MLIS: Relevant Professional Certificates
MLIS Career Pathways – Relevant Professional Certificates
These professional certificates can complement the MLIS curriculum by helping students validate skills commonly requested in LIS job descriptions. They can help students translate their library science knowledge into industry-recognized skills and round out their individual skillsets, making them competitive candidates for evolving roles in the information profession.
Academic Librarianship
Strong UX skills can help ensure that students and faculty can find resources easily on library websites and that the user experience across library platforms is smooth.
These certificates teach foundational data & analytical skills, enabling students to effectively consult with researchers and assist faculty in managing their research data. Strong data skills can also help students in their decision-making and evaluation of programs & resources.
Project management skills are useful for any role. This certificate gives students frameworks and strategies for managing multi-stakeholder projects and programs effectively.
Archives and Preservation
This certificate teaches students how to plan and execute complex initiatives, such as digitizing large sets of records and managing collections. It also covers frameworks for managing projects within a team and strategies for effective communication.
This certificate is useful for learning how to clean and interpret data. Strong data analysis skills can help students identify patterns in how collections are used and organize records more effectively.
This certificate teaches foundational coding skills in Python. Python is helpful for automation of tasks, data analysis, and working with digital files and databases.
Data Science
This certificate covers the entire data lifecycle, from data collection to predictive modeling. Students will learn skills in data visualization, statistical analysis, predictive modeling, machine learning algorithms, and data mining. Languages, tools, and libraries include Python, SQL, Jupyter notebooks, Github, Rstudio, Pandas, Numpy, ScikitLearn, Matplotlib, and more.
By focusing on Excel and R, this certificate familiarizes students with common research tools and gives them the skills necessary to use them effectively.
This certificate covers the core practical skills of the data lifecycle, including data cleaning, analysis, and visualization. It serves as a strong foundation for turning raw information into actionable insights.
This certificate emphasizes problem-solving with data. It prepares students to use data for strategic decision-making and to translate complex analysis into clear narratives for stakeholders. Students will also learn tools like SQL, PowerBI, and Python.
This certificate provides specialized training in Power BI, a widely used industry tool for data analysis and visualization. It teaches students how to communicate and present data in a way that allows stakeholders to understand insights easily.
This certificate provides specialized training in Tableau, another widely used tool for data analysis and visualization. It also teaches students how to communicate data clearly to help stakeholders understand complex trends.
This certificate teaches the technical skills needed to build and maintain the repositories where data is stored. It covers how to structure raw data so it remains accessible and secure for the long term.
Digital Curation
Digital curation involves complex, multi-stage initiatives like migrating collections or establishing new preservation services. This certificate provides the frameworks to plan and execute these projects effectively.
This certificate gives students a strong foundation in the practical skills of cleaning, processing, and evaluating datasets. Strong analysis skills can enable students to make informed decisions regarding the digital curation projects they manage.
This certificate teaches the technical skills needed to build and maintain data repositories. It helps students understand the architecture of databases they may work with and covers managing large sets of data and ensuring data integrity.
Digital Services
These UX Design certificates provide the essential frameworks for building digital platforms that are intuitive for patrons. They prepare students to analyze user needs and design virtual library sites & resources that are user-friendly and accessible.
This certificate equips students with the skills to create visually engaging assets, which can be useful for the creation and marketing of digital exhibits, online collections, and library services.
Emerging Technologies
This certificate provides the universal project management skills needed to lead Emerging Technologies initiatives effectively from the initial planning to a successful launch.
The ability to interpret data and make informed decisions is useful for assessing and adopting new tools. This certificate helps students develop core data analysis skills that can be used to identify opportunities and evaluate the impact of emerging technologies on library services.
Note: Coursera’s Career Academy also has individual courses related to Artificial Intelligence which may be useful as well. See “GenAI in Career Academy” tab.
Information Intermediation
This certificate teaches project management fundamentals that can be helpful in leading information intermediation initiatives effectively, such as managing communication with diverse stakeholders, strategic planning, and adapting to changes.
Information Organization
This certificate teaches key skills needed to lead information organization projects, such as coordinating system migrations, setting timelines, and managing technical teams.
These certificates give students a strong foundation in practical data analysis skills, helping them evaluate the performance of library services and make informed decisions about the programs they manage.
Leadership and Management
These certificates provide structured frameworks to help leaders plan resources and coordinate complex initiatives. They also teach communication and stakeholder management skills useful for leading teams toward common goals. Google’s project management course is more agnostic whereas IBM Project Management is more focused on preparation for the CAPM certification.
These certificates build the advanced strategic planning skills necessary to oversee multiple related projects. This is useful for ensuring consistent delivery and aligning diverse library services with the institution’s broader mission. Both professional certificates can help prepare students for the PgMP exam.
Public Librarianship
Public librarians can serve as community programming coordinators and are also now being tasked to manage a variety of different programs and initiatives. This certificate provides the structured frameworks needed to lead and execute those projects effectively.
Libraries are increasingly using social media to engage with their community and market their services. Having a strong understanding of how to effectively use social media to support library goals, help increase patronage, and promote the library’s brand online.
These certificates provide students with a toolkit for effective visual communication. They can enable librarians to design professional, engaging instructional and marketing materials that represent the library well.
School Librarianship
This certificate provides the project management skills needed to lead school library initiatives effectively, such as coordinating book fairs, managing budgets, and executing collaborative lesson plans with teachers.
These certificates provide students with a toolkit for effective visual communication. Students can learn how to design professional, engaging instructional materials, presentations, and newsletters related to library goals.
Special Librarianship
This certificate teaches the core skills needed to lead any kind of project or initiative effectively. Students will learn how to manage communication with different parties and create and execute well thought out plans.
Web Programming
This certificate covers HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and React. It also teaches students how to use industry-standard tools such as Bootstrap, React, and Figma.
This certificate covers Python, Linux, Git, MySQL/SQL, REST APIs. It also teaches API development.
This certificate develops student proficiency in Python. Covers the basics to advanced concepts like generative AI and cloud computing
These certificates teach user-centered design and key UX/UI skills such as prototyping and testing usability, which can apply to developing library websites and systems in an accessible and inclusive way.
Youth Services
This certificate teaches core project management skills that can help students coordinate and execute youth services programs and outreach efforts effectively.
This certificate could offer transferable skills for guiding young individuals, and covers areas such as coaching, client relations, conducting needs assessments, and building community partnerships.