It’s the beginning of September, which means that a new cohort of students is starting library school. I’d like to welcome you all, especially the McGill first years who I plan to peer pressure into reading my blog. But seriously, the LIS field is an exciting place to be if you take advantage of the opportunities available outside of school. Here’s my advice for having an enjoyable and fruitful experience.

Start with blogs – you’ve already found mine, but if you go through my blogroll, and then the blogroll of each of those blogs, soon you’ll be able to keep up to date on all areas of the biblioblogosphere. Of course, following more than a few blogs will be unmanageable without a feed reader, so anyone not using one should start right away (and if you need helping setting a reader up, feel free to email me or leave me a comment on this post).

Don’t be afraid to approach the second year students when you need help, advice, or just someone to hang out with after class. When I started library school, I was too shy to spend much time talking to the second years, but by the end of the school year, I’d discovered that they were actually more than happy to help. Don’t let this happen to you – make friends with the old-timers early, when you’ll have the most questions and feel the most overwhelmed. Start by adding me as a friend on Facebook, and be sure to join the SIS Facebook group too. Another great way to meet second years is to join a student group – at McGill we have the McGill Library and Information Studies Students Association (MLISSA), and student chapters of the CLA and SLA, in addition to a number of smaller student groups.

You’re embarking on a journey full of possibilities. Enjoy!