix of theoretical and practical approaches as most lectures cover both aspects of a topic. The delivery is often split into lecture videos that explain the theoretical approach, followed by a seminar/workshop that covers how the content from the lectures is applied in practice.
I can only speak for the course at UCL, but I’d guess this applies to most other LIS master’s programmes too: you get out what you put in. The staff are extremely knowledgeable and passionate and if you engage with the lecture and semi- nar content, ask questions, participate in departmental events, and go along to webinars and training, you will be in a great position to learn so much in a short amount of time, not only from the lecturers but also from your peers, who will likely come from a wide range of countries, cultural backgrounds and types of libraries.
IP: How has your masters helped with your career? OY: I feel it has given me great insight into the context of librarianship as a field, allowing me to make informed career choices. After the first term of my degree, I already felt like I’d solidified some of the skills I most urgently wanted to improve on, and I wanted to apply those skills in my work, so I felt ready for a move to a position with more responsibility. Soon after the start of my course in Septem- ber 2021 I moved to a Campus Library Manager post at New City College, a
Support Librarian for postgraduate taught students. I completed an Information Literacy optional module as part of the course which sparked my interest in library roles more focused on teaching and liaison, both of which I had engaged with at a surface-level through delivering referencing training to Level 3 students and my collection management respon- sibilities. The module helped me acquire the knowledge of frameworks and theories that I apply to perform my current role, so really, the course has had a very direct impact on my career.
Oona Ylinen.
further education college with campuses all over East London and extending into Essex. I had responsibility for the day-to- day operations of two campus libraries, contributing to college-wide collection management, buying and cataloguing new stock, delivering library skills training to students as well as line management responsibility for the staff at my two libraries.
Although I enjoyed the added responsi- bility, I knew I couldn’t keep up a full-time job, a part-time master’s, playing for the baseball national team and three to four hours spent commuting every day for very long. As such, my master’s is also directly responsible for me getting my current role at the University of Essex as an Academic
IP: How did you choose your course? OY: I spent time comparing LIS courses online. I looked at everything from fees, timetables, and modules to who was teaching the courses and what mode teaching would be delivered in. I knew I would prefer in-person teaching which limited my geographic options, but I gave the distance courses a chance too, as it was more important to me that the course included a cataloguing and classification module that I could take, seeing as that was the area that I was most interested in going into the course. I eventually chose UCL, based on the modules being the most interesting to me, the mode being hybrid, the location being accessible to me, as well as recommendations from several colleagues in several different workplaces, which boosted my already positive image of UCL’s reputation. Some of the critique (or commentary, not all of it was critical) I’d heard of the UCL course was that it focused more on traditional library skills, so seeing a core module (databases) that addressed technology, systems and how those are used in libraries showed to me that the department was aware of its reputation as a more “classic” LIS course and was trying to diversify the skills on offer, which is the kind of awareness and adaptability that I knew I’d want from the course I apply to.
IP: What were the main factors in your choice of course? OY: The main factor, really, was the fact that cataloguing and classification was offered as a core module with the opportunity to expand from base-level cataloguing and classification to knowl- edge organisation through an optional module, which I felt would build on the foundations of classification. I also liked how clearly the digital and technolog- ical elements of various modules were highlighted in the module descriptions and I could envision how the whole course would tie together to deliver this core set of skills that anyone entering a library career could be content with. I also attended a virtual open day where I met some of the teaching staff and was
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