American MLIS equivalent in the NL

[Suzanne]

Hello!

I'm interested in perhaps relocating to the Netherlands and would like to know what librarian positions correspond to the american MLIS degree level. I've done a bit of research and see that there is a batchelor type degree for librarians-- is this the minimum requirement for most librarian positions?
I've got EU citizenship (irish) and speak three other foreign languages besides English (unfortunately, not Dutch..yet) and am interested in public or special library work.
Any feedback, advice or anecdotes about the dutch library world would be appreciated!

[Henrike Bos]

Hi Suzanne,

If the American MLIS degree level is the equivalent of the Irish MLIS degree I've obtained at University College Dublin I'd say that the Dutch equivalent is 'Documentaire Informatiewetenschap' (Documentary Information Science) at the UvA (University of Amsterdam). Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be an English version of the site. There is a bachelor of Documentaire Informatiewetenschap as well.

In the Netherlands there are positions at Backoffice level (staff usually have a higher qualification) and Frontoffice level and there are schools at medium (MBO, medium professional education) and higher level (higher professional education) such as IDM (information services and management) and MIM (Media and Information Management). For more information about degrees I would advice you to contact Nuffic which is a Dutch organisation for cooperation in higher education. Their website is http://www.nuffic.nl/home. For more information about working in Dutch public libraries you can contact Marian Koren of the Dutch Association of Public Libraries who is also a member of this community. Maybe other members of the community can advice you about the opportunities of working in a Dutch special library?

Best wishes,
Henrike