AboutRobert H. Kieserman, MBA, MLIS Expertise I am a consultant to public and special libraries and I specialize in library management and administration. I am able to answer questions about library science as a career as well as about the general topic of library science and how libraries work and the services they provide.
Experience I have an MBA, an MLIS degree, I am a business professor, I have written four books on entrepreneurship, and have been a expert in another management area (healthcare) for AllExperts with a consistently high rating for over two years.
Organizations the American Library Association, the Library Administration and Management Association, the Public Library Association, and the Medical Library Association
Publications I have written for numerous national publications on the issues of marketing, human resources management, and strategic management.
Education/Credentials MBA in Accounting and a MLIS
Awards and Honors honored for my teaching by Sigma Beta Delta
Question QUESTION: When employers, for library positions, are looking at your resume, do the take into consideration where you received your degree? Do they care whether the entire program's top-ranked, or the specialty? How much weight does a MLIS from one of the top 10 ranked universities carry versus one that does not?
ANSWER: Quite frankly, where you attend library school does not matter to most library directors or library HR managers. However, it is essential that you attend a school that is ALA-accredited. You can find a list of those schools at http://www.ala.org/ala/accreditation/lisdirb/lisdirectory.cfm
Please write back if you have any other questions.
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QUESTION: Thank you for your quick response.
In what situation(s) does it matter which library school you attend? My ultimate goal is to work in a top-ranked graduate department in the area of digital librarianship.
Answer I do not know of any situations where it matters where you went to school. My advice is to speak to a digital librarian at a major university and ask the question to him/her. Their response would give you a better understanding of whether the school is really that important.
