Document Type
Presentation
Original Presentation Date
2022
Date of Submission
October 2022
Abstract
Background
Newly graduated librarians often do not possess the knowledge and skills essential to practicing in a health sciences library. This mismatch in experience and expectations stems from a lack of exposure to health sciences librarianship and the typically general nature of graduate education in library and information science. This gap in skills and understanding stems from a lack of opportunities to develop in these areas. At the same time, many experienced health sciences librarians do not have the supervisory roles as a regular part of their work, resulting in fewer opportunities to build managerial skills and experience. In 2019 a health sciences library at an urban academic health sciences institution decided to develop an internship program to address both of these issues.
Description
This presentation will address the development of the internship program, including collaboration between the department head and librarians to develop the program. It will also address how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the program and continued evolution of the program. The presentation will also highlight lessons learned, challenges, and the next steps to ensure the program's sustainability.
Conclusions
After hosting two interns over a three-year period, the internship program continues to evolve. This talk will focus on future areas for assessment and lessons learned including efforts made to balance program goals while also providing the intern with broad exposure to different aspects of health sciences librarianship while also addressing the intern's personal development goals. Perspectives from librarian managers will also be discussed.
Is Part Of
Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the Medical Library Association (MAC- MLA) Annual Meeting Posters/Presentations