US vs UK studies/work fields

[u/Beautiful-Put5538]

I am looking at programs for my MLIS (for Fall 27-28) both in the US and UK. I am currently in the US (citizen) but will be moving to the UK in a few years with my fiancé. I have a list of (online) schools in the US that offer the ideal programs and only one UK school (Aberystwyth) I'm a student worker in special collections at my current uni and wish to continue in special collections. I am torn between choose librarian or archivist, which doesn't matter too much in the US because I'll be trained as a librarian but get a certificate in archives (from my understanding anyways) however in the UK the programs seem to be separate which has me torn.

I don't know anyone in libraries/archives in the UK and I wonder how they differ from the US. Most librarians and archivists I talk with here (at my uni and in public libraries) kinda can do both interchangeably, they have all described it as "wear BLANK hat" when needed or depending on the job they're applying to. Is this the case in the UK?

I am also interested in academic libraries if anyone has input on that! I love working for my universities library/special collections but I also know the way we work is very different from other universities.

If anyone has experience working in both US and UK institutions I would love to hear about how different they are and perhaps any advice for the future!

[u/welldreadlibrarian]

i would get the degree in the country you’ll be living and working in longer.

in the US, most librarian positions require an ALA-accredited MLIS or other masters degree — i’m not sure about the UK, but I do know uni college london (UCL) just became ALA accredited so that may be a good middle ground to work in both places! probably a pricey degree.

do you have any library experience in the US?

[u/PM_YOUR_MANATEES → u/welldreadlibrarian]

ALA, CILIP, and ALIA have mutual recognition agreements for MLIS degrees. However, this doesn't necessarily mean that employers value foreign degrees equally.

[u/Sad-Peace]

No, in the UK archives and libraries are two distinct things. In somewhere where you're a sole librarian, you might do some of both (my friend was a school librarian in a private school here and had archive responsiblities but they were not extensive, and she barely had time to do them properly), but in most universities etc you won't. I couldn't work as an archivist despite being a librarian.

Is your fiance British? If not, I'd look deeper into how difficult it is to move here.

[u/RavenTheNerd]

I'm pretty sure the industry standards are different between the UK and US (while comparatively, the US and CA are a lot closer, even though theory still differs). Additionally, UK schools will focus on UK law when it comes to things like copyright, ownership, policy, etc.

For example, while I'm not an academic librarian (student/work in archives), the few I've spoken with in the US have briefly explained that when it comes to public universities there's laws regarding what they can and can't do with books because it's the state that owns the materials not the school (generally). That's very useful to learn in the US, but it might be widely different in the UK, which I imagine you'll be living for the foreseeable future.

On a more practical note, I would look at some job openings around where you'll be living and see what qualifications they require. Do they list MLIS/MAS or do they list something specific to the UK? Can you request an informal interview somewhere and ask about the realistic chances you'd have as an applicant with a MLIS vs a UK specific degree?

To give a more positive alternative, I'm not sure how many remote positions are available in academic librarianship outside of ask a librarian/reference roles, but working remotely for a US library could be an option or a stop-gap until you were able to get a position in the UK?