Creating Meaningful Hybrid and Virtual Internship Opportunities for Students

Experiential learning is a component of many undergraduate and graduate programs in disciplines like library and information science. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, sponsoring institutions had to rethink or restructure internships and field study opportunities for students to provide work experience in a hybrid or virtual environment. This panel features supervisors and students who participated in or managed a diverse range of virtual or hybrid Special Collections and Archives internships focusing on reference and instruction, digital humanities, archival processing, and transcription. The session will include discussion of tips for success, challenges, lessons learned, and benefits for the students involved, to aid SSA members considering similar programs at their own institutions. We welcome questions and conversation about any of these topics during the live Q&A session, in addition to thoughts on the future of virtual internships in the field.

Presented at the Society of Southwest Archivists Virtual Annual Meeting 2021, “Going with the Flow”.

Notes:

Library/Special Collections Role:

I am the Head of Special Collections and University Archives at the Thomas G. Carpenter Library at the University of North Florida, which is located in Jacksonville Florida.

Special Collections and University Archives is a repository at UNF that includes more than 2300 linear feet of archival materials, rare books, and manuscripts. The collections focus on Northeast Florida and document local political development, civil rights, race relations, education, literature, urban planning, visual and performing arts, archaeology, and social welfare.

Like most special collections we have a lot of backlogs and projects we would like to complete but not enough time or personnel to do the work. Working with Clayton and his students has enabled us to complete projects we wouldn’t normally have time for.

The work the students have done – specifically transcribing handwritten manuscripts, has added value to our digital collection, particularly in an age when fewer of our patrons are able to read cursive.

From a more selfish point-of-view, I enjoy working with students who have an interest in library science and working in archives. I feel that encouraging their enthusiasm ensures a strong cohort of future archivists.