University Libraries Practicum Opportunities
Program Overview
Students from the Kent State MLIS program may fulfill their Culminating Experience requirement by completing a practicum at the Ohio State University Libraries. The practicum consists of two phases. In the first phase, a student works with an experienced librarian at a range of chosen tasks for 100 hours. The work involved depends to some extent on the student's area of specialization, but is intended to cover a diverse range of tasks. In the second phase, the student has an option to complete a project requiring at least 50 additional hours of work and/or research. A student may propose his or her own project or may complete an already-proposed project. The list below describes some of the projects that are currently available at OSUL.
Projects Available at OSUL
Project title: Practicum Opportunities in Library Instruction
Click here for a printer-friendly PDF of this opportunity
Description of project:
A practicum for an MLS graduate student with the Teaching & Learning unit of The Ohio State University Libraries may focus on one of the projects described below.
Amount of time required: 100 hours
Class Presentations:
Assist librarians with library instruction presentations. May include monitoring of online assignments for the Make the Leap program.
Note: Available only during Autumn quarter.
Online Credit Courses:
Assist librarians with development of online courses. Requires non‐credit (no fee) enrollment in OSU Libraries online research skills course to learn course and assignment structure. May include testing of assignments, or assisting in the development of new assignments, and creation of new courses.
Online Learning Objects:
Work with librarians to develop, update, and test online handouts, tutorials, and movies.
Requirements: Experience with HTML, image management software, and Adobe Acrobat Standard or Professional.
Assessment:
Assist the Coordinator with ongoing assessment projects that involve collecting and analyzing data related to program evaluation / effectiveness. Participate in committee activities.
Note: Knowledge or experience with statistical measures and report generation is helpful.
Research and Development:
Assist the Coordinator or other librarians with special research projects on instructional topics. May involve compiling and summarizing professional literature, or reviewing/describing Web projects from other libraries.
Contact:
To arrange a practicum, send a message describing your particular interests along with your resume to:
Nancy O'Hanlon
Coordinator for Teaching and Learning
ohanlon.1@osu.edu
- or -
5814 Ackerman Library
600 Ackerman Rd
Columbus, OH 43202
Project title: Promoting Public Services
Description of project:
Academic libraries have generally not been very good at promoting new or existing resources, services, programs, and the like to their potential customers. A little communication, both internal and external, can sometimes go a long way to rectify this. Under the direction of the Assistant Director for Collections, Instruction, and Public Services, the practicum student will (1) learn about new or existing resources, services, programs, etc.; (2) identify suitable internal channels (such as the Collection Awareness Unit and the Libraries’ Communication Office) as well as local media for communicating about and promoting them; (3) develop, draft, and submit for publication promotional materials (announcements, press releases, feature articles, etc.) appropriate to specific audiences; and (4) assess the effectiveness of promotional communication.
The practicum student will become familiar with the full range of the Libraries’ new or existing resources, services, programs, and the like mostly by interviewing both their providers as well as their intended customers.
Amount of time required: 100 hours
Contact:
Jim Bracken
bracken.1@osu.edu
292-4739
490C Science and Engineering Library
175 West 18th Avenue
Columbus, OH 43210
Project title: Survey, Assessment and Recommendations for Publications and Books in The Historic Textiles and Clothing Collection.
As a Special Collection of The Ohio State University Libraries, the Historic Textiles and Clothing Collection is an archival resource of approximately 10,000 items of clothing and textile material culture. The Collection includes books and journals relevant to clothing history, fashion history and design which serve as research and study references.
Description of project:
Phase 1 Description:
Conduct an accurate survey of the books, journals and files of printed matter that reside in the HCT Collection. Determine which items should be catalogued as non-circulating, to remain in the HCTC. Determine which items should be integrated into the general circulating collection of the OSU Library System and OhioLINK. Determine which items should be housed in the Rare Books Collection. Make recommendations regarding appropriate conservation, storage and cataloging of printed matter that is pertinent to this special collection of artifacts.
Estimated time required: 50 hours
Phase 2 Description:
Reference books in HCTC Office. Prepare for cataloging books now in the HCTC Office (approximately 20 linear feet). Determine the appropriate procedure to accession and catalog these books into the OSU Library system as non-circulating books. Arrange books on shelves according to catalogue numbers.
Estimated time required: 50 hours
Phase 3 Description:
Catalog journals (historic and contemporary) and designer files which are in the HCTC. Prepare for cataloging sets of fashion and clothing journals dating from the late 19th century to 2008; prepare for cataloging files of clothing designers, now in file folders. Determine appropriate storage medium for journals and designer files which are used frequently by students in the Fashion Program. These materials should be accessible to researchers examining garments in the collection.
Estimated time required: 100 hours
Contact:
Gayle Strege, Curator
Historic Costume and Textiles Collection
strege.2@osu.edu
614-292-3090
or
Harriet W. McBride, Ph.D.
Coordinator of Volunteers
mcbrideh@ohiodominican.edu
614-571-1621
Project title: Science and Engineering Library
Description of project:
Students may complete the practicum portion of the requirement by performing reference services at the Science and Engineering Library.
Amount of time required: 50 hours
Possible projects include:
- Online instructional tutorials
- Digitization of materials
- Collection analysis/development
- Web materials search and evaluation
- Access services
- Science and engineering information resources instruction
- Other project suggestions are welcome
Contact:
Danny Dotson
dotson.77@osu.edu
688-0053
Science and Engineering Library
175 West 18th Avenue
Columbus, OH 43210