Amphigouri: varnished nonsense

Originally posted in my space at LISNews (hey, why not - makes it look like I’m more active here!):

So, a year and a half ago I was sending in my grad school applications, complete with that “why I wanna get my <insert appropriate acronym - MLS, MSLIS, MSLS, etc. - here>” essay. I wrote about being something of a techie (math/cs in college, and subsequent employment as a Unix system administrator for several years before my current role as “information architect” [which doesn't conform exactly to what's described in the Polar Bear Book, but that may be a topic for later] ) with a strong desire to eventually move out of a corporate library setting “into an academic setting in which I can combine two desires: to continue applying technology to assist others in their information gathering and analysis, and to positively impact the education of younger generations by introducing them to the technologies and methods by which they, too, can learn how and where to find the information they need to know.”

I quickly decided to further postpone the move to a more academic role when I discovered that the School Media Specialist program at my Information School of choice (and probably at other schools as well?) left no room for selecting my own electives - a freedom I wasn’t yet willing to give up. I figured I could start building the foundation now, and at some point in the future back-fill with the education-related coursework.

Since last summer, I’ve discovered two things that are somewhat unsettling to me:

1. With practically every new course I take, my future goals - what I want to do with this degree - seem to change significantly (do I really want to go the school media specialist route? what about medical librarianship? or a different kind of special library? or maybe sticking with my current job description which will be bolstered by the more technical LIS offerings?)
2. With each course - and after each review of the course offerings - I grow increasingly more amazed that I can graduate with a mere 36 credit hours (12 courses) and call myself a degreed librarian … how can 12 classes be enough??

I’ll reach my half-way point in December, and with all but one or two of the core requirements under my belt, some of the more difficult decisions will need to be made: which electives to select to round out the rest of my degree, and which direction I want to take upon graduation. I can sympathize with Jenne’s situation (see posting from June 15) and found the comments there to be helpful. I guess the purpose of my ramblings here is to take her question(s) a little further:

• how frequently do folks with a Library/Information degree switch the types of libraries in which they work? I’m glad to know that many people probably change their minds during the course of school, but I wonder how many make changes after graduation and after working in a particular type?
• I tend to be a dabbler in lots, expert in little; is a broad-but-somewhat-shallow program really ok for most positions? Do many/most folks continue on to get advanced certificates in a more focused subject area?
• Related: outside of conferences, how often do degreed librarians take advantage of continuing education programs? For those that do, which is more of a driving force – the desire to keep learning, or the need to acquire new skills for a particular job?

Thanks for reading my ramblings, and thanks in advance for any insights, anecdotes, or “me too!”s that you all might have!