On Sunday, November 3, at 11:59 p.m. PST, the inaugural
cohort of distance MLIS students heaved a collective sigh of relief
as our first quarter officially came to an end. Projects and papers
finished, we could start to look back with satisfaction on what we'd
accomplished, and ahead to the next two and a half years with a little
more certainty.
Only a few weeks ago we sat together in Mary Gates
Hall as Mike Eisenberg commended us for being chosen from a competitive
pool of distance applicants. He explained that starting this program
had been one of his goals when he came to the iSchool, and that the
program was committed to training new librarians and information scientists
prepared to be leaders in the field from all over the western region.
And we did come from all over the West: Alaska, Colorado, Montana,
Utah, Northern and Southern California, and Idaho, as well as a large
contingent from the Portland area and several students from King County
and other parts of Washington State.
Some students had even postponed earning an MLIS
until they could do so in a distance format from the iSchool. Justin
McFadden of Salt Lake City said that he had started researching MLIS
programs a couple of years ago and had decided then that the iSchool
was his first choice, but that the lack of a distance program precluded
UW. He had narrowed his choices down to two other programs when he
found out about the new iSchool distance MLIS in January 2002. He
rushed to get application materials together and was "ecstatic"
to be admitted. So was Barbara Eales of Oxnard, California. Barb had
almost accepted an offer from "another program" before she
learned of her admittance at the iSchool, her first choice all along.
All 37 of us have different reasons for choosing
the distance format. For most, current employment and family obligations
are big issues. For many, employment has motivated their pursuit of
an MLIS in the first place. Almost two-thirds of dMLIS students currently
work in libraries, most in public library branches, but some also
in school, law, corporate, and academic libraries. The rest of us
represent fields from archaeology, to software development, to insurance
services, definitely enough diversity to spark some lively forum discussions.
The distance program carries the same requirements as the other iSchool
MLIS programs. We started out with an intensive four-week session
of LIS 500 while concurrently taking LIS 541 and LIS 550. We will
spend the next two quarters focusing on core classes and then be able
to choose from electives in our second and third years. We will work
through all the "decade" classes, take electives according
to our special interests, and complete portfolios just like other
MLIS students.
Adjusting to the online format was a bit daunting
at first. When we returned home from our first week of residency at
UW, some of us were a bit disoriented getting all of our software
installed and figuring out how to schedule everything-school, work,
and life. Navigating the space of virtual classrooms was almost as
confusing as being dropped into the middle of the real UW campus for
the first time without a map, but we soon worked out strategies for
participating in numerous forums, making sure we had access to streaming
audio lectures, and planning synchronous communication times. Instructors
Scott Barker and Stuart Sutton were ever available and patient at
addressing our many questions and concerns as we settled into what
was, for most of us, an entirely new experience. For many, the use
of tools like MSN Messenger proved to be a lifeline as we could see
who else was online and available to pop over and ask questions of,
vent at, or rejoice to anytime of the day, or, more often, night.
The effort has been worth it though. Liesl Seborg
of Boise, Idaho explains, "So far, the work for school has been
very challenging but I feel that I am learning so much, and that it
is worth the hours spent trying to figure out code and understand
complex legal arguments!" Dorothy Harris, living in rural Soap
Lake, Washington adds, "In my role as the only teacher-librarian
in a small school district, I frequently find myself feeling isolated
and unheard. The opportunity to research and discuss topics of great
depth with people working in all areas of information services has
been exhilarating for me." Indeed, dMLIS students know each other
as well, or possibly better than, students in traditional residence
programs might, since there is no limit to the day or hour that we
can communicate with each other. Besides discussing the class content,
we also hear about each other's illnesses, visits from relatives,
home improvement projects, and new additions; two students became
proud new fathers during the quarter, and we were some of the first
people to learn the news and see the pictures!
By all accounts, the program is accomplishing the
goals for which it was designed-it is meeting the needs of motivated
students who may not otherwise have the opportunity to advance their
careers in librarianship and the information sciences. Harris commends
the students: "This is a great group of graduate students to
work with. I truly hope all 37 will be able to manage the course-load
and finish together in 2005." McFadden credits the dedication
of the iSchool staff and faculty: "Our professors and instructors
have been wonderful and have presented information in a way that has
kept my attention and has allowed me to learn. …I also expected
that as a member of the inaugural dMLIS cohort that there would be
glitches and quirks to be worked out. There have been very few of
these situations, indicating that the iSchool took care when planning
and designing the dMLIS program." Seborg probably sums it up
best for the majority of us-"I'm tired, but happy."
