#yes i'm back to one piece it was available at my local library

[iris-nonsense]

They're two idiots

[qqueenofhades]

do you have any advice for those in the very early stages of thesis-writing? currently desperately clinging to the mantra of "shitty first drafts," et al

Unfortunately, there is no place where you will more whole-assedly have to embrace the "shitty first draft" mantra than in academic writing, especially in thesis writing, especially if this is your first-ish crack at an advanced and major piece of original research. I'm not sure if this is for an undergraduate senior thesis, a MA-level thesis, or (my true and heartfelt sympathies) a PhD dissertation, but the basic principles of it will remain the same. So there is that, at least. This means that yes, you will write something, you may even feel slightly proud of it, and then you will hand it into your supervisor and they will more or less kindly dismantle it. You have to train yourself to have a thick skin about this and not take it as a personal insult, and if your supervisor is remotely good at their job (not all of them are, alas) they will know how to be tactful about it and not make it feel like a direct and extensive commentary on your private worth as a person. But you will have to swallow it and do what you can, which can include -- if you're the one who has done the research and know that's how you want to present it and/or you are correct about it -- pushing back and having a conversation with them about how you think your original approach does work best. But that will come later. The first step is, yes, to mentally gird yourself to receive critical feedback on something that you have worked hard on, and to understand that no matter how much you grump and grumble and deservedly vent to your friends and so on, implementing the feedback will usually make your piece better and stronger. That is the benefit of working with a trained expert who knows what makes a good piece of research in your particular academic field, and while it doesn't get easier, per se, at least it gets familiar. Be not afraid, etc.

If you're in the writing stage, I assume that you've moved past the topic-selection and general-research stage, but allow me to plump once more the services of your friendly local university library. You can (or at least you can at mine and probably in any decently well-equipped research university) schedule a personal consultation with an expert librarian, who can give you tips on how to find relevant subject databases, create individual research guides (these might already be available on the university library website for classes/general topics), and otherwise level you up to Shockingly Competent Research Superhero. So if you're still looking for a few extra sources, or for someone else who might be reading this and is still in the "how the heck do I find appropriate and extensive scholarly literature for my thesis??" stage, please. Go become a Research Ninja. It's much easier when you have a minion doing half the work for you, but please do appreciate and make use of your university librarian. It's much more effective than haphazard Google Scholar or JSTOR searches hoping to turn up something vaguely relevant (though to be fair, we all do that too), and it's what your tuition dollars are paying for.

Next, please do remind yourself that you are not writing the whole thesis in one go, and to break it down into manageable chunks. It usually does make sense to write the whole thing semi-chronologically (i.e. introduction, lit review, chapter 1, chapter 2/3/4 etc, conclusion), because that allows you to develop your thoughts and make logical connections, and to build on one piece to develop the next. If you're constantly scrambling between chapters and zig-zagging back and forth as things occur to you, it will be harder to focus on any one thought or thread of research, and while you might get more raw output, it will not be as good and will require more correction and revision, so you're not actually hacking yourself into increased productivity. You should also internally structure your chapters in addition to organizing your overall thesis, so it makes sense to draw up a rough outline for section A, section B, section C within the body of a single chapter. This will make you think about why the segues are going in that order and what a reasonably intelligent reader, who nonetheless may not have the specialized knowledge that you are demonstrating for them, needs to move understandably from one section to the next.

Some academics I know like to do an extensive outline, dumping all their material into separate documents for each chapter/paper and kneading and massaging and poking it into a more refined shape, and if that works for you -- great! I'm more of the type that doesn't bother with a ton of secondary outlines or non-writing activity, since that can lead you away from actually writing, but if you need to see the fruit of your research all together in one place before you can start thinking about how it goes together, that is also absolutely the way that some people do it. Either way, to be a successful academic writer, you have to train yourself to approach academic writing in a very different way from fun writing. You do fun writing when you have free time and feel inspired and can glop a lot of words down at once, or at least some words. You do it electively and for distraction and when you want to, not to a set timeline or schedule, and alas, you can't do this for academic writing. You will have to sit your ass down and write even when you do not feel like writing, do not feel Magically Inspired, don't even want to look at the fucking thing, etc. I have had enough practice that I can turn on Academic Writing Brain, sit down, bang something out, sit down the next day and turn on Academic Editing Brain, go over it again, and send it off, but I have been in academia for uh, quite a while. The good news is that you can also automate yourself to be the same way, but the bad news is that it will take practice and genuine time invested in it.

As such, this means developing a writing schedule and sticking to it, and figuring out whether you work best going for several hours without an interruption, or if you set a timer, write for a certain time, then allow yourself to look at the internet/answer texts/fuck around on Tumblr, and then make yourself put down the distraction and go back to work for another set period of time. (I am admittedly horrible at putting my phone away when I should be doing something else, but learn ye from your wizened elders, etc.) You will have to figure out in which physical space you work best, which may not be a public coffee shop where you can likewise get distracted with doing other things/chatting to friends/screwing around on the internet/doomscrolling/peeking at AO3, and to try to be there as often as possible. It might be your carrel in the library, it might be your desk at home, it might be somewhere else on campus, but if you can place yourself in a setting that tells your brain it's time to work and not look at WhatsApp for the 1000th time in a row, that is also beneficial.

Finally, remember that you do not have to produce an absolutely world-beating, stunningly original, totally flawless and perfect piece, even in its final form. Lots of us write very shitty things when we're starting out (and some of us, uh, still write very shitty things as established academics), and you do not have to totally redefine your entire field of study or propose a groundbreaking theory that nobody has heard of or anything like that. A lot of academic work is small-scale and nuanced, filling in spaces on the margins of other things or responding or offering a new perspective on existing work, and it's best to think of it as a conversation between yourself and other scholars. They have said something and now you're saying something back. You don't need to be so brilliant that everyone goes ZOMGZ I HAVE NEVER HEARD OF THAT BEFORE; by its nature that happens very rarely and is usually way out on a limb (extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, etc); you just need to continue the dialogue with a reasonably well-constructed and internally plausible piece. So if you think of it that way, and understand that a shitty first draft will usually develop into something that is good and valuable but not SHOCKING NEW REVELATION clickbait hype, you will take some of the pressure off yourself and be more able to shut up that perfectionist voice in your head. However, all of us have some degree of imposter syndrome and it never entirely goes away, so you'll have to manage that too. Etc etc as before, it doesn't vanish altogether, but it gets easier.

And last but not least, though I'm sure I don't have to say this: for the love of fuckin' god, do not use ChatGPT. Even the genuinely shittiest paper in the world that you still worked on researching, organizing, and writing with your own brain is better than that. Trust me.

[missmickiescorner]

As someone who both works in a library and is finishing up their first semester of library school I'm so very glad you asked! Let's break this down with some frequently asked questions:

Library School Prerequisites

One of the best things about library school? There are no prerequisites that would keep you from applying for the Masters in Library Information and Science (henceforth, M.L.I.S.) Like yourself, I also have a Bachelor's in a degree adjacent to English and had been out of school for six years (working in a library for three) before I began my pursuit of the degree. Intimidating? Yes! Impossible? No!

The Library (and Information) Profession

An important thing to note is that while the M.L.I.S. has become synonymous with the profession of librarianship, it is NOT the end all be all. Which is to say, completing the degree won't necessarily make you a librarian (for that, you'd need to actually hold the title/position of "librarian") but it will make you an information professional who is qualified to work at an information organization (such as a library!)

And Speaking of Qualifications...

Before I continue, I would be remiss if I didn't break down the word "qualified." When I say that completion of the M.L.I.S. qualifies you to become a librarian, I am strictly speaking in terms of on-paper qualifications because frankly, the validity and necessity of the degree has not only been questioned by aspiring librarians, information scholars, and current library professionals repeatedly over the last quarter century, in some places systems have eliminated the qualification entirely.

In Conclusion

There is an old saying that goes, "libraries must change, yet must stay the same," and I think it's one of the best pieces of knowledge to pass on to aspiring library professionals at any level (Page, Aide, Technician, Specialist, Librarian) because it embodies the complexing paradox that is the foundational mission of (almost) every information organization currently in existence.

Across international borders, the goal of information organizations is to serve their communities by providing access to materials and developing services and programs that meet their information needs. Which is a gratuitously academic way of saying wherever you may be in the world, information organizations (like libraries) exist to freely (no charge!) and unbiasedly (no censorship!) meet the information needs of their communities in both physical and virtual spaces.

So long as you care about your community and believe in having free access to information (and it sounds like you do ) then I think you'll make a fine information professional.

Resources to Get You Started

First, check out the American Library Association's directory of accredited Library and Information Science programs.

Second, after you've checked out the directory, if there are any schools that interest you, check out their post-program performance rates. For example, here are the stats from my school.

Third, look into your city's (or surrounding cities') job listings and see if there are any entry-level library positions available at your local branches as it's very easy to romanticize work that's related to your interests. One way to ensure that pursuing the M.L.I.S. is right for you is to actually try your hand at library work to see what working in the environment is like. Additionally, going back to that "qualifications" point, working at a library before you pursue the degree gives you the practice needed to understand/conceptualize the theory that you will be learning in library school.

Finally, here are some books that might serve you well as you navigate your potential journey to library school and librarianship.

Information Services Today: An Introduction

I Work At a Public Library: A Collection of Crazy Stories from the Stacks

What You Are Looking For Is In The Library

If On a Winter's Night a Traveler

The Library Book

Bibliography

Kirschner, T. (2022, January 18). We All Win—Training and Advancement for Non-MLS Library Workers. Public Libraries Online. https://publiclibrariesonline.org/2022/01/we-all-win-training-and-advancement-for-non-mls-library-workers/#:~:text=library%20systems%2C%20like%20Hayward%20Public,from%20entry%20level%20through%20managerial.

Huggins, M. (2022). MLIS Required? Rethinking the Skills and Knowledge Necessary for Managing in a Public Library. Journal of Library Administration, 62(6), 840–846.

Hirsh, S. (2022). What it Means to Be an Information Professional Today. In Information services today : an introduction (Third edition, pp. 3–14). essay, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Incorporated.

Hey there,

So I'm a newbie interested in pursuing Library Science. I have a Bachelor's Degree in English and have been out of school for several years. The idea of working with the community and helping people access information and resources in a one on one setting really appeals to me; the happiest I ever felt at a job was when I was a tutor in college.

Would anyone in the field be willing to direct me to some resources? Or just offer some advice to someone with 0 experience considering the long path to becoming a librarian?

Thanks so much for taking the time to read this, Tumblr.