Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with informationscience

DIY archivist!

liketitanic — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 08:45:45 -0800

How can I develop a plan to help a small community organization organize its archival materials (something like a self-accessioning plan, I guess)? What should I read? Who should I talk to? I'm not an archivist and have no information science training. There, I said it. But I have a pretty great opportunity to help a small community org self-accession and organize some records that could prove quite valuable to researchers. I don't yet know how big the collection is, nor whether they want physical or digital storage.

How do I go about learning what I might need to know to do this? Or how do I self-educate in archives work? Book recommendations? OpenCourseware recommendations? Software I should learn? Any suggestions?

MSIM program at the iSchool

outclassed — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 16:16:06 -0800

Hello, I am new to mefi but I thought this would be a great place to get some answers about the MSIM graduate program at the UW iSchool. Mainly what type of careers would be open and available to me if I graduated with this type of degree and is it really worth it or would I just be another IT guy lost in the crowd? I recently discovered that I have a particular knack for researching and obtaining as well as absorbing all sorts of information, my current job requires it sometimes - (real estate assets all over the country) but I want to learn more. I am also very interested in how people interact with information and the tools and technology that they use find it.
This had led me down the path of going back to graduate school for a MLIS, although I really do not have a desire to become a librarian. I now am extremely interested in the MSIM program but I am really not sure what direction to move from here. I do not live in Seattle and I would need to take the GRE. Is this just a trendy pseudo-degree or is there some substantial learning and development potential?
I was hoping the community could provide some insight as to what careers this program could lead to. I know there have been some posts on Information Brokers and the like but those jobs don't seem to exist. Any tips on what to do and where to go from here? Any jobs in the interim that might satisfy my thirst for this type of work?

Thanks

What books would teach me about information and data?

Deathalicious — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 13:58:24 -0800

Let's say I wanted to educate myself to sort-of the equivalent of a Bachelor's Degree in Information and Data (not sure what the real degree would be called, but you get the idea). What should be in my syllabus? Areas of study would include things like informational networks and social networking, tacit and explicit knowledge, parsing and data extraction, data mining, visualization, metadata, information retrieval and storage, plus other things that I'm probably not even aware of. Websites are great, but so are books (maybe excluding $$$ textbooks if possible), podcasts, videos, source code, applications, etc. Assume a relatively high level of technical know-how (including coding skills) but little formal computer science training.

What's so bad about being a librarian?

Rock Steady — Mon, 07 May 2007 09:06:09 -0800

Librarians -- rain on my parade! What didn't they tell you in school? What are the worst parts of your job? What do you regret about your schooling/early career? So I have decided to go back to school to get an MLIS degree (at Simmons), and while I am completely excited about it and I am committed to going, I suspect that the large group of librarians here on AskMe can open my eyes to some of the pitfalls of the profession, with an eye towards avoiding them, if possible. I have seen the obvious questions here about careers in Library Science, but if you know of any that elude the site's search function, I'd be happy for pointers to them.

Tell me about MLIS programs in the US!

GilloD — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 08:08:48 -0800

MLIS Filter!: I'm thinking about heading back to school to snag an MLIS. However, reviews of programs seem to be far and few between. Tell me about your MLIS. Outside of a few standouts (Chapel Hill and Rutgers come to mind), it seems to be awfully hard to find any comprehensive review of MLIS programs. I was hoping some Mefi-ites with MLIS experience could suggest some programs, warn me about the pitfalls and help me on my way.

I'm trying to avoid Rutgers (Too much time in NJ already) or someplace way out the in the middle of nowhere (I did my undergrad in a wasteland. And it was a fine time, but I don't think I could do it again). I'm in NYC now and I see that Queens and Pratt both have programs, but I was recently warned off the Pratt program and told it was "disorganized, at best".

For reference: I graduated with a degree in English and Philosophy and I have substantial experience in programming (However rusty I might be) and research. I've worked in libraries before as well in archives. I applied very last minute to the University of Hawaii last year and got shot down.

Thanks for any help!

Information Science

Hildago — Sun, 04 Jan 2004 16:09:44 -0800

Just what exactly is the field of Information Science? I'm looking at Grad programs, and it looks to me like what people do in Information Science is sort of where I want to go. However, I can't really get a handle on what the hell the field is about, because every description I've read amounts to this (Google's definition): "pure and applied science involving the collection, organization, and management of information." Well, all right, but could somebody more knowledgable in this perhaps rephrase it in practical terms for me, and point me to some clear (as opposed to opaque) web sources?

Thanks.