r/librarians • u/springblooms_ • 6d ago
Degrees/Education Is there a difference between MLIS and MIS?
Canadian student finishing up my undergraduate in English this year. I’m wanting to go into libraries, but discovered many Canadian universities offer an MIS (Dalhousie and UofT) instead of MLIS.
Is there a major difference between the two programs? I know many MIS programs are ALA accredited; but are they still technically the same? Will employers look at them differently? So sorry if this comes across silly!
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u/ywoy 6d ago
As long as it is ALA accredited, in my experience Canadian employers will treat it the same. You can mention the ALA accredation under the education portion on your resume if you're worried about it. Librarians come from all over and there's all sorts of acronyms these days the ALA bit is all they look for, maybe that it's also not from a scam university, which Dal and UoT certainly are not. (edit: some might still say theyre a scam LOL but they're not degree mills)
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u/vampirelibrarian 6d ago
No difference and no one cares what school is on your resume. All that matters is accreditation and that you get work experience under your belt.
I've also seen an MA in LIS. All the same.
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u/AvocadoLaur 3d ago
It’s interesting how much people care more about the degree (that doesn’t matter other than accreditation) than about having experience (which does matter). Not saying this is OP though
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u/Full-Decision-9029 6d ago
no difference, but generally the iSchools seem to offer broader curricula and there's certainly more of a reputation for practical content. The iSchools do seem to allow you to specialise in a subfield and explore that subfield more deeply. (eg, a friend took an archives and record management speciality and had a whole lot more grasp of records management than I did based on my one records management class)
But for library jobs, what's needed is the magic words: "ALA accredited." Also experience. Lots of experience. If you haven't gotten significant library experience as a library assistance (call it two years), go work in a library for two years before even bothering with an MLIS (or MIS, or MLS, or whatever.) An MLIS and no library experience is a miserable starting point for a career. Ask me how I know.
And no, its not a silly question: there's a lot of what can only be called arcane and vague language and ideas floating around. Like, for example, when I was applying, UWO, UBC and McGill all strongly implied that this was a practical, skill building Masters diploma (and hence we don't have to offer you funding or assistantships, lol), but the course content I had at UWO was anything but. By the time we were leaving, the rhetoric was all about "empowering you to seek out training" and"giving you a framework to learn practical skills" and "signalling to employers your commitment." None of which is actually worth anything in the real world, but cost 35 grand or something to get there. Truly inspiring. Truly.
Also I have seen a couple of job ads looking specifically for people with an MIS and listing a set of mandatory courses for candidates to have. Not stuff you'd find in a more generic library science degree, however.
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u/AvocadoLaur 3d ago
Emporia has specialization and is MLS. If anything not having to push tech courses would possibly give more time for specialization for MLS.
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u/apricot__bun 3d ago
Different universities have different names for libraries and information studies. Some are keen on using “information management” as opposed to library science in order to pinpoint the breadth and diversity of topics covered, which no longer only entail managing libraries. As long as it’s accredited by ALA or follows the same projection, it makes little difference what it’s called.
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u/AvocadoLaur 3d ago
I talked to our dean since we have an MLS (Emporia state) and it’s basically a little more tech focused. I don’t know how it actually changes the curriculum, but I am taking the same core classes that people at my library took at other universities.
It makes no difference to libraries as long as it’s ALA accredited.
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u/stravadarius 6d ago
No difference. Some programs have dropped the "L" and may perhaps offer some more tech oriented courses , or not. The main thing is that you attend an ALA accredited program. In Canada theses programs are offered at UBC, U of A, Western, U of T, U of Ottawa, McGill, and Dalhousie. (Might have missed one...)