{"id":37523,"date":"2013-09-04T12:15:30","date_gmt":"2013-09-04T16:15:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=37523"},"modified":"2013-09-04T09:45:31","modified_gmt":"2013-09-04T13:45:31","slug":"at-the-crossroads-taking-the-next-step-post-mlis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=37523","title":{"rendered":"At the Crossroads: Taking the Next Step Post-MLIS"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Amanda Viana, Head Editor, INALJ Massachusetts<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

At the Crossroads: Taking the Next Step Post-MLIS<\/span><\/h3>\n

\"AmandaViana\"<\/a>\u00a0In my library career, I\u2019ve had a lot of different roles: volunteer, friend, part-time page, Library Assistant, Information Services Librarian, Library Trustee, and most recently, Assistant Director. Despite having graduated with my MLIS less than two years ago, lately I\u2019ve felt like something has been missing. Working for INALJ <\/a>has broadened my understanding of what librarians and information professionals are capable of\u2014but the flip side of that coin is realizing how quickly things change. I need to consistently keep up with trends in the field, and acquire new skills if I hope to be competitive in the job market.<\/p>\n

I always intended to continue my education post-MLIS, but with a challenging new role at work, now just isn\u2019t the right time to pursue another degree. So how can I continue to add to my resume and continue to learn new skills?<\/strong> I don\u2019t have it all figured out just yet but I\u2019ve got some ideas. Looking over the jobs that are posted on INALJ, particularly in my home state of Massachusetts, Database Administrators, Front-End Developers, and Information Architects\/User Experience experts are all in high demand. Being a public librarian is what I\u2019ve always wanted to do, and what I intend to pursue in the future, but realistically speaking that may not always be possible. I need to cultivate other skills as well.<\/p>\n

I know I can\u2019t tackle everything at once, so I\u2019ve considered which avenue will help me now and in the future. At my library the Director, Youth Services Librarian and I share webmaster duties, so I think learning code and\/or IA\/UX would be in my best interest. Having narrowed the field a bit I thought I\u2019d share some of the articles and continuing education avenues I\u2019m considering:<\/p>\n

Library Juice Academy<\/a><\/strong> recently began offering a Certificate in User Experience<\/p>\n

Hack Library School\u2019s<\/a> <\/strong>Web Development 101\u2014The Basics<\/p>\n

Shane Snow, COO of Contently, explains \u201cWhy You Need To Know Code (And How You Can Learn In A Month)\u201d<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Code.org<\/a> gives you access to programs and schools that can help you learn to code<\/p>\n

There\u2019s w3schools<\/a> <\/strong>for the do-it-yourselfer<\/p>\n

Universal Class<\/a> <\/strong>offers remote courses taught by real teachers\u2014and your local library may have a subscription that will allow you to take courses for free<\/p>\n

Lynda.com<\/a> <\/strong>offers video tutorials that teach \u201csoftware, business, and creative skills\u201d (check with your local library system to see if you can access Lynda at a discount\u2014the Massachusetts Library System offers this service)<\/p>\n

Some more ideas:<\/p>\n

Check out the courses offered where you received your MLIS, or any school with an Information Studies department. And, most community colleges offer classes in web development with a lower price tag.<\/p>\n

Looks like I\u2019ve got some thinking to do! Have you learned to code? How did you do it? Know of any other great resources for acquiring new skills post-Master’s degree?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Amanda Viana, Head Editor, INALJ Massachusetts At the Crossroads: Taking the Next Step Post-MLIS \u00a0In my library career, I\u2019ve had a lot of different roles: volunteer, friend, part-time page, Library Assistant, Information Services Librarian, Library Trustee, and most recently, Assistant Director. Despite having graduated with my MLIS less than two years ago, lately I\u2019ve…<\/p>\n

Read more \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[145],"tags":[3944,69,3592,3873,5145,3660,5229,3896],"class_list":["post-37523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","tag-amanda-viana","tag-article","tag-blog","tag-coding","tag-dual-degrees","tag-inalj-massachusetts","tag-post-mls","tag-professional-development"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1WoMK-9Ld","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=37523"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37523\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=37523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=37523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=37523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}