Eris,

Having not experienced a distance MLIS program
yourself, I would be careful about issuing hiring
warnings.

My program at the Univ. Of Illinois (top school for
library science by the way) provided excellent access
to the libraries on campus.  We had incredible support
both electronically and in person from the librarians
on campus.  They went well out of their way to help
us.  I did the program in 1 year and was on campus a
total of 4 times for a week each time.  I had plenty
of time to explore and sneeze at the dust in the
stacks.

No, my program did not require a cataloging class, but
everyone I knew in the program took one anyway.
Remember not everyone catalogs during their career (or
even cares too!).  I appreciated the flexibility of
the program.  I wanted to design my classes to fit
where I was heading as a librarian/information
specialist.  In my case, this was being a medical
librarian.

I gained so much by doing the distance program.  I
became very skilled at HTML and distance education.  I
can build a website and know how to analyze good and
bad sites.  I can build a web tutorial.  I can service
a person in a distance program...every hear of
electronic reference?  It's all the rage I hear.  I
attended classes with people from all around the globe
and heard about library issues from around the world.
I became a globally aware librarian.  I was able to
benefit from Professors with special skills from
around the United States because a distance program
allows that.  I lived in VT at the start of my program
and came from a small private school.  I suddenly had
access to one of the largest library systems in the
country.  The closest library school was Montreal!
There were many other benefits...too many to go into
now.

Suffice it to say that I was trained as a librarian
for the Here and Now, and the Future!  For this day
and age, I would be wary of hiring someone who hadn't
had the types of training I received in my program
(distance or otherwise). So let's not get so high and
mighty!

Lora


--- Eris Weaver <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> I have two friends who very recently completed
> distance MLIS degrees.  My
> own MLIS was earned conventionally, not that
> terribly long ago (1993).
> Based on conversations with these two folks
> throughout their educations,
> comparing all three, I personally would be VERY wary
> of hiring someone who
> had earned their degree in this way!  The two major
> things lacking: neither
> program required a cataloging class (!?!?!?); and
> lack of access to an
> actual, physical library.  For students who are
> living in an area where they
> are near a decent university library that may not be
> such a big problem, but
> for someone in the hinterlands I think they would be
> missing a great deal.
> It's NOT all online yet!!!
>
>
> %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
> Eris Weaver, MLIS
> Redwood Health Library
> 314 Western Avenue, Petaluma, CA 94952
> 707-778-9114 fax 707-765-2076
> [log in to unmask]


=====
Lora L. Thompson, MLIS
Medical Librarian
Frank J. D'Agostino MD Medical Library
Easton Hosptial
250 S. 21st. St.
Easton, PA 18042

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