A letter to my advisees

  • My background
  • My goal in advising
  • How I can be reached
  • Course selection
  • Graduate school
  • Interdisciplinary work
  • Internships
  • Transfer units
  • Questions that you shouldn't be surprised if I can't answer
  • Questions that I have to answer
  • Questions that I wish that I could answer better
  • Mentoring
  • Interviewing
  • Conclusion
  • Further links

    • Dear advisees,

    Like all of the faculty at SIRLS, I have a very large number of advisees. So many in fact that I sometimes find it difficult to keep track of (a) who you all are, (b) what each of you has said to me, and (c) what I have said to each of you. In order to deal with at least part of this problem, I have decided to write this document. It contains some of my philosophy of advising and some of my standard advice.

    My background

    Before I get to the advice, let me say a few words about myself:

    My academic background is in philosophy.  I am principally interested in issues in information science on which I can bring some of my philosophical expertise to bear.  For example, I am concerned with the conditions under which various sources of information (e.g., the Internet, libraries, television, etc.) are reliable.  I am also interested in decision making in information services such as libraries.  See the "Personal Statement" on my web page for more information on my research and teaching interests.

    My goal in advising

    The ultimate goal is not for you to end up with an MA in IRLS; this is only a means to an end. The ultimate goal is for you to end up doing what you want to be doing when you leave SIRLS. My role is mainly to advise you on what courses to take with this ultimate goal in mind.

    How I can be reached

    My office is room 14 at SIRLS.  It is at the back of the courtyard and up the stairs.  My office hours are usually from 2:30 to 4:00 on Wednesdays.  However, I am in my office on most days and I am happy to schedule appointments at other times.

    If you are not able to get to Tucson during business hours (or if you want to schedule an appointment), I can also be reached by phone (520-621-5223) and by email (fallis@email.arizona.edu).  Of the two, email is probably the best way to reach me.  I try to respond to my email fairly quickly (usually within 24 hours).

    Course selection

    See MA Curriculum Requirements for the current requirements for the degree.  By the way, if the requirements changed after you entered the program, you can choose to satisfy either the old requirements or the new ones.

    In order to complete the degree, you have to complete 36 units overall.  Also, you have to take one course in each of five core areas in information science.  All other things being equal, you should take these core courses as soon as possible.  It is also advisable to stick to 500 level courses during your first semester in the program.

    The rest of your coursework (including two interdisciplinary courses) should be driven by your specific professional and/or academic goals. That is, you should determine which courses to take based on what you plan to do with your degree.  As a result, you will have to think carefully about what your professional and/or academic goals are.

    Once you have done this, you will have to determine whether or not a particular course will further these goals. In order to do so, you should first look at the syllabus and/or the old syllabi for the course. This will give you a good idea of the likely content of the course.

    By the way, SIRLS also has some suggested courses of study (on its advising page) depending on what area in IRLS you plan to focus on.  You should take a look at these recommendations.

    At the end of your program of study, you will have to write a "course justification."  This is a document that explains why the courses that you took were appropriate given your goals.  Thus, if you ask me if a particular course is appropriate interdisciplinary work or if a particular course from another university can be transferred, I will at least want you to send me the course description, but I will probably also ask you to write down what you think that you might say about this course in your course justification.

    By the way, I know that you may very well not have a perfectly clear idea of what your goals are at the outset of the program. And you are, of course, free to change your mind along the way. The "course justification" can (and should) reflect such a change.

    Graduate school

    There is actually one other important factor (that is, other than your professional and/or academic goals) that you should consider when selecting courses. Namely, you should take into account what SIRLS does well and try to take advantage of it.

    You will have a long time to hone the practical skills of your chosen profession. Graduate school, however, is a unique opportunity to think about a number of the important issues that affect your chosen profession. You may never get another chance to reflect on these issues in such an extensive way.

    With this in mind, you may want to take a number of classes at SIRLS simply because they give you a chance to explore some of these issues with an expert. For example, Professor Malone is an expert on library history.  Professor Frické is an expert on information theory.  Professor Edgar is an expert on corporate libraries.  Professor Coleman is an expert on classification and digital libraries.  As a result, your might want to take advantage of the opportunity to take courses in these areas from these faculty even if you have no plans to specialize in these areas.

    Interdisciplinary work

    Selecting interdisciplinary courses is like selecting any other course at SIRLS. You should decide on courses that are likely to further your professional and/or academic goals.

    Here's an example of some of the advice that I have given on this issue. Suppose that you want a job in a library that requires a fairly technical background. Well, SIRLS has a heavy emphasis on technology (e.g., we offer courses on human-computer interaction, expert systems, systems analysis, etc.). You will certainly want to take these courses that SIRLS offers. However, you will probably also want to take some courses from MIS or Computer Science to satisfy your interdisciplinary requirement.

    By the way, you may, of course, need to take some prerequisites in order to take some of the graduate level courses in these other departments.  In general (that is, even if you do not aspire to a technical job), I think that if course X would clearly be useful given your professional aspirations, then you should probably take course X. And if you have to take prerequisite Y at the undergraduate level (which does not count toward your 36 units) in order to take course X, then so be it. (The ultimate goal is not to get an MA in IRLS as fast as possible.)

    Finally, you will have to get my approval on any interdisciplinary courses that you want to count toward your degree.  As noted above, when you ask for my approval, I am likely to ask you to write me a paragraph explaining how this course will further your professional and/or academic goals (in Information Resources and Library Science).

    Internships

    An internship is supposed to be "problem-oriented." In other words, there is a specific "field-based problem" (or problems) that you are going to try to solve (in the 135 hours). For instance, you might be building a web site on a particular topic or you might be organizing a particular segment of a library's collection. An example of something that is not sufficiently "problem-oriented" is that you are going to work at the reference desk for 135 hours. (Reference work might, however, be part of an acceptable internship proposal.)

    In order for me to decide whether or not an internship proposal has sufficient academic value, you will have to be fairly specific in your proposal about exactly what you will be doing and exactly what the problem is that you will be trying to solve. In fact, before I am ready to sign off on the proposal, you may have to have a conversation with the site advisor to get this information.

    Transfer units

    I typically like to see a photocopy of the course description or the course syllabus before I decide whether or not units from another institution can be used toward your MA in IRLS. (You can send the photocopy to the address below. Alternatively, you can email me the URL for the course description or course syllabus if it is online.) And unless the answer is completely obvious, I may also ask you to write down what you plan to say about this course in your course justification.

    Questions that you shouldn't be surprised if I can't answer

    I may not be able to answer all of your questions about the rules and procedures of SIRLS and the University of Arizona. In the past, this category has even included such seemingly basic questions as: How do I register for classes? How many internships can I do? How do I order my textbooks? Which classes do students usually take to satisfy the research methods requirement? Which browser should I use?

    Very often, either you or I will have to search the SIRLS website or ask the SIRLS advising coordinator, in order to get the answers to such questions. Of course, I don't mind if you ask me. I'll find out the answer and then I will know the answer for the next time someone asks -- unless, of course, I forget and/or the rules change. (Unfortunately for me, there is a distinct possibility that at least one of these will occur in any given case.)

    Questions that I have to answer

    I have to make the final determination about the academic content of your program. So questions in this category include: Is course X acceptable interdisciplinary work? Can I transfer course Y from another institution? Is such-and-such an acceptable internship project?

    Questions that I wish that I could answer better

    A typical question in this category is: What sorts of preparations should I make in order to become a librarian of type X?

    This is the sort of question that you might reasonably want and expect a faculty advisor to be able to answer. However, given the limits on my knowledge of libraries, I may end up directing you to other faculty or alumni for more authoritative answers.

    Mentoring

    When you were admitted to the program, you may have received a University pamphlet on the "mentoring" relationship between the faculty advisor and the graduate student.  What is described in this pamphlet sounds a lot like the relationship that I had with my advisor/mentor in graduate school.  It was a very valuable relationship and is certainly the sort of thing that should be facilitated in graduate programs.  However, there are some important differences between my graduate school situation and the situation that students at SIRLS face.  As a result of these differences, it is not quite as likely (though not impossible) that such relationships will occur between students and faculty at SIRLS.

    First, my advisor had about 5 graduate advisees at the time. (For comparison, I have about 30 at the moment.) Second, the career that I aspired to and the career that my advisor was pursuing were very, very similar. She was an academic and I wanted to be an academic.  As a result, she could tell me a lot about how to play the game that I was trying to get into. (I just do not have the same kind of hands-on experience with the kinds of careers that most of you aspire to.)

    Given these circumstances, I see my role as advisor (that is, as guiding you through an academic program) and not usually as mentor. Only in a few cases will I have the ability (or the time) to be a true mentor.

    In any case, a true mentor is not really something that can be "assigned" to you. I think that you will find that most successful relationships of this sort require quite a bit of effort and searching. (My advisor, for instance, was not the advisor that I was assigned when I entered the graduate program. I changed advisors once I determined which faculty member was likely to be most useful to me given my interests.)

    Interviewing

    Every once in a while, large libraries (often from back east) will send interviewers to SIRLS. If you really want to get a job in your chosen field somewhere sometime, then my advice is to sign up for such interviews (if you are on campus). You should do so even if you are not sure that you would want a job at this particular library.

    When I was on the job market, I sent out about 50 applications over two years. I got 3 interviews. In December 1996, I flew all the way across the country at my own expense to be interviewed by just one potential employer (and I was not even really keen on the idea of getting a job in East Lansing, Michigan). Even though I did not get the job, I think that the money and the effort were worth it. The experience was good practice and it prepared me for getting the job that I did get.

  • What if you don't want a job back east? It's good practice. (By the way, the fact that you sign up for an interview does not mean that you have to be anything less than honest about how likely it is that you would accept a job offer. They will still be happy to talk to you.)
  • What if you are not about to finish your degree? It's still good practice.
  • What if you do not have a resume ready? You should start preparing one. (In fact, they often take years of fine-tuning. But that is a whole other story.)
    • By the way, if potential employers get the idea that very few students at SIRLS want to be interviewed, they may stop coming. This will have a negative impact on future students at SIRLS. So even if you were not going to derive any benefits from an interview, there are altruistic reasons to sign up.

    Conclusion

    If you do not like something that you see here, let me know. I am willing to re-examine my views and to revise my statement. Of course, if there are irreconcilable differences (or even if you just do not want to go to the trouble of attempting a reconciliation), your are free to seek advising services elsewhere (with no hard feelings).

    By the way, I should point out that I am just your principal advisor. You are free to seek advice from any other faculty member. I still have to sign all the forms though.

    On the other hand, if you like most of what you see here and you do not have the good fortune to be one of my advisees, I am always accepting applications.

    PS.  Here is a link to further advice on careers in the information professions.

    PPS. My one final piece of advice is that you should definitely consider joining the SIRLS Library Student Organization.  In any event, you will want to consult the LSO handbook about the program and other matters.