Hello Netters! First of all, a big capitalized THANK YOU to all who
responded. I received 56 answers!!!
My original post asked about online universities to complete my MLS. Here's
the HIT I compiled: [I did my best to leave out information not related to
my question]
Hello.... I did my MLS program through Southern Connecticut State
University (New Haven, Connecticut). Entire degree was online. The only
classes I did on campus were for the certification aspect (since I work in a
school system I had to be certified for library media). The MLS was
completely online. The program is ALA accredited
I can recommend University of North Texas. They are not absolutely entirely
online but will probably work w/ you.
East Carolina University
Greenville NC
University of North Texas has a great program totally online. Of course I
am biased. ;-)
The University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee... I got mine there and my
experiences were wonderful.
I did my entire masters degree online through Mansfield University of
Pennsylvania (www.mansfield.edu). I never set foot on campus, not even for
my graduation. Everything was online and I ordered all of my books through
the student store or Amazon. However, this is a Masters of Education degree
with a focus on Library Science. All of the classes are LS and not general
education though. It was not ALA accredited when I went through but am not
sure whether or not it is now. Also, I believe Clarion University has an
online program that requires 18 credits each year for 2 years. Also, a
friend did hers through University of Pittsburgh (PA). She did go out to
Pitt a few summers for a week here and there, but I am not sure if this was
her choice or a requirement. Good luck!
In response to your post on LM_Net, I wanted to let you know that I am
taking courses online at FSU for a MLIS . I really like the program.
However, it is expensive at around $1,000 a class for a Florida resident. At
the time I enrolled 4 years ago it was one of the top programs in the USA.
Let me know if you want any specific details on the program. You can see a
general description of it here
http://slis.fsu.edu/Graduate-Program/School-Media#ma_level
I will soon have my MLIS from University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee and I
recommend you look at their website. http://www4.uwm.edu/
I'm almost positive that you can earn your MLIS through online classes. UWM
is an ALA accredited university so that's another reason to take a look at
what it offers.
I saw your posting on LM_NET and wanted to tell you about our online masters
degree in library and information science at Syracuse University. Our LIS
program (both campus-based and distance) is ranked #3 in the country and our
school library program is ranked #2 (US News & World Report). Our program
was the first Web-based, limited residency LIS program in the U.S.
If you are interested in just the LIS degree, you would be required to come
to campus for your first course (intro course) in the summer plus a weekend
orientation course. I think it’s a total of 7 days on campus. You can take
the rest of your program online.
If you want to specialize in school libraries, you would need to stay for an
extra week the first summer and return for a two-day residency in the spring
semester. Since you probably don’t need certification, you could take some
of the school library courses that don’t have residencies as electives
within your LIS program.
More information can be found on our Web site at
http://www.ischool.syr.edu/(although I think it is being updated at
this moment).
In answer to your request on LM-Net, I recently completed my MLIS through
San Jose State University and would recommend their program. I live in Hong
Kong and was able to complete all courses online. You would definitely need
to have reliable internet and the bandwidth to use programs like Elluminate
(a virtual conferencing program).
I would recommend University of Southern Mississippi, and I speak as an
alumni. Their program is completely online. The professors are great and
easy to work with. They really do understand the online process. You will
have required chat times with your classmates and professors on the required
readings. When I was taking classes from 2003-2005, most of the chat times
were in the evenings Central time zone in America. There were several
students in my classes that were from foreign countries or in different time
zones. You can find out more information about there program at
http://www.usm.edu/slis/
I am recommending two universities that you might consider:
University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa
University of North Texas at Denton, TX
Hello! I finished an entirely online program through Mansfield University
(PA) and really enjoyed it. The professors are fantastic-- very
knowledgeable and supportive, and most are currently practicing librarians.
I had many classmates from international schools, and it always sounded like
they were able to work things out easily. I would highly recommend the
program! Good luck! If you'd like any more information, please let me know.
I'm earning my MSLIS degree through Drexel University. It is 100% on
line and is rated in the top 10 by US News and World Report. It's a 45
hour degree, but I was able to get 9 hours due to my years of school and
academic library experience. You get a discount if you are an ALA
member. Classes are for 10 weeks (quarters). Cost, with the discount,
is about $2300 each quarter per class There are scholarships and
fellowships available, but one of the programs requires that you take 3
classes at a time. I work full-time plus I have a part-time job, so I
can just barely manage one class per quarter, so that's not an option
for me. There are other scholarships available offered by Drexel.
Like any program, some of the professors are good and some are not.
Some of the material is valuable and some is not. Overall I enjoy the
program and have learned a great deal, even though I am already in the
library field.
Also, I have had classmates in my classes from all over the world. When
group work is required, the time zones make it a little tricky when
coordinating schedules but otherwise there does not appear to be any
major complaints from those that are true distance learners like you!
I am currently taking ONLINE ONLY grad classes for credit at Rutgers
University. This link should help you get started:
http://comminfo.rutgers.edu/master-of-library-and-information-science/program-information.html
I would suggest you call the office and speak to someone. They've been very
helpful to me. I am currently in my 3rd class and my 4th one starts next
week. I've thoroughly enjoyed each class and its corresponding professor.
Good luck with your decision. You CAN'T go wrong with Rutgers !
You might look into the program at the University of Central Arkansas.
All but 2 of my classes met online. The program is not ALA sanctioned,
but the professors and the program itself are very user friendly.
I earned my ALA Master's in Library Science from Clarion University of
Pennsylvania.
It is totally online and is a fabulous program! Soon after, I began my
library career.
I am currently enrolled at the University of North Texas. They
do have an on campus requirement which is for three core courses. You
got to campus for 1 day, and then two more times for 4 days. They can be
taken consecutively during the summer in 10 days and the rest of the
class time is online. Here's the website in case you are interested.
http://www.lis.unt.edu/main/ViewPage.php?cid=169 . I do know a woman in
Germany (her husband is military) who is taking courses and I was told a
woman from Japan went to the last on campus institute when I was there.
The other school I know who is also online only, with no required on
campus visits (from what I have heard, I would double check to make
sure) is Texas women's University. The only thing I have heard about
this program is that they have come close to losing their ALA
accreditation and that the classes are very easy. But this is all word
of mouth. Here is their website.
http://www.twu.edu/library-studies/online-degree.asp
I am obtaining my MLS online at East Carolina University (Greenville, NC).
The entire program is online. There is an internship, but it is modified if
you are already working as a librarian/media coordinator. It might be
something for you to look into.
I got my MLS online through Texas Women's University (TWU). It is
completely online and I thought it was a great program.
http://www.twu.edu/library-studies/master-library-science-degree.asp
I would highly recommend the University of North Texas (Denton, Texas)
masters degree program, although you do have to complete one 9-day (or two
4-day) "web institutes" on campus. If you have some flexibility as to when
and how long you can spend time in the US, I would definitely take a look at
UNT's program. I earned my MLS from UNT and was very pleased with the
education and training I received.
http://www.lis.unt.edu/main/
I got my LMS Masters completely online (with the exception of internship)
through the University of West Alabama. I was really thrilled with the
program and what I learned; it was not "a piece of cake" like some people
think online classes are...it was a lot of work. As for the internship, I
wanted K-12 certification, so I did my internship at two schools and my
school supervisors communicated via email or phone for papers/grading...with
the exception of my portfolio. My Internship Supervisor said that UWA is
going to digital portfolios now, so if you should choose them I don't think
you'd have any problems.
You may want to inquire about international certification with their online
department just to make sure that's possible. Here's a link to their
website: www.uwa.edu
And here is a link to their online Master's Certified LMS Degree:
http://www.uwa.edu/academics/colleges/graduate/programs/medlibmed.aspx
Again, I was really pleased with what I learned and the work they required
us to do. I hope this information helps you; please let me know if you have
any other questions :)
I can highly recommend both Azusa Pacific University's online program as
well as the program with Fresno Pacific. The APU program is a Master's in
Education with an emphasis in School Librarianship whereas the FPU is the
MLS (I believe). I think they are both excellent.
I went to APU and did
mine online and it was outstanding. I'm excited to say I am applying for an
adjunct professor position with FPU.
I got my online SL&IT (School Library & Information Technology)
Masters from Mansfield University (Mansfield PA). Their program is 100%
online and I wouldn't have got my current job (District Library Media
Specialist-Swanton, Ohio) without my masters from Mansfield. Their address
is: library.mansfield.edu.
I received my degree from East Carolina University (ecu.edu) in Greenville,
NC. The only time I went to the campus was to purchase a book, but the
books can be purchased online as well. East Carolina University has an
excellent MLS program and the professors are so supportive. If you have
issues, just e-mail them. If you have questions, you can e-mail. I have
even called and spoken with them personally. I had a great experience with
that college. The only downside is that they are not ALA accredited. If
you need to get ALA accreditation, you will need to take classes from
another institution. Personally, I didn't need ALA accreditation for my
elementary media specialist position, but if you want to work in a public
library, then you might need it.
I believe Old Dominion University (odu.edu) in Virginia and UNC-G in
Greensboro, NC also have online courses for MLS. As a matter of fact, Gail
Dickinson is at UNC-G and transferred from ODU.
The Rutgers MLIS program has a fully online option:
http://comminfo.rutgers.edu/master-of-library-and-information-science/completing-a-degree-online.htmlNot
every single course we offer is online yet, but many are.
I completed my MLIS via the University of North Texas SLIS (unt.edu/slis)
and graduated in 2006 - I was able to do everything online except for three
core classes that they condensed into two 3 or 4 day visits to Denton (just
north of Dallas/Ft. Worth) and if you're pursuing the School Library track
then you don't even have to take them at the beginning of your program.
I just completed my MLS through the University of North Texas. It was online
except for 9 days of a web institute in Denton, TX. If you planned it to
take all your core classes (the only classes that require a day per hour
attendance in Denton) you would only have to be there for a little over a
week once. I always did mine in the summer since I was teaching during the
year. Otherwise it was all online and I had a great experience doing it! I
also had several people in my classes that were not in the States while
going through the program
Western KY University has a LMS program (NCATE accreditd-AASL recognized)
fully online. We currently do not have synchronous online meetings because
many of our students have only dial up access. We use BlackBoard for our
course management.
Our program is specifically disoriented to school library programs.
We also have an Ed. Tech program.
URL: http://www.wku.edu/lme/
I earned my MLIS through East Carolina University. Totally online. Live in
Michigan. Excellent program.
I am currently getting my Masters in library studies completely online
through Florida State University, and I absolutely love the program. The
professors are fantastic, and I really feel like I'm learning a lot. That
being said, one of the things that I really love about this program is
something that may make it not work as well for you being in such a
different time zone. The program is completely online, but a majority of
the classes have "synchronous" components, meaning you "meet" in a virtual
classroom once a week for 2 hours. The class times are all either 6-8pm
Eastern time or 8-10pm Eastern time, once a week per class. Occasionally
the class meetings are optional, and if you don't attend, you just
listen/watch the recorded class session. Occasionally a class will only
meet a handful of times and the rest of the weeks are on asynchronous on
your own schedule. Occasionally you'll have a class that doesn't meet at
all and is completely asynchronous. Many of my classes had required
meetings though, and I don't think I'd have gotten as much out of them if I
didn't attend the class meetings.
I'm not sure if you're interested in the school media track specifically, or
just a general MLS, but there are requirements for certain classes that
require different levels of field work (maybe just for one assignment, maybe
something that spans the whole semester), so depending on what you meant by
"online only," this may not be what you're looking for. For distance
students, you are basically on your own to set something up wherever you
are. For example, in one class I had to perform a booktalk to a group of at
least 5 adolescents. In another class, I had to get in 15-20 hours of
working one-on-one with an English language learner student. If you don't
need to take any of the education classes, these types of requirements will
be less, but there are still some projects in certain classes that require
you to actually go out in the field so to speak.
All that being said, I have people in some of my classes attending from all
over the world, and they just get up in the middle of the night once or
twice a week to attend class, so it's not unheard of for people to do that.
I looked at the Drexel online program as well when I was deciding on which
online program was right for me, and that program, at least 3 years ago when
I did my research, was definitely more general library science; they didn't
have youth services or school media concentrations which was really what I
wanted. Depending on what you're looking for, that program might be another
one to consider.
I received my MLS from University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. I did not have
to go there once. It was a good experience.
My advisor was Bonnie Withers and she was great!
http://www4.uwm.edu/
http://www.graduateschool.uwm.edu/students/prospective/areas-of-study/library-and-information-science/
Southern Connecticut State University has a totally online ALA accredited
MLIS program.
I did mine through the University of North Texas. It wad entirely online
with the exception of 2-3 weekend lectures that I had to attend. And that
was 4 years ago. They may have gone completely online by now. It is an ALA
accredited program.
I am doing mine through TWU (Texas Woman's University) It is totally online.
Here is the link.
http://www.twu.edu/
I graduated with my M.Ed. in Library Educational Media from the University
of West AL. It was a challenging curriculum~ but completely online. In
addition, it is fully accredited. Their pass-rate for the Praxis is high
also. I started at AL State University and I DO NOT recommend it.
Indiana University and IUPUI have a wonderful ALA approved program. I
have 3 classes left and have completed the past 9 online.
Www.slis.iupui.edu
***
I took online courses from the University of Wisconsin - Stout campus.
They were post-Masters but I was very impressed with the instructors,
curriculum and the collegiality of my fellow students.
The most important piece of advice I would offer: make sure it is a degree
approved by the American Library Association.
There are now many online schools but the quality is not equal, and after
investing so much time and money yo0u want to make sure you get a degree
that is national [and internationally] recognized!
I pursued my MLS online with the exception of three courses through the
University of North Texas. You can actually combine two of the three
courses into one of your on-campus required stays. I found the program to be
a rigorous and solid preparation for my career as a school librarian. The
program is ALA accredited, which is a good thing to bear in mind for future
employment and general respect for your credentials. I highly recommend
inveI got my online MLS through Southern Connecticut State University an ALA
accredited program in 2007. I would rate it a 6 out of 10 based on that it
was a good, balanced program - But at the time they had a couple of core
professors with genuine personality/teaching deficits that were not worth
paying $$ to put up with and once you're there it's difficult to switch. (
http://www.ratemyprofessors.com/ is a site to look at)
I sorted the list of accredited online programs (database option) and
contacted those programs that interested me to get the details ...some may
simply not suit your specific needs in terms of timeline, $$, course
delivery, etc. -
http://www.ala.org/Template.cfm?Section=lisdirb&Template=/cfapps/lisdir/index.cfm
The list will be paired down considerably through this process.
Strongly consider what area of interest you most want to pursue. While you
can get an ALA accredited MLS from all of those schools, you do want to be
sure that you can get your special interests developed with the best people
you can get to work with. All the programs want your $$ so they may not be
the best source of information - I would look at who heads the
department/teaches the courses that interest you and what background they
have - and ask LM NETTers.
I pursued a School Library Media endorsement with my MLS because I have a
teaching background. That was another challenge to plan for in terms of
state reciprocity and credentialing requirements. So get all of that sorted
out ahead of time. If you plan to take that route be aware that it may be
years before that job market comes back in the states.stigating this option!
I earned my degree completely online through Florida State. It was a
wonderful experience, and they cater to international students.
San Jose State University's program is totally online. It is $1400+ per
class and you need 43 units to graduate. You can take 3 classes per semester
and the school also has summer sessions.
North Carolina Central University in Durham, NC
http://www.nccuslis.org/
East Carolina University, Greenville (I think), NC
I think there is another ONLINE program in FLorida. I was talking to a North
Carolina friend who had a friend who lived in NC get theirs from there
(didn't have to pay out of state tuition either)
Try Texas Woman's University - They are ALA accredited and the whole MLS
program can be completed online - I did!
I got my Masters from University of North Texas at Denton. They have been
frontrunners in online masters programs and online education in general.
Some universities, in my opinion, do not utilize their online opportunities
very well. It really depends upon the preparations of the professor and
their dedication to making it work. I believe that the Library Sciences
Program at UNT has done this - and continues to improve their ability to
provide that. My daughter graduated from UNC in a regular face-to-face
program at about the same time that I went to UNT. I think my education was
more than comparable to hers, and UNC was designated the top library school
at that time. I don't know about now. I do know that you have to attend
UNT for three courses - but that is all - unless they have changed that
recently. I wonder if you could get those out of the way before you leave.
If not, you would have to decide how to work with that. UNT is also an
accredited program with ALA, which is something else you would want. I
really liked studying online. It worked well for me and I didn't feel like
I missed anything.
Have you checked out Texas Woman's University? I am sure that you can get
all classes online. http://twu.edu/
<http://twu.edu/>I am about to finish a MLS from East Carolina University
(only two classes to go in the coming semester). The program is 100% online
and I have been VERY satisfied with the program. It is worth investigating
to see if it would meet your needs.
The University of Memphis has an online School Librarianship program.
www.memphis.edu
--
Carolina Cuello
Head Librarian
American International School of Abuja
Abuja, Nigeria
carolinac@aisabuja.com
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