Stats and Graphs: What Should Potential Hires Learn in Library School? 324 Responses

It’s Staturday!

When we last visited the What Should Potential Hires Learn in Library School? survey, we had 263 responses.  As of 12/20/2014, we now have 324 responses.  The survey is and will remain open at
http://tinyurl.com/hiringlibschoolsurvey,

And now, here are the

Results!

(A disclaimer: Please be advised this is not Science, and you shouldn’t try to extrapolate these trends to the world at large. Be a dear and also forgive the cut off labels on the charts – this is how Google forms deals with verbosity.)

 

Do library schools teach candidates the job skills you are looking for in potential hires?

 

Yes	24	7%
No	42	13%
Depends on the school/Depends on the candidate	230	71%
You can’t teach the job skills I need in library school	8	2%
Other	17	5%

Should library students focus on learning theory or gaining practical skills? (Where 5 is practice, 1 is theory and 3 means “both equally”)

 

1 (Theory)	2	1%
2	29	9%
3 (Both Equally)	147	45%
4	111	34%
5 (Practice)	32	10%

What coursework do you think all (or most) MLS/MLIS holders should take, regardless of focus?

Reference	249	77%
Collection Management	233	72%
Project Management	211	65%
Library Management	195	60%
Research Methods	193	60%
Soft Skills (e.g. Communication, Interpersonal Relations)	191	59%
Cataloging	184	57%
Web Design/Usability	184	57%
Instruction	176	54%
Field Work/Internships	173	53%
Marketing	165	51%
Outreach	159	49%
Budgeting/Accounting	158	49%
Digital Collections	137	42%
Information Behavior	137	42%
Grant Writing	125	39%
Readers’ Advisory	122	38%
Programming (Events)	114	35%
Metadata	100	31%
Services to Special Populations	87	27%
History of Books/Libraries	79	24%
Other	48	15%
Programming (Coding)	42	13%
Archives	30	9%
Vocabulary Design	29	9%
Portfolio/ePortfolio	16	5%

 

When deciding who to hire out of a pool of candidates, do you value skills gained through coursework and skills gained through practice differently? (Example: a candidate who took an instructional design class vs. a candidate who taught library instruction sessions.)

 

Yes–I value skills gainedthrough a student job more highly	155	48%
Yes–I value skills gainedthrough coursework more highly	5	2%
No preference–as long as they have theskill, I don’t care how they got it	135	42%
Other	29	9%

Which of the following experiences should library students have upon graduating?

Internship or practicum	250	77%
Library work experience	237	73%
Professional organization involvement	133	41%
Other presentation	73	23%
Teaching assistant/Other instructional experience	64	20%
Student organization involvement	61	19%
Other	42	13%
Conference presentation	31	10%
Other publication	17	5%
Scholarly publication	13	4%

Where are you?

Northeastern US	58	18%
Midwestern US	80	25%
Southern US	73	23%
Western US	75	23%
Canada	13	4%
UK	6	2%
Australia/New Zealand	7	2%
Other	7	2%

Where are you?

Urban area	124	38%
Suburban area	61	19%
City/town	99	31%
Rural area	30	9%
Other	8	2%

What type of institution do you hire for?

 

Academic Library	138	43%
Public Library	138	43%
School Library	6	2%
Special Library	26	8%
Archives	1	0%
Other	11	3%

How many staff members are at your library/organization?

 

0-10	58	18%
10-50	121	37%
50-100	60	19%
100-200	35	11%
200+	46	14%

Are you a librarian?

Yes	305	94%
No	4	1%
It’s complicated	14	4%

 

Are you now or have you ever been:

A hiring manager (you are hiring people thatyou will directly or indirectly supervise)	250	77%
A member of a hiring or search committee	269	83%
Human resources	14	4%
Other	15	5%

Would you like to have information about you or your organization shared ?

No, I prefer to remain anonymous	286	88%
Yes, and I’ll give you my email address on the next page	35	11%