There is a NEW LIBR 294 Professional Experience - Internships Guidelines.

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NEW SLIS LIBR 294 Professional Experience Internships Guidelines. (Effective March 27, 2007)

Library Practicum Guidelines

See Student Professional Experience Library Internship Application form.

Library Professional Experience general information

Definition

The practicum is a field-based learning experience that takes place in a non-school library media center environment. Although a practicum is not required, it allows the student to obtain work experience while pursuing stated learning outcomes. It is designed to provide the student the opportunity to test theories and to practice skills learned in the student's program.

Administrative Concerns

The practicum is planned in cooperation with the student and the faculty member in charge of the practicum plus the site supervisor.

Students may enroll in one or two practica for up to 8 hours of credit. Only one practicum may be taken in a semester. Practica may be taken for 2, 3, or 4 units of credit blocks. The student is expected to work 45 hours per unit of credit, so a student's time commitment may range from 90 to 180 hours. The customary 3-unit practicum requires 135 hours of work in a professional setting.

Students must enroll in LIBR 294 during the term in which they are performing a substantial portion of the work, and the student will be expected to complete the requisite hours by the end of that term. The student and the site supervisor may negotiate to allow the student to begin working before the term starts. This is done on a case-by-case basis.

A student must have completed the 3 required courses, at least 3 advanced courses (excluding LIBR 298), and be in good academic standing (3.0 GPA or above and no outstanding incompletes) to participate in a practicum. In addition, the practicum site may require that certain courses be taken before the practicum begins.

A practicum may not be done at a student's regular place of employment. Students pursuing a second practicum must attain their second practicum at a different institution than the first and preferably in another subdiscipline, in order to expose them to the variety of work in the information sciences.

Students who wish to undertake a practicum outside the United States must be able to read, write, and speak the language(s) of the country where they wish to work. They must be able to demonstrate an awareness of the culture of the country and a knowledge of library services available in that country. SLIS and SJSU can assume no responsibility for their health and safety as a practicum student outside the U.S. nor for their funding for such an experience.

Students should be covered by health insurance at all times during the practicum experience.

The practicum is graded CR/NC (credit/no credit).

Responsibilities of the Student

Deciding what is to be learned. The student should determine what type of environment is desired and what the learning outcomes will be. A statement of those learning outcomes will need to be submitted to the faculty practicum supervisor (via online form) and site supervisor(s) (in printed format) before the practicum begins.
Identifying the Practicum site. Students may select a practicum site from the practicum Web page, or they may wish to design a new practicum that more directly relates to their professional interests and goals. Students creating their own practicum must have the new site approved by the faculty supervisor.
Negotiating Practicum with faculty supervisor. Each semester, a faculty member will serve as faculty supervisor for students doing practica that semester. That individual will be designated as the instructor of record for LIBR 294 on the schedule for that semester. Practicum students should consult with the faculty supervisor regarding the practicum site, learning outcomes, required forms, deadlines, and course-related submissions.
Negotiating a Practicum with the Site Supervisor. Once a practicum site has been selected, the student will identify a professional at the site who will act as site supervisor. Based upon the student's learning outcomes, the student and the site supervisor will develop various project/activities that the student will pursue to accomplish these learning outcomes. The student and site supervisor will also negotiate the work schedule to be followed, as well as handle any additional paperwork that may be required by the site.
Completing and Submitting the Practicum Application Form. Complete this form and follow the instructions on it for submitting it to the appropriate faculty member. Please remember to include your e-mail address.
Registration. See the class schedule to determine which section of Libr 294 you wish to take. Use the 5 digit class number when you enroll on MySJSU.
Practicum Orientation. An orientation meeting may be held at the beginning of the semester. This meeting will be either virtual or face to face. Announcements regarding time and place will be made by your instructor through the Practicum Blackboard site.
Joining and actively participating in the Practicum Blackboard Site.

Responsibilities of the Faculty Supervisor

Conducting an orientation session. Each semester, the faculty supervisor will conduct an orientation session for students interested in doing a practicum during the next term. This orientation may be either face to face or virtual. Students interested in a practicum should participate in one of these sessions.
Approving the learning outcomes. The faculty supervisor should insure that the student's learning outcomes are realistic with regard to what the student hopes to accomplish, the time allotted, and any limitations inherent within the practicum site itself.
Monitoring the student's progress. The faculty supervisor will be responsible for monitoring the students' progress toward achieving their learning outcomes.
Serving as liaison between SLIS and the Practicum site. The faculty supervisor will request feedback from the site supervisor regarding the student's performance. This feedback may derive from site visits and/or telephone, written, or e-mail contact depending on the schedules of the faculty and site supervisor and the particular needs of the student.
Evaluating the student's performance. The faculty supervisor is responsible for collecting the student's report and evaluation forms and assigning a grade of credit or no credit. Feedback from the site supervisor is used to determine the student's final grade.

Responsibilities of the Site Supervisor

Scheduling/assignments. The site supervisor shall be someone in a professional position at the practicum site able to make commitments on behalf of the organization. The site supervisor should set up a regular work schedule for the student and assign various projects and tasks. The student's work assignments should represent professional-level activities, although SLIS recognizes that in certain environments some non-professional and/or clerical tasks are a part of the professional's responsibilities.
Providing guidance and feedback. The site supervisor should provide the student with a thorough orientation to the site and should meet regularly with the student to provide feedback and assess performance. The site supervisor is also responsible for helping integrate the student into the organization's work culture and daily operations.
Maintaining contact with faculty supervisor. While it is the faculty supervisor's responsibility to contact the site supervisor during the practicum, the site supervisor should not hesitate to contact the faculty member when the situation warrants it.
Completing a brief online evaluation form. To assist the faculty supervisor in assigning the student a grade, the site supervisor will be asked to complete a brief evaluation of the student's performance during the practicum.

Evaluation of the Student's Performance

There are several instruments used in evaluating a student's practicum performance, some optional and others required. The actual method or combination of methods used for evaluation will depend on student's established practicum goals and assignments. All students, however, are required to submit to the faculty advisor the following documents upon completion of the practicum:

Log. This provides a record of activities and an analysis of what was learned, problems encountered, and questions generated. This log should be more than a collection of unrelated facts or impressions but truly a reflection of the student's learning experience. Students will post their log entries on the practicum Blackboard site according to the schedule set by the faculty supervisor.
Final report. At the conclusion of the practicum, the student will submit a final report indicating how the learning outcomes established for the practicum were met. If for some reason learning outcomes were only partially met or not met at all, some discussion of what happened will be necessary. The deadline for the final report will be set by the faculty supervisor each term.
Site evaluation form. This allows the student to provide feedback on the practicum site's effectiveness in hosting a SLIS student and recommend its continuance or discontinuance.
Site supervisor's evaluation form. This online form provides feedback by the site supervisor on the student's practicum performance. A portion of the student's grade will be based on this evaluation.
Additional requirements. In addition to the above, students may also be asked to submit supplemental materials to the faculty supervisor such as written reports, bibliographies or reading lists, portfolios, or samples of professional work.

These guidelines are adapted from: Association for Library and Information Science Educators, "Guidelines for Practices and Principles in the Design, Operation and Evaluation of Student Field Experiences in Library and Information Science" (1983), and revised March 1998.

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