Carolyn and others:

If you are new to the archival/library profession, the best place to look to see hiring trends and what degrees are necessary are job ads. I think that you will find that more archival institutions are opting for graduates with an MLIS than with subject speciality graduate degrees (although one can come in handy in addition to the MLIS).

In the archival field, there is a broad switch from a masters degree in History to the MLIS. What is nice about the MLIS is that it makes you qualified to work in a library as opposed to just an archive. It's important in this day to have as many job opportunities as possible. Libraries will no longer hire those without an MLIS except in a support position, such as a library assistant or a tech guy/gal. Also many archives are located within academic institutions and within library systems. 

I have worked in both an academic library and now an archive, and I find the whole library vs. archive discussion to be rather silly. They have more in common than either field is probably willing to admit, but, more importantly, with the strains on both fields in terms of finances we should all be happy that we're employed at either an archive or a library.


Suzan Alteri
AFA/AFSCME/ALPA Archivist
Walter P. Reuther Library
Wayne State University
313.577.9773

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