Darci Chapman writes “The preliminary results of a survey titled, “Hiring Preferences in Libraries: Perceptions of MLS graduates with online degrees” are available.
You can take the survey here.”
Darci Chapman writes “The preliminary results of a survey titled, “Hiring Preferences in Libraries: Perceptions of MLS graduates with online degrees” are available.
You can take the survey here.”
Disturbing View of Online Education
Lest sounding a little confrontational (and lengthy here), I would challenge those with low opinions of online courses to take one for themselves. It’s not easy, by far the expectations are much greater. I already completed an MSc. in the biological sciences, with a thesis, and it was challenging, and online is not a breeze. Sitting in the back of a classroom and avoiding participation is easy, not in an online environment. My wife and I each started our MLS degree in the classroom, then switched online when we needed to move away from our university. It’s harder, more involved, and often tests your ability to be a self-motivated individual. The listed CONS to online more often than not list ‘interaction’ as a component that is missed. Sure, pulic librarians need face-to-face more often than corporate librarians, but online is not a vacuum, and life continues outside school.
Some of the comments against, with my responses:
> An essential part of the degree is socialization and interaction with other students and faculty.
How many part-time (evening) graduate students socialize after a class at 9pm on a weekday? Zero.
Socializing online is a skillful art, one that should be learned in the present email/IM/virtual meeting environment in corporate America, even with the growth of virtual reference desks.
> There are faculty members who resist and resent educating students in this manner.
Because they cannot recycle an ancient syllabus quite so easily, and are expected to participate in the education of their students throughout the week rather than during a 3-hour class. Trust me, I’ve seen it too often already.
> I think there is a huge benefit from a collegial experience, which online degrees cannot offer.
This is a master’s degree; the students have already experienced the ‘collegial’ experience for a BS or BA.
> Also lack of access to on-line cost databases such as Dialog or Lexis-Nexis.
??Last time I looked, these were online database to the world, not just the university library. We have academic Dialog and Lexis-Nexis accounts every quarter. I have access to more resources through my online degree than any employer has offered.
Lastly:
> Some of the skills needed to be a librarian cannot be acquired online. Interaction with others is important, even classmates.
Online students are not hiding in a closet for 2-3 years. They hold other jobs, often in libraries. Frankly, I prefer interacting with members of my local SLA chapter rather than my fellow students, because they convey practical experience in the field.
Long rank…but it’s personal to me. And the profession better hug it, since online is here to stay.
My concerns
about what I and other librarians have experienced with some online degree seeking MLS students:
quite a few of them would come into the public library and expect the librarians there to answer their assignment questions for them.
I live in a state with one MLS-degree-granting university, and our system was about 90 miles away. Over the course of two years , about 8 students would come in, and pretty much hand their project over to the librarians at the desk. Finally we decided to tell these students we could show them some sources, but it was out of bounds for them to expect us to do their reference work for them.
Two women in particular were acting like their reference assignments were troublesome, and that it would be so much easier for them to just have us tell them the answers so they did not have to spend so much time at the library(!).
This more than anything else made us have a jaundiced eye about some online students. I finally told one of them that, if she came to us looking for a job, it might not look good for her if we remembered that she was the one cheating on her assignments.
It is a sticky situation.
Question
Does an online MLS diploma have something on it indicating that it was earned online?
Re:Question
No, but if you obviously live somewhere far away from where your degree was earned, potential employers will either assumed you got your degree online or moved back in with your parents immediately following your MLS.
Also, I took online and in-person classes, and I preferred the latter by quite a lot.
Re:My concerns
Conversly, I would expect a portion of in-class students to behave in the same manner as the online students you mentioned (and they do). As you pointed out, it was the student’s behavior, not the educational system, that was to blame for their lack of effort. In fact, that’s the test of skill in the online environment, self-motivation and learning. Have you ever met a traditional degree student that was unmotivated or incompetent? As the old saying goes, 50% of the people graduated in the bottom half of their class.
Not sure,
but I think FSU may have something on it indicating it was an online degree.
If I am wrong, someone please let us know.