WHAT’S AN MLIS WORTH? STATISTICS FROM LIBRARY JOURNAL

Library Journal (15 October 2007) has published its annual look at placements and salaries for US library school graduates. Here are some of the more interesting statistics.

Only 45 of the 62 library schools, with a total of 1,992 graduates, participated in the survey. Sixty-five percent of the graduates were placed in permanent professional jobs, 8 percent in temporary professional jobs, 9 percent in non-professional jobs, and 9 percent outside of the profession. However, in another table, there was a total of 5355 graduates, 4186 women (78 percent) and 1149 men. Thirty-three percent were employed, 2 percent were unemployed, and less than 1 percent were pursuing further education.

Mean salaries were US$40,566 for women, US$43,194 for men, and US$41,040 overall.

Thirty-three percent were employed in public libraries, 15 percent in schools, 26 percent in academic institutions, 7 percent in special libraries, and 2 percent in government. Three percent of the 1425 listed by job assignment identified themselves as solo librarians, with a mean salary of US$39,550, about 4 percent below the national average. (The salary range was US$18,00-74,000.) The library schools with the largest number of placements in special libraries are Simmons University (22, 17 percent of all SL placements) and San Jose State University (14, 11 percent).

MOODLE, ANYONE? Putting workshops online

I have just discovered a course-authoring tool called Moodle (http://moodle.org). Is anyone using it in the library world? (Moodle comes from Western Australia...)

I'm trying to find a way to offer my workshops on the Web so that 1) I don't have to travel so much and 2) they can be made available to those not part of a group that can sponsor a course like these.
Management Strategies for Small or One-Person Libraries
Time Management for Librarians
The Visible Librarian--Marketing and Advocacy for Small Libraries

Can anyone help? I'd even pay for someone to put my courses on the Web..............

LIBRARY ACTIVITY IN SECOND LIFE

The American Library Association has given the ALA/Information Today Library of the Future Award to the international collaborative group of librarians working on the Alliance Second Life Library. ”Since opening its virtual doors in April 2006, the Alliance Second Life Library (http://alliancelibraries.info/secondlife.htm) ... has expanded its presence to include locations on Info Islands I&II, HealthInfo Island, The Caledon (19th century) Branch Library, Cybrary City Islands, and the Teen Second Life ‘Eye4YouAlliance,’ where engaging activities and interactions occur in a collaborative, social/learning space.”

The Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign [and my alma mater] is offering a class on Second Life librarianship starting this May (http://www.lis.uiuc.edu/programs/cpd/Second_Life.html, already sold out) and the School of Library & Information Science at San José State University has developed a product called Sloodle (http://www.sloodle.com/) which combines the open-source virtual learning system Moodle (http://moodle.org/) with Second Life, opening up new possibilities for distance education.

WHY IT IS IMPORTANT FOR LIBRARY SCHOOL STUDENTS TO LEARN TO WORK IN TEAMS

David E. McBee [Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Washington, DC] wrote on his blog, Library Buzz, “In library school I had a professor, Neal Kaske, who was then head of the Engineering Library. He asked us why library students were always asked to work on team projects—was it just to annoy us? He pointed out that in the sciences [and business, too] there were always teams working together on projects. Each person has a specialty though there is often some overlap. People would conduct their research as a part of the team effort. Now, most library students come from a liberal arts background where folks tend to study and research on their own. So, part of library school is designed to teach us how to work as part of team.” This may become less important in the future, since the upcoming generations have been working in teams since grade school.

URL: http://dmcbee.weblts.com/?p=81