• Field Placements
• Internships

For a partial list of field placement host sites and contact information, click here.

A field placement (3 credits/150 hours of supervised professional work in an approved information environment) is recommended, especially if you lack professional experience. Placement positions allow students the opportunity to apply their learning to a practical work experience. Field Placements must be coordinated by a faculty supervisor and a site supervisor. Placements are available in Corporate Libraries, Medical Libraries, Legal Libraries, Academic Libraries, Public Libraries, Archives, as well as other organizations.

You can download (and print out) LIS FIELD PLACEMENT GUIDELINES AND FORMS here. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader, version 4.05 or higher [which is FREE and is on ALL of the SIS Lab computers] in order to access these forms, which are PDF files.

Goals (Field Placement):

To offer students an opportunity to extend their academic goals to a practical work experience.

1. To show in concrete terms the work options available to students through an apprenticeship semester which can provide job-related training.
2. To illustrate the Library and Information Science Program commitment to translating information management ideas into action. This implies that the field placement experience is not only goal-oriented, but also ideological; therefore, the students should have a broad range of understanding of the issues confronting libraries and information centers today, obtained by concentrating on a wide range of LIS courses.
3. To broaden the scope of the department and to enrich the program by contact and exchange with community groups and agencies.

Prerequisites (Field Placement):

1. Students must have completed a minimum of twelve credit hours in good academic standing.
2. The field placement must complement the student's education in LIS and other university courses. Field placement assignments will be made on the basis of the student's past experience, or to introduce the student to new areas of information management which complement the student's academic background or area of interest.

Requirements (Field Placement):

1. Students must register for field placement as they would for any other LIS course, which includes an advisory meeting with their faculty advisor to discuss their field placement.
2. In addition to registering for field placement, a one or two page typewritten or word-processed proposal outlining the student's goals must be submitted to the faculty advisor along with the Field Placement Application Form. A file copy of Field Placement Forms must be submitted to the department for record keeping purposes.
3. The proposal must be approved by both the faculty advisor and the site supervisor in the semester prior beginning the field placement.  Samples of Student Field Placement Proposals are available for Faculty Advisors and Students here.
4. Students should plan on working a minimum of 150 hours per term for three credits. Individual schedules will be arranged between the student and the site supervisor and it is the student's responsibility to notify the faculty advisor of the schedule arrangements.
5. Students must meet with their faculty advisor at least once a month, or as necessary, to discuss their progress at the site. It is recommended that the students keep a written log of the placement experience to be examined by and discussed with the faculty advisor.
6. A typewritten or word-processed report of no more than ten pages, relating the field experience to the student's academic goals, is required for the completion of the field experience. This report should also include the student's specific duties at the site and a critique of the strengths and weaknesses of the field placement in terms of academic and personal development. This report must be submitted to the department in order to monitor the effectiveness of the agency in providing professional opportunities to the student.
7. Grading will be based on placement performance as rated by the site supervisor and the quality of the final report as rated by the faculty supervisor.