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17:610:592 - Field Experience (Reference Desk Internship at the Alexander Library)

This section of my web site documents my experience as a Reference Assistant at the Archibald S. Alexander Library, the oldest and largest research library in the Rutgers University Library system. The purpose of the field experience internship is to provide library service degree candidates with an opportunity to "learn by doing" outside the classroom. As a real-life social laboratory, the library offers an environment where what we've already learned in the program can inform our work, and vice-versa.

The required assignments complement our work experience by encouraging us to reflect on what we are doing throughout the semester. My basic goals this semester are to develop the key skills I need to serve as a reference librarian while focusing on the role of bibliographic instruction in an academic library. I also hope to learn more about the specific goals and objectives of an academic library and how the Alexander Library carries out its mission. Reference Assistants are required to acquaint themselves with the library's policies, with its community of users, and with the challenges and problems its staff confronts on a daily basis, so I expect to reach my goals by incorporating them into my work.

I have timed the completion of the internship to coincide with my graduation from the M.L.S. program. By the end of the semester I think the combination of academic training and pre-service experience I've received at SCILS will leave me well prepared to face the new challenges waiting just around the corner.