After I was accepted into UWO's MLIS program, I found it was very helpful to read other MLIS-ers' blogs! Below I've included my own thoughts and opinions about the program in case they could be of help to anyone else.
Some Courses I Enjoyed
- LIS 9723 Web Design and Architecture: I took this course with Gord Nickerson. I had no HTML/CSS experience going into this. Don't be scared, you begin mostly copying code he writes in class, which helps you learn and memorize rules about web design and you will be able to build an entire website once you're done.
- LIS 9720 Digital Libraries: We were taught to build a digital library with the program Greenstone, an open source software. This class is more challenging than Web Design because it combines HTML, CSS and JavaScript.
- LIS 9200 Descriptive Cataloguing Theory and Practice: Not many people took this optional class, but I found it very useful to cement and extend my cataloguing knowledge. You learn how to catalogue DVDs, maps, graphic novels, online films and websites. This is one of the few practical knowledge classes.
- LIS 9701 Information Retrieval: Research and Practice: You learn about different databases and how to search them, so this is basically a more technological version of 9003. You also learn about searching Google and how Google finds and provides information on the Internet. Liwen Vaughan teaches this class and she is probably the best professor at FIMS, don't let anyone tell you different.
- LIS 9731 Database Management Systems: Vaughan also teaches this class. I think its important to take because everything is a database and everything uses a database; Facebook, shopping/grocery stores, the library catalogue. This is one of the few classes you will have to work at, but it isn't difficult to understand. You have to learn a different way of thinking.
- LIS 9372 Special Topic: Digital Humanities and Library and Information Science: For this class everyone was like, "Well what is digital humanities anyway lol?" Simply put, its basically the combination of technology and humanities subjects that create projects or digital tools. These new tools allow scholars to discover new/more information about topics within a humanity. So we learned about digital library platforms that are currently being used like Drupal and Omeka. We learned about text editors, digital storytelling platforms and mapping programs to name a few, all of which can be applied for programming within a library.
- LIS 9650 Special Libraries: A special library is pretty much any library that is not public or academic. In this class you have a fun project: planning your own library! Emphasis is placed on the different ways in which people learn, and how librarians have multiple outlets they can use to teach, communicate and manage people better.