Making Plans!
Posted February 25, 2020 by Amie Grosshans
The summer course list was posted last week. I’ve been waiting for it because I’m trying to plan my final three classes. I can’t believe I only have three classes left! It’s exciting and kind of terrifying at the same time. Last summer I made the mistake of taking two classes and it was an insane amount of work. I am limiting myself to one class this summer, and it’s just a matter of deciding which class to take.
I am intrigued by LIS 447, Collections Maintenance. The format is different for this class because it is face to face, and meets all day, three days a week, for two weeks. This means I can get the class over with and have a nice break before the fall semester. I am very interested in the subject matter, too. It’s about repairing and binding books, and other physical or administrative tasks related to collections maintenance. It would provide valuable hands-on experience and I think I would learn a lot. The downside is that it is all day, three days in a row, for two weeks, which is intense. I would also have to commute into class, making the days even longer.
My other options are LIS 474, Competitive Intelligence, or LIS 484, Theories of Information Science. Competitive Intelligence seems interesting. My impression from the description is that it’s about finding out what other libraries are doing in order to make sure that your library is keeping up and remaining relevant to its user base. I have no idea what that entails, but I would be interested to learn about it. Theories of Info Science is a class that I wasn’t expecting to be offered during the summer. It’s a required course for the Information Science and Technology (IS&T) concentration. It turns out that I have all the classes required for this concentration, except this class, and LIS 458, Database Management. I was already planning on taking the database class in the fall, and part of me thinks I might as well go ahead and take the Theories class to get the concentration listed on my degree. I’m not 100% sure about it, though. I do love pure library theory courses, like the Collections Development class that I’m taking now, and I wouldn’t be able to take another one if I go for the IS&T concentration. But I love the technology aspect of library science, too, and I think it’s a huge part of the future of libraries. I have time to mull it over because I can’t register until March 19, and I’m sure I’ll go back and forth for a bit. I don’t see a downside to any of my choices, though. Either way, I’ll graduate with my MLIS. That’s the most important thing!