Preparing the New Professionals: Assessing the impact of library internships on graduate student success Tyler Scott Smith, Intern and Fieldwork Supervisor Linda A. Kopecky, Head, Research & Instructional Support Department Academic libraries are frequent training grounds for MLIS graduate- students: Are student workers obtaining relevant marketable skills? What is the perceived value of applied training? Do mentors impact student employee success? A study on the experience of former academic library student workers, who are now working professionals in their field, revealed consistent themes on training needs, professional development, and mentoring. Findings have informed the best practices for internships and other applied learning tracks. This project is one in a series examining the value of the academic library to graduate student success. - MLS students who complete the UWM RIS internship demonstrate early professional employment in a challenging job market, at a rate that far exceeds their peers. - Formal mentoring is valued, and research shows it increases student success. - Working alongside a librarian is perceived as the most effective and valuable component of the internship, exceeding direct user contact. - Based on coded themes, a strong emphasis was placed on the effectiveness of reference training and the long-term use of the practical skills learned. - Interns and fieldworkers desire professional inclusion such as reimbursement for conference travel, attendance to all staff meetings and to hold “higher stakes” in overall library decision making. - Interns create a network of professional contacts that continue to directly benefit their careers. Objective: To determine the value of the UWM Libraries RIS internship for student learning and professional success, and identify areas for program improvement. Design: Two-part survey utilizing Qualtrics software; quantitative and qualitative design elements; anonymous. Setting: Program is in a large academic library in the United States of America. Participants work in libraries of varying sizes (95%) or for a research product and service vendor (5%). Subjects: Forty former interns and fieldwork students from the last five program years, and who had concurrently earned the MLIS degree. Methods: The Methodology employed was a mixed method survey which allowed for both quantitative and qualitative data to be gathered. The majority of the quantitative data were gathered through Likert scales which allowed the respondents to answer closed ended questions about their experience. The qualitative data were gathered via open ended questions the included directed responses but with no requirement or structure requirements for information entry. This data were collected over a 21 day period. A recent study elsewhere found former interns perceived their experience could have been improved by the appointment of a single dedicated coordinator for recruitment and oversight, as well as more feedback on the quality of their work. Source: Williams, H. R. (2011). Structure May Be Key to Incorporating Library School Interns in Academic Library Environments. Evidence Based Library & Information Practice, 6(3), Paid internships provide a competitive edge in a tight job market. An undergraduate study found 60% of paid interns had a job offer by graduation, compared to 37% for unpaid interns, and 36% for students with no internship experience. Source: National Association of Colleges and Employers. (2013). Student Survey Class of Bethlehem, PA: National Association of Colleges and Employers. This piece is a memoir of sorts written about what “works” within the academic library world as mentors working with future library professionals. Sears finds a new appreciation for her past mentors and insists on the importance of future formalization of mentoring programs for interns and fieldworkers. Source: Sears, S. (2014). Mentoring to Grow Library Leaders. Journal of Library Administration, 54(2), Librarian position of Intern and Fieldwork Supervisor has been created to provide the program added attention and assessment. - Regular group professional development opportunities are being created to supplement the individual experiences. - A “Senior Intern” position has been added, with promotion to that title based on skills assessment and readiness to assume increased independent work and peer mentoring. - Mentoring component to be redesigned, to best utilize those librarians cited as strongest in this area. - Ongoing assessment, for continuous improvement. Internship Paid position, approximately 20 hours per week for 9-12 months. Fieldwork Unpaid position working in lieu of classroom time for course credit, approximately 150 hours within one semester. MLIS Master of Library & Information Science RIS Research & Instructional Support Department UWM University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Q: DO INTERNSHIPS IMPACT STUDENT SUCCESS?METHODOLOGYFINDINGS ACTIONS AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS FROM THE LITERATURE Tyler Scott Smith * * Linda A. Kopecky * * This project is part of the program “Assessment in Action: Academic Libraries and Student Success” which is undertaken by the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) in partnership with the Association for Institutional Research and the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. The program, a cornerstone of ACRL's Value of Academic Libraries initiative, is made possible by the Institute of Museum and Library Services. DEFINITIONS / ABBREVIATIONS CONTACT INFORMATIONASSESSMENT IN ACTION Figure 4. The second survey asked for an assessment of the professional staff with whom the respondents had worked. Figure 3. The first survey solicited feedback on the general program experience and skills acquisition for professional careers. Figure 2. The well known University survey tool Qualtrics was used to ensure anonymity and to allow for lengthy and detailed answers from respondents. Figure 1: The program assessed has had over 200 employees. This map shows the current location of some of the past interns and fieldworkers. UWM Libraries