Virtual LIS practicums: Student and supervisor experiences during COVID-19, part 2

Abstract

E xisting literature on practicum experiences often focus on one perspective, either the student's or the supervisor's, but rarely in the same piece or related to the same practicum offering. Pre-professional fieldwork helps graduates pursue specialized library careers, addressing the well-documented experience barrier that many graduates lack. Because COVID-19 required remote learning, virtual practicums may continue, offering LIS graduates the chance to learn from experts and develop skills beyond traditional LIS curriculum. 1 For the practicum shared here, the student's institution and practicum host site agreed to modify the existing in-person experience into a virtual format because of COVID-19.Part 1 of our article, published in the May 2023 issue of C&RL News, outlined the logistics and preparation in offering an online practicum and described the student objectives and learning outcomes. In Part 2, we present the student's and supervisor's reflections on communication, work-life balance, managing information overload, and project workload, providing recommendations for others coordinating a virtual practicum. About the institutionThe University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is a Carnegie Classified Research 1 institution with a health science library supporting research and education at three regional locations (Chicago, Peoria, and Rockford) and three satellite locations (Quad Cities, Urbana, and Springfield). The practicum took place within the Health Sciences Library (LHS) in the Information Services and Research (ISR) Department. LHS supports six health sciencespecific colleges (medicine, nursing, pharmacy, dentistry, public health, and applied health sciences) of the sixteen at the institution. Health science student enrollment in 2020 was approximately 7,500 and full-time health science faculty was about 1,200. 2 The institution is a federally designated Minority Serving Institution, an Asian American Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution, and is a Hispanic-Serving Institution. 3 Faculty in ISR are tenure-track and are library liaisons to the health sciences colleges.