general practicum handbook

8/3/2019 General Practicum Handbook

1/13

LI870 General PracticumProcedures and Requirements

School Of Library and Information Management

Emporia State University

Campus Box 40251200 Commercial Street

Emporia, KS 66801

(620) 341-5203(800) 552-4770

https://slim.emporia.edu/Forms/practicumhandbook.pdf


2/13

2

Table of Contents

Checklist for Enrollment ..................................................................................................... 3

LI870 General Practicum Course Syllabus ........................................................................ 4

Instructors ................................................................................................................ 4

Course Prerequisites ................................................................................................ 4

Credits ........................................................................................................................ 4

Course Description .................................................................................................. 4

Competencies Addressed ....................................................................................... 5

Course Outcomes .................................................................................................... 5

Responsibilities of the Student ............................................................................................ 6

Responsibilities of the Site Supervisor ............................................................................... 7

Responsibilities of the SLIM Advisor ................................................................................ 8

List of Possible Practicum Activities .................................................................................. 9

Students Self-Evaluation Form ........................................................................................ 10

Student Performance Evaluation Form............................................................................ 11

General Evaluation and Recommendation Form........................................................... 12

Request for LI870 General Practicum Experience Form ............................................. 13


3/13

3

Checklist for Enrollment in LI870

_____ 1. Determine your personal educational objectives and professional goals that a practicumwould help you to achieve.

_____ 2. Contact your SLIM advisor about your goals and objectives to discuss practicum options,possible practicum sites, and practicum supervision.

_____ 3. With the assistance of your SLIM advisor, identify a site supervisor for the practicum. YourSLIM advisor will serve as your faculty supervisor for the purposes of your practicum or will identifyfor you the individual who will serve in this role for your practicum.

_____ 4. Review the List of Possible Practicum Activities (page 9) with your site supervisor and decidewhich of these are appropriate and useful activities for the particular kind of field experience you areseeking. Keep in mind that these are only suggested aspossibleactivities. You do not need to do themall; likewise, you can create activities not listed here to be part of your practicum.

_____ 5. Write a Practicum Prospectus that sets forth the goals and objectives of your practicum.Include why you want to do a practicum, a timeline for the field experience, and what activities areoffered at this site that will help you meet your goals. Identify at least two problems or needs in thelibrary or organization. For each problem or need, you will design, create, implement, and evaluate aprogram or project with the advice and consent of the site supervisor.

_____ 6. Attach the Request for Practicum Experience form (page 13) and a current resume to yourPracticum Prospectus and submit it to your site supervisor for approval. After your site supervisor hassigned the Request form, send this material to the SLIM advisor for review and approval.

_____ 7. Once approved, your SLIM advisor will forward your name to the SLIM enrollment office as

a student ready to enroll in LI870 (3 credit hours). SLIM Enroll will not let students enroll in apracticum without first receiving clearance from their SLIM advisor. You may take up to twosemesters to complete your practicum experience, but you need to enroll in the course AFTER yourPracticum Prospectus is approved and BEFORE you begin working on your 120 hours.

Note: Students interested in doing a practicum (in the William Allen While Library at Emporia StateUniversity or any other appropriate site) should contact the potential site supervisor as early as possiblebefore the actual practicum is to occur.


4/13

4

LI870 General PracticumCourse Syllabus(Revised Fall 2004)

Instructors:A site supervisor and the local SLIM advisor will collaborate to guide, mentor, and evaluate the

students practicum experience. The site supervisor needs to be a professional working in the library orinformation agency (referred to as the host organization) in which the student is doing the practicum.Whenever possible, an MLS supervisor is preferred. It is expected that this person will have regularcontact with the student during the course of the practicum, act as the students mentor andsupervisor, and evaluate the students performance at the end.

For the General Practicum, the SLIM advisor will be the program director located at each SLIMcampus site or an individual identified by the program director to serve in this role for your practicum.

Course Prerequisites:

The General Practicum is planned as a culminating activity, during which students have an opportunityto practice the skills acquired in the classroom. In a very real sense, the practicum allows students todemonstrate proficiency in these skills, to extend skills, or in some cases, to address skill deficiencies.For this reason, students must have completed required theory courses (801-806) before signing up forthis field experience. In addition, it is highly recommended that the tool courses (811-814) should alsobe completed before signing up for a practicum..

The General Practicum provides an opportunity for students to obtain hands on experience, so thatwhatever deficiencies exist (e.g., related to management, instruction, technological expertise, orprofessionalism) can be identified and addressed before students leave the program. Part of eachstudents responsibility is to recognize skills that need to be improved and knowledge or expertise thatneeds to be acquired.

Credit: 3 hours

Course Description:The General Practicum (LI870) is planned as a supervised field experience and should afford studentsan opportunity to apply theories and techniques learned in the classroom to the exigencies of actualpractice. In order to provide the best experience and to meet the needs of the student and the hostorganization, it is essential that those directly involved work together to design the practicum.

Toward this end, the student is required to articulate objectives for learning and seek a site supervisorwho, together with the SLIM advisor, will share the supervision of the students learning experience.

The professional site supervisor will partner with the SLIM advisor to assist the student in designing anexperience that will help the student accomplish the goals and objectives identified as relevant andvaluable.

The General Practicum requires a minimum of 120 hours of supervised work at an approved site.Grading for the practicum is awarded on a Pass/No Credit basis, and is awarded by the SLIMfaculty supervisor. Readings, study, and activities in addition to the practicum hours are also expectedof practicum students.


5/13

5

Competencies Addressed:The student, the SLIM advisor, and the site supervisor will determine competencies to be developed bythe student in each case. However, all students will be required to demonstrate ability in synthesizingtheory and practice, analyzing the sponsoring agencys program of service in terms of personal goalsand objectives, and reexamining career goals in light of the field experience.

Course Outcomes:

To provide general professional orientation and skill development through a supervised fieldexperience in a library or information agency appropriate for each student. Each student willexperience directed practice work and observation in a representative range of functional areas(e.g., reference and information services, information skills instruction, materials selection andacquisitions, management, technology, and technical services).

To broaden the students perspective and background for improved assimilation and synthesisof general principles and concepts.

To acquaint the student with the mission, administrative organization, policies and procedures,resources and services, and clientele of a particular library or information agency.

To expose the student to working contacts with individual professional librarians; to facilitatethe development of professional attitudes, service ethics, and work habits; to acquaint thestudent with different points of view and a variety of strategies for dealing with informationand service needs and managerial problems and issues.

To provide the student an opportunity for self-reflection and self-evaluation of his or herperformance during the field experience.

To provide the student with the experience of professional evaluation, in terms of generaleducation; professional knowledge and competence; ability to work with others; diligence inthe accomplishment of assigned tasks, etc.


6/13

6

Responsibilities of the Student

As a General Practicum student, you will:

1. Identify the type of practice experience desired.2. Contact your SLIM advisor and the site supervisor. Provide your site supervisor with the SLIM

advisors contact information and vice versa.

3. In collaboration with the site supervisor, create a Practicum Prospectus (see page 3, #1, #4-6).This prospectus should include a timeline for field experience, activities in which you will beengaged, and at least two problems or needs of the host organization. For each of these problemsor needs, you will design, create, implement, and evaluate a program or project with the advice andconsent of the site supervisor. This prospectus must be submitted to the SLIM advisor forapproval before you can enroll in the practicum course.

4. Abide by all the policies and rules of the host agency.5. Maintain a reflective journal of daily activities undertaken during the practicum experience,

including observations, activities and reflections on the experience. This kind of journal providesdocumentation of the practicum for the SLIM advisor, and it may be useful to you when youinterview for jobs. The journal does not have to be shared with the site supervisors unless you wishto do so.

6. Do research in the professional literature for best practices and current information on whateverproject you are working on. Researching on your own anything new that you might tackle in yourprofessional life is a very important habit to develop. Reflections on these searches andconnections between your experiences and your readings should be included throughout your

journal. At the end of your journal, include a briefly annotated bibliography of all your sources.

7. Keep your SLIM advisor apprised of the practicum experience as it advances. Where necessary,you may wish to arrange an onsite visit for the SLIM advisor.

8. Write a one-page summary and evaluation of the two programs or projects you designed, created,implemented, and evaluated.

9. Upon completion of the General Practicum hours, summarize and evaluate the practicumexperience and organization using the Students Self-Evaluation Form (see page 10). Include suchthings as what was learned, what was of particular value, what went particularly well, and what you

would do differently if you had it to do over again. Evaluate your personal progress and yourstrengths and weaknesses in terms of the professional activities undertaken during the practicum.

10.Submit your practicum journal (#5-6), the one-page summary of projects (#8), and a Self-Evaluation form (#9) to your SLIM advisor at the conclusion of the practicum or by the last day ofclasses for the semester, whichever comes first.


7/13

7

Responsibilities of the Site Supervisor

The School of Library and Information Management recognizes that the site supervisor will bedonating both administrative and training time to the General Practicum. In order to make thepracticum a valuable training experience, it is important that the students undertake a broad range of

activities that fulfill course objectives and address course competencies, while at the same timecontributing to the host organization.

The intent of the General Practicum is to allow the student to put into practice techniques learned incourses and to observe principles of good practice in a real setting. It is hoped that students will berotated through a logical sequence of activities to ensure that they understand the various tasks androles available to information professionals within the library or information agency.

In order to ensure that the students goals for the practicum are achieved, and that SLIMsexpectations for the field experience are also met, the site supervisor is asked to meet with the studentto discuss the activities that the student will undertake. (See page 9 for a list of possible activities.) Theactivities that the student will undertake must be presented to the SLIM advisor in the form of a

Practicum Prospectus. This document should also provide a timeline for the practicum and identifytwo problems or needs of the host organization for each of which, with the advice and consent of thesite supervisor, the student will design, create, implement, and evaluate a program or project.

At the end of the General Practicum, the site supervisor will fill out two evaluation forms: (1) theStudent Performance Evaluation Form (see page 11), indicating competence and performance in eachactivity area; and (2) the General Evaluation and Recommendation Form (see page 12) which may bereferenced in support of applications for subsequent professional appointments.

Completed evaluation forms should be sent directly to the SLIM advisor. These documents are used todetermine an appropriate grade for the student and will become part of the students permanent

record.


8/13

8

Responsibilities of the SLIM Advisor

The SLIM advisor will:

1. Assist the student in developing goals for the practicum where necessary.2. Review the Practicum Prospectus and timeline created by the student and site supervisor.3. Notify SLIM enrollment staff that the student is eligible to register for LI870.4. Monitor progress, read the students journal, and assign a final grade at the end of the semester.


9/13

9

List of Possible Practicum ActivitiesLI870 General Practicum

Possible Introductory Activities

_______ Meet library staff / administration

_______ Review mission / goals statement of organization_______ Review objectives and policies of the library / organization

_______ Review service priorities and philosophy of the library / organization

_______ Review the schedule, goals, and objectives of the Practicum

_______ Tour the facility / computer labs (web pages), where applicable

_______ Review policies related to access, confidentiality, and copyright

Possible Participatory Activities

_______ Participate in daily activities of the library / agency

_______ Assist individuals in the use of library materials or hardware_______ Participate in reading advisory / promotion activities

_______ Provide information skills instruction to individuals and groups.

_______ Other

Possible Administrative/Management Activities

_______ Review administrative structure of the library / organization

_______ Review budgeting procedures (prioritizing / allocating / reporting)

_______ Review staffing policies, job descriptions, and evaluation criteria for library staff positions

_______ Review technical services: procedures for selection, acquisitions, and cataloguing of serials

and monographs in all media / genre / formats

_______ Review public relations and outreach programs

_______ Review cooperation / participation activities the library or agency has with other libraries and

agencies

_______ Review policies and procedures for circulation, resource sharing, and interlibrary loan

_______ Examine automated systems (circulation, accounting, LANs, etc.)

_______ Review weeding schedules and procedures

_______ Review procedures for book repair and collection maintenance

_______ Review procedures for storage and maintenance of equipment

_______ Review procedures for selection, acquisition, evaluation and purchasing of equipment,

including state bidding requirements, writing specifications, etc., if applicable

_______ Attend staff meetings

_______ Attend professional meetings where applicable


10/13

10

Students Self-Evaluation Form

Please complete and submit, with the other required documents, this self-evaluation form as requiredat the completion of the General Practicum. This form provides an opportunity for you to commenton your strengths and areas for improvement as evidenced in this practicum experience.

Students Signature ________________________________Date ____________


11/13

11

Student Performance Evaluation Form(To be completed by Site Supervisor)

Students Name _________________________________

Intellectual/Professional qualifications

Excellent AboveAverage

Average Fair Poor No criteriato evaluate

N/A

General Knowledge

Use of English: Spoken

Use of English: Written

Foreign Language Proficiency

Other

Knowledge of information sources

Administrative ability/leadership

Technological expertise

Professional Ability

Service Ethic

Ability to work with patrons

Ability to work with staff

Personal Qualifications

Excellent AboveAverage

Average Fair Poor No criteriato evaluate

N/A

Integrity

Poise

Emotional Stability

Industry/Thoroughness

Enthusiasm/Initiative

Accuracy

Dependability

Judgment

Adaptability

Imagination/Creativity

Other

Signature of Site Supervisor ________________________________ Date ___________


12/13

12

General Evaluation and Recommendation(To be completed by Site Supervisor)

Please evaluate the student listed below, giving special attention to specific strengths and weaknesses aswell as to quality of student work and probability for success in the profession.

Students Name ______________________________________________

Dates of Practice____________________________________________________

We have discussed this report: __________ yes __________ no

Signature of Student______________________________________ Date_____________

Signature of Site Supervisor ________________________________ Date _____________

Site Supervisors address, phone number and E-mail address:


13/13

13

Request for LI870 Practicum Experience

School of Library and Information ManagementEmporia State University

StudentName: _________________________________________________________________________

Address: ________________________________________________________________________

Phone Number: _______________________ E-Mail: ____________________________________

SLIM AdvisorName: _________________________________________________________________________


Site SupervisorName: _________________________________________________________________________

Address: ________________________________________________________________________


Host Organization: ________________________________________________________________

Address: _______________________________________________________________________

Phone Number: _______________________ Web Site: __________________________________

Attach to this form:

1. Practicum Prospectus. Describe why you want to do a practicum and what specific experiencesoffered at this site will help you to meet your goals.

2. Current resume.

Signatures:(Do not sign unless the two items listed above are attached.)

Student ________________________________________________________________

SLIM Advisor ___________________________________________________________

Site Supervisor ___________________________________________________________

general practicum handbook

Documents