Looking for other LMS students working on Ph.D. degrees!

[Lori Franklin]

I am a first year Ph.D. student at Emporia State University and I'm a full-time practicing teacher-librarian. I'd like to communicate with other Ph.D. students in our field and/or with practitioners who have earned their Ph.D.s. The only one I know of, on this Ning, is Joyce Valenza! Additionally, are any of you considering this route in your career? I can tell you that beginning this journey has introduced me to some theories and concepts that have already changed the way I think about librarianship a great deal. Now I look at every event in my library and think: I could study that! I can also say that being a student again, at the age of 46, has been exhilarating, fascinating and at times, quite frustrating! Anybody?

[Richard Beaudry]

Hi Lori,

I guess I should start off by stating that I am taking time off from university because of all my work and involvement with the Canadian School Library Association but I was in the process of working towards a PHD in Education related to school libraries. My venture began back in 1987 when I started a new French Immersion Program in a school district in the Lower Mainland. The school librarian knew no French so I was posted part time in the library. To improve my skills, I started a diploma in teacher librarianship in 1991 that I completed in 1993. I think that having good mentors is one of the reasons we end up in post graduate studies and I have been very lucky in having some of the best that Canada has to offer. My first mentor was the late Dr. Ann Clyde, who taught in the diploma program before moving to the University of Iceland. She was very involved with the IASL and was interested in technology in school libraries. I also had an interest in technology so I took many classes with her. She encouraged me to take my first master's degree. I took a M.Ed. (1993-1998) were I met Ken Haycock (now director of the San Josee State University University School of Library and Information Sciences), Ray Doiron, (Associate Professor at the University of PEI) and Marlene Asselin (Director, Teacher Librarian Diploma Program). I wanted to take courses in the MLIS program for my own masters and Ken agreed long before the new Teacher Librarianship masters in education was launched) and I was able to study the implementation of technology in five different school districts in the Lower Mainland. Marlene hired me as an instructor in the teacher librarianship diploma program and Ray got me involved with the Canadian School Library Association (now CASL). I finished my M.Ed. and found myself looking at losing my position as a teacher librarian because of cutbacks and a lack of seniority. I decided that I wanted to continue as a librarian so I took the MLIS degree and finished in 2003.

I was then offered an opportunity to do a PHD and I signed on. When I took a break, I had completed the course work and was preparing for my comprehensive tests.

The experience of studying and working on a campus has been rewarding and certainly has guided my career up to now.

But if I had any suggestions for you, it would be that you limit your external work. If you have the opportunity to teach on campus you should. We all need that experience if you plan to teach in academia. But, I must admit that my life got a little crazy with all the work I was involved with. I have a wife and 2 kids so spending time with them is important for me. They deserve medals for putting up with my lifelong studies.

I was pleased to see that Joyce was completing her PHD. I am very interested in the work she is doing since it is in the same area of my interests (Access to Information in School Libraries). Even as I am off campus for now, I am still teaching courses at university, writing papers and doing presentations.

If you are interested in publishing, I am the editor of the professional journal School Libraries in Canada and we are always on the lookout for articles related to school libraries.

http://www.clatoolbox.ca/casl/slic/slicindex.html

Welcome to the club!

Richard Beaudry
MLIS, M.Ed, B.Ed.
President of CASL
Teacher Librarian

[Lori Franklin]

Richard,

I appreciate your detailed comments so much! When you say I might consider limiting my "external" work, do you mean my "day job" as teacher-librarian? I will be taking a course later on in my curriculum that requires teaching to students beyond the high school level, so I know one way or another I'll be getting experience. I actually teach adults a lot, but not in a for-credit type of scenario.

My area of interest (currently!) has to do with the way teens perceive their library interactions and eventually I'd like to see if these perceptions correlate to actual library use as young adults. But, this could change! I'm just beginning and the reading alone has been a big shock to my system. Not a bad shock. But you definitely have to get into the zone to be in the right frame of mind for this type of work.

I do enjoy publishing articles and I have bookmarked (and delicious -ed ) your link. Right now, at work, I've been investigating how to promote our databases and how to guide students through their use in ways that cause them to achieve success and confidence, so they will be less likely to turn to Wikipedia or simple Google searches. I'm gathering statistics from the databases we purchase, so I can determine if my hunches about the way we provide instruction in this area are correct.

And yes, school and life together are crazy. I feel like I live in three different worlds: family world, school world and Ph.D. student world. Sometimes there's some overlap. Sometimes there's some downright disconnect. I've got three teens and while I'm still at the stage in life where I'm attending a lot of their functions, I also have a terrific and supportive husband who is excited about what I'm trying to do. One thing about doing this with children still in the home is that they receive an ongoing "model" of what lifelong learning looks like. So far, so good!

By the way, you've already completed so much work, it would be a shame if you didn't take your comprehensive exams and complete your dissertation proposal and ultimately your dissertation. Did you have a specific topic or problem you wanted to study?

Lori

[Richard Beaudry]

Hi Lori,

I think it is important that you stay in your position as a school library media specialist. Especially if you wish to remain in public education when you are finished. It offers a unique opportunity to put ideas and concepts into action. What I meant was involvement in district projects, working for local, state or national school library associations, and giving presentations all over the place.

As a PHD student you will be seen as a leader in our profession and you will be asked to participate in as many possible ways as you can. I look at Joyce’s work and I am amazed at what she has been able to accomplish.

I am involved both nationally and locally with the teacher librarian’s associations. I am also asked to make presentations locally, provincially and nationally. I like making presentations on subjects that interest me but after a while I was on the move a lot. Since I couldn’t cut back on my studies or my involvement with associations it was leaving me precious little time with my family. In the end, I have had to curtail my presentations to those I feel can benefit the most from my work. I especially like the International Reading Association (IRA) Conferences.

My research interest involves an assessment of the resources that should be available to students in schools. What I am trying to figure out is what makes a good school library website. Added to this is my constant commitment to offer resources in French, starting with National Library Associations in Canada.

Some websites that I am involved in translating:

http://www.cla.ca/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Awards3

http://www.clatoolbox.ca/casl/nsld.html

http://web.mac.com/technostudent/Site_6/LTLA.html

Basically, I want to expand the concept of Information literacy for teachers and students from having a computer and using Google to having teacher librarians or school library media specialists build websites that can offer student’s access to useful information and tools for their research.

http://www.stenhouse.com/pdfs/8196ch07.pdf

I agree about the modeling of lifelong behavior. Both my kids are motivated to continue their studies. I was a student during most of the lifetime of my son. When someone asks him what I do he often answers that I am a professional student.

As to whether I will go back depends on quite a few things. I am involved in some major projects right now as well as being the editor for SLIC and being the president of CASL. It does seem unwise not to finish but I counldn't devote the time I need to CASL and these projects and be a PHD student. My presidency and most of these projects end in mid 2009. I will take a long look then and assess my options. I can retire in 2020 so if I decide to finish it would be more for personal satisfaction than a career goal.

Richard

[R Scroggi]

I have been debating between National Board Certification or Ph.D.. Because of where I live, I am really needing a Ph. D. program that is primarily online. However, I haven't been able to find one and it doesn't appear that Emporia's is online either. If it is, please let me know. I have family and friends nearby and would love to go there during the summer. Has anyone heard of online Ph.D.s in our field (I'm a teacher/librarian as well).

[Lori Franklin]

Hi. I believe the ESU program is a distance delivery program. My cohort includes students from Idaho, California, Colorado and Nebraska (as well as 2 of us who live in KS). I choose to attend classes on campus for most of the weekends they are offered. I travel there on Friday and attend Friday night's and Saturday's classes in person. Then I travel home Saturday evening and attend class Sunday morning virtually. The other members attend class virtually at all times.

If I were you, I'd at least investigate this program. I looked around a lot. There are 8 Ph.D. LIS programs in the US. I am not aware of other ones that are distance delivery. I checked into the program where I got my MLS at Florida State University, but they still have a residency (for at least a year).

I did national board certification in 2004 and found it to be the most fulfilling personal professional development I've ever completed. I can't say enough good things about NBCT certification and the professional doors it will open for you. Do you live in a district that will pay for your entry fee? That helps a lot in terms of you basically giving up a year or two to complete the process...

Let me know if you need more information! :)

Lori