I am kind of wavering between going to Queens College or Palmer LIU in Manhattan. Applied and got into both (RA!) Queens is a hell of a lot cheaper so I'll probably wind up there whatever the answer, but I am a bit worried about the quality of the program, and doing a web search don't find a lot of Queens graduates in prominent poistions?

Any Queens people out there to reassure me? Does it matter that much where you get the degree?

As a professor at Queens, the main difference between Queens and Post as far as I know, besides cost, is work, and the necessity of taking our required exit course where you have to do a research project (not just a paper). We try to work your butts off and are generally happy with our reputation as a "grind" school, because we want people able to do entry level work leaving us as graduates. We also love the diversity of our student body by age and ethnicity.

While all our grads may not be distinguished, one was recently written up in the New York Times arts section recently as the NYPL's "Librarian to the Stars" because of all the writers he has helped. Another distinguished alum who is recognized as such is Joyce Valenza who is nationally known in school library circles.

In terms of the intellectual "challenge" of LIS school, much of it is socialization to a new profession, or for those working in a clerical or paraprofessional level in a library, an in-depth introduction to the "whys" rather than the "hows" of the profession. Like many, I thought it was intellectual crap, but I can't tell you how often I have used what I learned as an MLS student. The LIS field is also increasingly technical, with many humanities and social science majors find daunting, but thinking about 21st century information and communication offers a great many challenges, believe me.

Mary K. Chelton
Professor, GSLIS
Queens College