Finding a summer internship

Doing an internship over the summer is theoretically a great way to gain experience in librarianship, but realistically can be difficult to obtain. Competition is fierce, and paid positions are often far and few between. As summer quickly approaches, here is a compilation of resources and tips on how to get a valuable  summer internship experience.

There are two different kinds of internships that you should explore: paid, and unpaid. If you are able to do an unpaid internship, then you have a great deal more flexibility. If you need to do a paid internship, there are a number of resources available for you to use.

Paid internships: One place that updates its internship list constantly is Drexel's iSchool Career website. While not all the positions listed on the page are paid, many of them are. Another benefit to this website is that some of these internships are open only to, or first to, Drexel students.

Hagerty Library's website also provides career resources for library science students. There are two different guides that are useful: the first one is the Library Science guide, which lists job search resources, blogs, and salary information (among other things). The websites included on this page are some of the major job resource websites in library science, and oftentimes the search function can be restricted to internship positions rather than professional positions. The other useful guide that Hagerty Library posts is the Internship and Co-op Search guide. This guide lists internship resource websites and print directories, along with some useful books. While these websites are internship-specific, the search results returned for library science are often non-traditional or seemingly irrelevant. However, if you are interested in exploring different areas of librarianship and information science, these websites are a great place to start your search.

Outside of Drexel's resources, there are a number of comprehensive library and information science job websites which update daily or weekly. These websites tend to list more progressional jobs than internships, but internships are often included when they are available (they also tend to be paid, when they are listed). Some of the major resources to check are: I Need a Library Job, ArchivesGig, and ALA JobList.

Unpaid internships: If you are looking for an unpaid internship, you have a little more breathing room. First, do some research and decide on a handful or organizations or institutions that you would like to work at. Then, start contacting people within the organizations that you think might be valuable resources; this could be someone whose job you could see yourself doing eventually or a hiring manager or director. One great way to get in to meet people is to call or email and ask to do an informational interview, where you go in and ask questions to learn more about the institution. Then, at the end (or afterwards, when you write your thank you note) ask if there are any volunteer opportunities available. That way, you have had some interaction with the people who work there, and they can put a face with your name.

Unpaid internships are a great way for MLIS students to explore areas of librarianship that you could see yourself working in one day, without having to fit into an existing program. It provides more flexibility for you to create your own program or project, which is more valuable in the long run. Also, having volunteer experience looks great on resumes and can help you land a competitive, paid internship later on.

Two related resources that can help you get an internship: 

Before applying to internships, take a look at these two blogs: Hiring Librarians and Open Cover Letters.

The first blog, Hiring Librarians, is a series of interviews with hiring managers or library directors and what they are looking for in job candidates. There is a lot of valuable advice, and a job search resource page was just posted a few days ago.

 The second blog, Open Cover Letters, is a compilation of cover letters written by people who got the job they applied for. The examples posted are a fantastic resource for when you are feeling stuck on wording or how to explain a relevant experience.

Internships of any kind of a grab way to build your resume with related library experience. If you have any other internship resources that you would like to share with us, please comment them below!

Online Social Event- Friday, April 13th

You’re Not Alone! An Online Social Event for Drexel iSchool Students Nationwide.

To ring in the new quarter, SCALA and DUSLA would like to invite all iSchool students to an online social gathering on Friday, April 13, from 7:00- 9:00 pm EST (4:00 - 6:00 PM PST). Join us to a put a face to all those BlackBoard names, chat about new classes, network with classmates, and learn about opportunities through the student library associations.

How to participate:

• Log in to the meeting at http://bit.ly/SCALAevent
• Join us for video chat if you have a webcam or through the chat discussion if you prefer.  
• There is no software to download, but the meeting works best with a hardwired ethernet connection and earbuds.
• RSVP are appreciated but not required.  Please email drexelscala@gmail.com

Get Involved during the Spring 2012 Quarter!

The Benefits of Joining a Student Organization     

SCALA would like to welcome new and returning iSchool students to participate in our organization during the 2012-2013 academic year. Whether you are new to the iSchool or have been enrolled for some time now, it is never too soon or too late to participate in a student organization. While your future professional success depends largely on how well you do in your courses, joining a student organization increases your chances of finding employment after graduation. An invaluable pre-professional opportunity, joining a student organization helps you establish connections with other library and information science students, learn more about how the information profession is developing, and share advice on how to best prepare for your future in the profession.

A Few Tips for Your First Term    

Participating in a student organization, of course, is just one of many pre-professional activities available to you. Although there is no guaranteed recipe for future success in the profession, there are several recommended pre-professional activities that all library and information science students should consider doing in addition to their coursework. For a brief overview, we recommend that you read the Hack Library School’s Library School Starter-Kit—The First Term. This step-by-step “How to” guide gives first-term library and information science students manageable goals to help establish themselves as future information professionals. We also recommend this guide to students who are further along in their library and information science education but who would like to become more involved in pre-professional activities.

Upcoming SCALA Activities    

SCALA officers will visit classes to introduce the organization and explain the benefits of joining during the first week of classes. If you are an online student taking INFO 515, 520, 521, and 522, you will see a post in from SCALA that presents the same information. We encourage participation from both on-campus and online students. Additionally, SCALA is hosting an online social event on Friday, April 13th from 7:00- 9:00 pm EST (4:00 - 6:00 PM PST). To join the meeting, visit http://bit.ly/SCALAevent. More events, both in-person and online, are in the works, so please keep visiting the SCALA blog for information.

How RSS feeds can help library students

What is an RSS feed?

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. RSS feeds provide a title and short summary of any new article on a website that you subscribe to- job websites, news websites, blogs, and a number of other types of websites. You can set up an RSS feed on your desktop, phone, or tablet to receive updates on multiple sites at once, without having to visit each site individually. RSS feeds are perfect time savers for busy students who want to stay current on job and LIS information.

How can it help you as a library science student?

RSS feeds can help library science students by creating a stream of new job postings from a variety of websites. For example, if you are interested in law libraries on the East Coast, you can customize your RSS feed to get updates from law library job posting websites as well as any local East Coast library job websites to get the largest amount of specific job postings as possible.

You can also use RSS feeds to stay up to date on library science news. This is particularly important for students who are job searching, becuase you want to be knowledgable about current professional news. There are many popular, interesting library science blogs by students and professionals which you can subscribe to in order to stay up to date.

How to set up your own RSS feed:

There are many different RSS feed providers. One of the most popular providers is Google Reader, which allows you to search for feeds, subscribe to them, and then create personal folders to sort your feeds. If you cannot find the website that you are thinking of in the search function, you can often find an RSS feed icon on individual websites, posted with other social media icons.

A few useful feeds:

RSS job websites:

ALA JobList: http://joblist.ala.org/index.cfm
LIBGig: http://publicboard.libgig.com/
Library Jobline: http://www.libraryjobline.org/
SLA Philadelphia Chapter: http://sla-phl.org/jobs/
NJSLA: http://sla-divisions.typepad.com/njslajobs/
Archives Gig: http://archivesgig.livejournal.com/

RSS library blogs

Hack Library School: http://hacklibschool.wordpress.com/
I Need a Library Job: http://inalj.com/
Hiring Librarians: http://hiringlibrarians.com/
Open Cover Letter: http://opencoverletters.com/
Information Space: http://infospace.ischool.syr.edu/

Information Tyranosaur: http://andyburkhardt.com/

Please comment other favorite LIS job or blog feeds below!

ALA's New Member Round Table

Wondering what ALA's New Member Round Table can do for you while you are still a library student? Here a just a few of the reasons why ALA recommends joining:

As students, you may not feel that you’re ready to become involved in professional associations, or that you won’t have anything to contribute until you have your degree and are working in the profession. However, NMRT urges you to reconsider and strongly encourages you to join. For only $10 a year, NMRT provides numerous benefits for those of us who are new to the profession, new to ALA, or both. These benefits include:

• 1.  Networking opportunities. Connect with other students, new professionals, and more experienced members through our listserv or in person at our conference socials.
  
• 2. Professional development. Through grants for conference attendance, opportunities for committee membership, and publication opportunities through the newsletter, Footnotes, NMRT helps you get a head start on your involvement in the profession.
  
• 3. Career planning and the job search. NMRT offers a resume review service in person at ALA conferences and virtually to NMRT members via email. Once you get that first job, NMRT will be there to help you navigate your new role through its mentoring service for new professionals.
  
• 4.  Making sense of ALA. As a new member, ALA may seem huge and confusing. NMRT helps you get a handle on your professional association through publications, conference orientations, and other resources.
  
  
  NMRT strongly values the contributions of its student members, and we hope that you don’t let any lack of experience hold you back from benefiting fully from your ALA membership. Join NMRT today at http://www.ala.org/nmrt/popularresources/getinvolved/joinnmrt
  

From ALA NMRT's SASCO Update #3

LinkedIn LinkUp!

Are you LinkedIn? Don't miss out on the connections you're making during school, your internship, at conferences and networking events.  Professional online presence is an important part of the job search and way to continue to network with colleagues and engage in the conversation of librarianship.

Take a few minutes to create or update your LinkedIn profile, connect to classmates and colleagues, or join a new group.  Read on for suggestions on how to get started and optimize your experience.

March Networking Opportunites in Philly - Starting Tonight!

SLA Downtowners Meetup
Dear SLA Philadelphia Professionals, Drexel SLA and ALA Student Chapter Members:  The March "First Friday" Downtowners casual networking event will be on the second Friday, March 9th (just for this month) at 6PM.  The venue is the Khyber Pass at 56 S. 2nd Street in Old City Philadelphia. Come out and enjoy the networking!  RSVP's helpful but not required: duslaonline@gmail.com

Drexel Library Student Social 
Join the library student groups for an informal social at Khyber Pass Pub. restaurant (56 S. 2nd St., Philadelphia, PA) on Friday, March 9 at 7:30 PM.  Come hang out with classmates, enjoy snacks and beverages, and meet the new officers of SCALA & DUSLA. RSVPs are appreciated, but not required. Please email drexelscala@gmail.com.

iSchool Networking Reception during PLA
Get it on the benefits of having PLA in Philly, whether you're registered for the conference or not.  The iSchool is hosting a networking reception on Wednesday, March 14 from 6:30-8:30 PM at The Field House (1150 Filbert Street - corner of 11th & Filbert) with appetizers, beer and wine (21+). This event is FREE but you do have to RSVP: https://www.ischool.drexel.edu/home/about/calendar/rsvp?ID=2154

#Phillybrarians Meet-Up 
Philly Librarians are gathering at Rising Tide in Chinatown on Saturday, March 17th at 1:30PM for post-PLA conversation, food and drinks. Here's your chance to eat at a great place in Chinatown, meet your fellow librarians, library students and library allies and network!  This is a sit-down lunch and RSVPs are required. Please contact Phillybrarians [at] gmail.com.

#Phillybrarians hold monthly meet-ups so even if you can't make it this time, join the Facebook group to learn about future events: https://www.facebook.com/phillybrarians