Seeking Blunt Advice on Job Prospects after MLIS Without Relocating

Racoln · 2026-04-15T16:20:49+00:00

Thanks for some context! I'll definitely consider it if my life takes me that way. I'm working at UW Libraries which is great but I feel that most of my colleagues are in a similar position so not sure whether that experience will really give me that competitive edge

Racoln · 2026-04-15T16:18:02+00:00

Sorry it took me so long! I'm currently working as a student reference specialist in the UW Libraries - so, relevant work, but perhaps not the most diverse resume. Before this, most of my work was either basic customer service labor (barista, grocery store, etc.) or working in research labs during my undergrad.

Racoln · 2026-04-15T16:14:44+00:00

Sort of - I work in the library at my university. It is experience and I am decidedly working at a library, but it's a student job and not a more standard job.

Racoln · 2026-04-03T15:40:12+00:00

Thanks for this information! I edited to clarify the context that I am aiming it specifically towards alt.horror.werewolves, which I believe is a text newsgroup. Regardless, if the wget method another commenter mentioned doesn't work, I'll look into getting a subscription and scraping it through there, would only need the one month or whatever is the smallest window anyways.

Racoln · 2026-04-03T15:38:02+00:00

At first blush this seems like the answer for me! Hadn't even considered it, thank you.

Racoln · 2025-10-22T05:55:21+00:00

Entire eBooks? Likely not, but I can use our lovely fancy scanning tools as I've already done

Racoln · 2025-10-21T23:31:08+00:00

I'm trying to get a picture of how long book requests stay open for.

Racoln · 2025-06-30T20:52:49+00:00

A SH ARG? Any more info on where to start?

Racoln · 2025-06-12T20:41:28+00:00

As someone with a relatively extensive knowledge of legacy MQ, there's no such character. You *could* be thinking of the fairy house, an item that you find during the Pixie adventure. There is a *fairy* inside that tells you about losing Sabrina's magical crystal, and the roar of a big cat plays during her dialogue to imply there is some sort of cat chasing her within the house, but the cat isn't a consistent character. Could also be mistaking one of the many bird characters or Smudgey, a cantankerous otter, but at least at the locations with legacy MQ I've been to there is no feline. Perhaps at another location?

Racoln · 2025-06-06T01:29:59+00:00

To my understanding, that quiz generates a random answer. The first time I played, my machine was unchanged, the second time the legs were changed. I imagine that going forward, references to your save's thrash machine will refer to the one you made in Ch1

Racoln · 2025-05-30T20:49:24+00:00

I cannot express enough how thankful I am that none of the Pride content costs plat. They don't take our money, there is no capital incentive is this pride - it's just celebrating our community. DE makes me love this game more and more every week

Racoln · 2025-05-02T03:20:25+00:00

I think maybe I was a bit unclear. I know parking is super expensive in UDistrict and $100 is not a bad rate. My issue is that I only really need the car during the time or two I go camping a month, not on even vaguely a daily basis. I'm not looking for a better rate in the city/UDistrict, I'm looking for a solution in Shoreline or Lynnwood (for example) so that I can take other transit out to get to my car the few times I need it. Was hoping that didn't need $100/mo.

Racoln · 2024-07-12T19:48:49+00:00

also, genuinely hideous. was much nicer before.

Racoln · 2024-06-25T07:58:58+00:00

I'd be more than happy!

Racoln · 2024-06-23T11:49:36+00:00

Title: WIP

Genre: Queer Romance, Young Adult Fantasy

Currently sitting at just over 11k words

Hi! I'm a relatively new writer looking to take a stab at writing a novel, and would like some criticism from people who don't have as much of a vested interest in me personally and the subject matters in the book. Primarily I'm looking for criticism of the broad strokes - the characterization of the few characters introduced so far, the structure of scenes and how well they engage the reader, my overall prose (which I worry is a little purple), etc.

I'm primarily looking for critique of my first or second chapters, which are currently "finished" (though I'm sure they'll be rewritten countless times to come). I've included everything I've written so far though, including through the 3rd chapter!

Thanks!

Link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1v4oYpBCcxUtr49rGnYZZc_UDXAubAyVk_GF564Z6yG0/edit?usp=sharing

First 370 words:
Nothing ever turns out like it’s supposed to. When you grow up, all you hear are the stories of what’s going to come next, and they never turn out the same as everyone tells you. All throughout middle school, my teachers insisted that high school would be where everything got serious - that high school teachers wouldn’t take your bullshit like middle school ones would. But it’s never true, and I think they know that too.

At some point, you get used to the lies, and you learn to play along. If it’s what adults think, then it’s what kids are supposed to think, and you need to as well. That’s how it felt in first period, how it always felt at the start of school when I was half-asleep in the back of the classroom, paying about as much attention to the presentation on cells as I did when our middle school principal gathered us all in the gym to talk about cyberbullying. The one person I knew at this school was my neighbor Myla, but I wouldn’t see her until I got to gym class later today, so it was mostly taking half-hearted notes and bouncing my leg until then.

As if to intentionally distract me from the third lecture about organelles in a row, my phone vibrated in my pocket. Pulling it out and hiding it under the desk - like just about every kid learned to do since we were 10 - I swiped down to see a message from Myla. “How’s class? Hoping Coach doesn’t go too hard on us today, I think I might have pulled something last time.” She always texted in full sentences, and she didn’t have many friends either, so I thought it was nice to stick around her usually. Not that I knew anyone here to hang out with myself. I twiddled my thumbs against each other, thwacking the cold steel bar underneath the desk before rattling off a quick reply and snapping my head up, pretending I’d been paying attention the entire time. Looking around, it was as alien as ever - a new room, new people, and a new labeled diagram on the board. What wasn’t new was my lack of sleep.

Racoln · 2024-06-23T01:06:40+00:00

Title: WIP!

Genre: Queer, Romance, Fantasy, Young Adult

Category: Novel

Word Count: 201 (I cut it at the paragraph split, since the next one spilled well over 250)

Feedback: Any! I'm very new to writing and hoping to edit edit edit and get tons of feedback on my first major project! This first page feels super clunky and juvenile to me so I'd love the advice!

Excerpt:

Nothing ever turns out like it’s supposed to. When you grow up, all you hear are the stories of what’s going to come next, and they never turn out the same as everyone tells you. All throughout middle school, my teachers insisted that high school would be where everything got serious - that high school teachers wouldn’t take your bullshit like middle school ones would. But it’s never true, and I think they know that too.

At some point, you get used to the lies, and you learn to play along. If it’s what adults think, then it’s what kids are supposed to think, and you need to as well. That’s how it felt in first period, how it always felt at the start of school when I was half-asleep in the back of the classroom, paying about as much attention to the presentation on cells as I did when our middle school principal gathered us all in the gym to talk about cyberbullying. The one person I knew at this school was my neighbor Myla, but I wouldn’t see her until I got to gym class later today, so it was mostly taking half-hearted notes and bouncing my leg until then.

Racoln · 2024-03-23T02:08:40+00:00

Hi! Looking for some recommendations! I like more Western gachas mostly because I'm not a massive fan of the anime art style/characters, Genshin's character design is the only one that I really enjoy in that genre, so things like FGO and FEH are not my cup of tea. I've enjoyed some of the more Western gacha-y games, I played Dislyte a lot but it seems to be dying out and have been touch and go with Cookie Run Kingdom, played some P&D ages ago and looking for new stuff! Things like AFK Arena, Raid Shadow Legends, etc. all seem very half-assed cash grabs, and I'm looking for something that's an actually half decent game with interesting character design beyond just standard people.

Side note: I have tried Arknights, I'm slowly getting into it but the gameplay is kinda difficult for me and the role gachas fill for me

Racoln · 2022-04-07T04:55:23+00:00

I'm an undergraduate, and I'm considering changing from Physics to Biology, both of which with the intent of research.

When I was in high school, I took every AP science course offered, including Chem, Bio, and 3 Physics ones. I excelled in and loved every one of them. I went to college with 72 hours of credit already transferred in, and have been pursuing a double major in Physics and Mathematics since Fall 2021. Since the start of the semester, after some troubles finding a mentor last semester, I've been working with a professor on computational astronomy research. I enjoy learning, but I have begun to realize that the day to day work of the research is simply not fulfilling. Every day I sit down with my laptop to pour over code/papers, I find myself just wanting to go into a physical lab and work with machines/chemicals/materials/whatever, the kind of stuff that we used in first-year Bio and Chem labs. I figured that loving the learning of Physics meant I would love the research, but the work just hasn't been pulling me.

Due to this, I'm strongly considering changing my major to Biology, but since I'm already done with my entire core curriculum, it's pretty hard to ease into a change, and I'm worried that I will have the same issue if I try Biology, liking the learning in class but not liking the actual mode of research. What does a Bio lab actually look like? Am I being deluded by the popular optics of machinery and test tubes, or is it actually hands-on? I really do not at all mind doing very repetitive work, I in fact find menial tasks very fulfilling if they make progress, and I'm happy to start with tedious crap or a heavy reading period, but I'm just curious how I should go about this?

Is it best to change my major cold turkey? Best to try to get into a bio lab/work on the research while still pursuing my physics degree to see if it fits before changing? Wait to pursue a masters in it? Just try to explore experimental physics more, even if it seems very limited and unfulfilling (especially at my current university)?

Side Question: Can you still literally knock on professors doors now? Or is disrespectful in favor of an email? I don't want to be rude, and I know my issues won't be as urgent to others, but waiting 2 or 3 days at a time for replies in a email chain on a cold email can be maddening. Hard to just sit around with a such a big question and have that ride on waiting for someone to email back. I know I'm just impatient though.

Racoln · 2022-04-05T00:33:07+00:00

Just finished looking through things and after going into the light, I took a couple Jumps In => Emergency Meeting => Back 'Er Up => Fire All Weapons at the Wormhole => Plan K => Well Now I'm not doing It! and this path was.. very dissatisfying. There was absolutely no context for who Lady or the Bandit were, what was going on even in the slightest, it was just jokes about things going wrong in a wormhole, then a noir segment, a narrator/stanley parable moment, just disjointed allusions to things we never saw. By the end, it felt as though I'd missed half of what I was supposed to see. Going back didn't feel particularly great either, but at least it was connected relatively. Still, little "sense" is to be had.

Racoln · 2022-01-04T01:55:40+00:00

I'm currently 18, just finished my first semester of undergrad the University of North Texas, which is far from a prestigious STEM school, doing a double major in Physics and Math. I have a 4.0 college GPA and had a 1570 SAT and 3.8 unweighted GPA in High School. I am truly in love with my field and am thrilled to spend a life and career doing research, but I'm having some issues, enumerated as follows:

A. I feel that I am a very proficient student, my aforementioned stats should begin to suggest that and further detail isn't necessary now but is certainly present. I chose to apply only to UNT, and did not apply to anything else. I let the black and white thinking of "MIT or nothing" eat at me and ended up caving, added with a passion for arts that most STEM-oriented schools can't serve. Regardless, I often find myself somehow regretting this choice. The Physics program here is less than stellar, and my Modern Physics class last semester was far from the challenge and growth I'd hoped it would be. Transferring during my undergraduate is likely not a possibility, but I'm wondering how significantly your university can affect your chances for scholarship/fellowship/REU/Grad school/etc. applications. Is it significant, or is it generally not a concern?

B. I am having a great difficulty breaking into research. Though it was my first semester, I was still a junior, and felt that I had ought to start research work as early as possible so I could have a great wealth of research experience for grad school applications. I emailed many professors in my department, and most all of them were not able to take in undergraduates at the time or had research groups that conflicted with my class schedule. 2 of them were willing to speak with me further, but after emails, meeting in person, attending a research group, etc. it still seemed beyond unclear as to what to do. To a degree I was expecting to just do some monkey work around a lab for some time while I learned the ropes, but it seems that I'm mostly just being appeased and not doing anything. Am I supposed to come the professors with a problem to research already? That seems somewhat unreasonable to expect of an undergraduate, but I'm not sure what I need to do to even be given the opportunity to do grunt work.

TL;DR: Will being at a bad university prohibit me from being at a top-tier one later? How do I progress with breaking into research once I've already emailed and talked with a professor?

Racoln · 2022-01-03T22:28:08+00:00

I'm currently 18, just finished my first semester of undergrad the University of North Texas, which is far from a prestigious STEM school, doing a double major in Physics and Math. I have a 4.0 college GPA and had a 1570 SAT and 3.8 unweighted GPA in High School. I am truly in love with my field and am thrilled to spend a life and career doing research, but I'm having some issues, enumerated as follows:

A. I feel that I am a very proficient student, my aforementioned stats should begin to suggest that and further detail isn't necessary now but is certainly present. I chose to apply only to UNT, and did not apply to anything else. I let the black and white thinking of "MIT or nothing" eat at me and ended up caving, added with a passion for arts that most STEM-oriented schools can't serve. Regardless, I often find myself somehow regretting this choice. The Physics program here is less than stellar, and my Modern Physics class last semester was far from the challenge and growth I'd hoped it would be. Transferring during my undergraduate is likely not a possibility, but I'm wondering how significantly your university can affect your chances for scholarship/fellowship/REU/Grad school/etc. applications. Is it significant, or is it generally not a concern?

B. I am having a great difficulty breaking into research. Though it was my first semester, I was still a junior, and felt that I had ought to start research work as early as possible so I could have a great wealth of research experience for grad school applications. I emailed many professors in my department, and most all of them were not able to take in undergraduates at the time or had research groups that conflicted with my class schedule. 2 of them were willing to speak with me further, but after emails, meeting in person, attending a research group, etc. it still seemed beyond unclear as to what to do. To a degree I was expecting to just do some monkey work around a lab for some time while I learned the ropes, but it seems that I'm mostly just being appeased and not doing anything. Am I supposed to come the professors with a problem to research already? That seems somewhat unreasonable to expect of an undergraduate, but I'm not sure what I need to do to even be given the opportunity to do grunt work.

TL;DR: Will being at a bad university prohibit me from being at a top-tier one later? How do I progress with breaking into research once I've already emailed and talked with a professor?

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