Dear Batgirl, We Need to Talk

Dear Batgirl,

We need to talk. I want you to know that I have always loved you. You were my favorite superhero growing up. But I’m getting worried about the direction you are taking in life right now Batgirl. I’m worried about your master’s degree.

but do you belong in that program Barbra? Do you really?

Since I am a librarian, I welcomed the news that Batgirl was earning a Library and Information Science degree (before anyone asks: no I don’t know how it’s a ‘science’ either). As someone who has recently been through an LIS program, I have to say: Burnside College has a shitty LIS program.

550 is a really weird number for an intro class, I would expect 401, or maybe 501 depending on the program. Assuming Burnside College has undergrad classes a midrange number would make sense. but 550 for an intro class is a just strange . And yes, the professor makes it clear these are first semester students in the class, it’s just weird.

Now Information and Society does sound like the title of an intro class you get in library school. Barbra even uses the two magic words you learn your first semester in library school (no, not “it depends”)

Here’s my big concern Barbra, you’ve yet to do any hands-on work like a Management study of a real library, a mock Collections Development Policy, or pouring over the Sears List: Subject Headings for a cataloging assignment. Oh LIS415. . .

Going to Burnside College is like getting a degree from Trump University.

Note that the professor does not say “I encourage you to take advantage of our internship opportunities while you are here.” no, he tells them to volunteer. Does this school not have an internship program? I was required to do TWO when I was in grad school. What kind of pathetic graduate network do you have that you can’t set up internships?

I don’t know about Burnside College, but where I went to library school, almost everyone worked in a library at the circulation desk or worked part-time in an elementary school, and I think everyone had an internship of some sort. I loved my internships and the projects that I worked on. Not to mention, they were great networking opportunities.

That’s not the only reason I think this is a bad program. We’ve only seen one of Barbara’s assignments, but just look at this thing:

What kind of BS prompt is that anyway?! This is a class discussion topic at most! You can’t write a graduate-level paper on this weak a prompt! At most, you’ll be asked to do a case study or to address this while writing your Collections Development Policy. This is not graduate-level work!

This subplot seems to have died away, hopefully, because Hope Larson realizes that she has no idea what she is talking about. It’s sad, I like Barbra as a librarian, but this is such a bad LIS program! Then again, the way that Larson writes Batgirl, she’d flunk out of a real LIS program.

Nerd girl rant to be continued. . .