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Hosting an intern can be a mutually rewarding experience for both the site supervisor and the student.  As a site supervisor your role is to provide learning experiences that support the student meeting their learning goals and objectives.  In the capacity of site supervisor, you will be the person who the student reports to and who provides constructive feedback and advice. 

OBJECTIVES for the Internship

  1. To give the student an opportunity to apply the principles and theories of library and information studies in an outstanding library/information center.
  2. To enable the student to supplement knowledge in his/her area of specialization through hands-on experience in a library/information center.
  3. To provide a liaison between the School of Library and Information Studies and the state’s library/information center community.
  4. To give the student experience in evaluating a particular job situation.

TIPS for Site Supervisors

  • Establish an internal process for matters related to having an intern. 
  • As a staff, discuss available learning experiences appropriate for a variety of student internship learning opportunities at the site.
  • Identify necessary skills required.
  • Develop a professional working relationship with the intern and provide constructive advice related to the experience as deemed appropriate.
  • Determine the chain of command for who the intern will report to during the experience. 
  • Determine the process for evaluating the progress made by the intern toward their established learning goals. 
  • Establish a process to address any unexpected happenings during the internship.  This may include circumstances related to the intern and/or at the site or with projects the intern may be associated with.  An example may be that a project identified does not pan out.

COMMUNICATION

Communication among the intern, the placement supervisor, and the supervising faculty member is vital to the success of the internship, and the supervising faculty member assumes leadership for that facilitation. Site supervisors should establish the best methods to communicate with the intern during the experience. This is especially important for any virtual experiences. 

For more information about hosting an OU SLIS Intern, please complete this short survey.