Library and Information Science Virtual Capstone

Institution: Kalamazoo Public Library

Title of Presentation: Legal Reference at the Kalamazoo Public Library

Summary: This internship took place at the Kalamazoo Public Library's law library. The Raymond W. Fox Law Library is a county law library that was moved into the Kalamazoo Public Library's central location when their new building was constructed in 1998. Though it is uncommon for a law library to be contained within a public library, this provides a unique opportunity to serve a unique patron base and provide a safe and welcoming space for pro se litigants to seek assistance. The purpose of Andrews’ internship was to gain hands-on experience with reference services, specifically in law librarianship. This was achieved by assisting patrons with legal research, maintaining and improving the legal resources in our collection and program, and display planning. This internship involved direct patron interaction and understanding the importance of the distinction between providing legal information versus legal advice, which is critical from both a legal and ethical standpoint. Key projects included creating monthly law library displays, being involved with law library hosted legal clinics, planning a legal outreach event that will take place over the summer, maintaining the law library’s resources, and contributing to a staff wiki of law library practices and procedures.

Institution: Indianapolis Public Library — Wayne Branch

Title of Presentation: Smaller Branch, Big Heart at Indianapolis Public Libraries

Summary:  The goal of this internship was to gain hands-on experience in a public library setting. While Clay’s background primarily consisted of working in academic libraries and volunteering with public libraries, this internship offered a new and valuable opportunity to explore the dynamics of a public library. Clay collaborated with the branch manager to maximize opportunities available during the internship. As a smaller branch, no two days were alike. With a compact staff, flexibility was key, and the librarians and staff had to be ready to adapt their daily tasks at a moment’s notice. Time was divided between working in adult, juvenile, and circulation services, as well as attending workshops and special programs within the IndyPL system. A highlight was having the chance to ride along with librarians on the bookmobile, offering a unique perspective on library outreach. During the internship, Clay was able to attend various workshops and staff development sessions focused on collection management and database research. Clay also participated in staff and board meetings, which provided valuable insight into how administration and staff collaborate to achieve library goals. Lastly, Clay was given the opportunity to design and develop a program centered around digital literacy. Support from the branch manager, librarians, and staff was instrumental in helping to achieve the internship’s learning goals.

Institution: Guilford College

Title of Presentation: The Research Process: Improving Undergraduate Research Practices through LibGuides and One-Shot Sessions at Guilford College

Summary: The research process can be daunting, let alone for college first-year students. The internship's purpose was to help improve research practices at Guilford College among undergraduates through synchronous and asynchronous learning. Synchronous learning occurred at the class level, where one-shot sessions were taught in first-year undergraduate courses about the research process. Topics covered included search strategies, search statements, Boolean operators, and citations. Synchronous learning also occurred in individual one-shot sessions during which students brought specific questions about research-related assignments. Asynchronous learning occurred through the creation of LibGuides, which were published on Guilford’s library website. The LibGuides focused on topics related to the research process, such as retrieving lost government information. As a result of the internship, students were given resources that they will be able to use throughout their college career. In the future, students also will be able to reference the presentations and LibGuides they created during their research processes.

Institution: Indianapolis Public Library — College Avenue Branch 

Title of Presentation: From Theory to Practice: Preparing for a Future Career as a Public/Adult Services Librarian at the College Avenue Library

Summary: The purpose of this internship was to gain hands-on experience in a public library setting. Before starting as an intern, Marshall did not have professional experience working in a library environment. This internship was an opportunity to gain hands-on experience and work directly with the College Avenue's Adult/Public Services Librarian. The main goal of the internship was to take what Marshall has learned as an MLIS student and apply that knowledge to Adult and Public Services. Primary areas of focus were collection, reference, and library programs. It was also important that Marshall become familiar with the technology services offered for patron assistance while learning fundamental tasks such as shelving and shifting materials. Marshall has over a decade of customer service experience, which proved to be extremely useful when working at the reference desk and interacting directly with patrons. The outcome of this internship was to provide Marshall with the necessary skills and experience to prepare for a career as an Adult/Public Services Librarian.

Institution: Westerville History Museum

Title of Presentation: Reuniting the Anti-Saloon League Collection at the Westerville History Museum

Summary: After fifty years, the remaining items in the Anti-Saloon League Collection were returned to the Westerville History Museum from the Ohio History Center, where they had been stored mostly unprocessed. Westerville, the headquarters for the Anti-Saloon League in the twentieth century, was known as the "Dry Capital of the World" due to the large amount of Prohibition activity that occurred in the town. Alspaugh’s internship entailed appraising, processing, and cataloguing the 14 cubic feet of the items newly added to Anti-Saloon League Collection as well as updating one hundred and seventy-five pre-existing catalogue records in CollectionSpace. Ultimately, the collection was made available online to the public for ease of research.

Institution: Ray Bradbury Center

Title of Presentation: Preservation at the Ray Bradbury Center

Summary: During this internship, Johnson aimed to assess the condition of flat file records maintained by the Ray Bradbury Center and propose a preservation plan. This was a research-heavy project — as Johnson came across a wide variety of mediums in a wide variety of conditions, independent research was conducted on archives-grade products and methodologies. Johnson collaborated with the internship supervisor to complete the goals of the internship and was able to produce a project plan that the Center will review and implement as they see fit.

Institution: Indiana State Library

Title of Presentation: Rare Books & Manuscript Processing at the Indiana State Library

Summary: The overall internship objective was to familiarize O’Donnell with the major elements of working within an archives and special collections library. Having only previously worked within public libraries, this internship provided O’Donnell a chance to build skills necessary for processing manuscripts and archival material at the professional level. Tasks included accessioning new collections, processing small and large manuscript collections, creating resource records in ArchivesSpace, exporting EAD finding aids, creating metadata for both physical and digital collections, handling digitization for negatives and photos, paging and tracking materials for patron use, managing a special collections reading room, learning about conservation treatments, and gaining familiarity with copyright. The internship provided a chance to see the day-to-day workflow of the Rare Books & Manuscript Department, as well as to participate in unique projects. For example, O’Donnell was able to shadow archivists as they paged items for patrons and created finding aids. O’Donnell also obtained hands-on experience working with ArchivesSpace and CONTENTdm and learned how to use various scanners for digitization. By the end of the internship, O’Donnell had helped to create several finding aids for small collections and had assisted with processing a large collection of about five cubic feet containing the papers of Edythe Fitzhugh, who served as secretary of the board for the Indianapolis Jazz Action Coalition. This larger collection task included sorting and foldering materials and creating a complex, multi-level finding aid in ArchivesSpace.

Institution: Center for Southwest Research at the University of New Mexico

Title of Presentation: Arranging and Describing Architectural Material in the Meem Archives at the Center for Southwest Research

Summary: The John Gaw Meem Archives of Southwestern Architecture at the Center for Southwest Research (CSWR) collects materials related to the history and development of the built environment in New Mexico. The CSWR houses records of New Mexican architects, landscape architects and their firms, preservationists, designers, decorative artists, and scholars of the built environment. Processing these collections presents unique challenges, particularly when donor involvement is inconsistent and initial organization does not align with expectations. Oversized architectural drawings require significant labor to rehouse, whereas standard records in folders and boxes are more manageable. Additionally, creating accurate and user-friendly finding aids takes practice and benefits from guidance by experienced supervisors. While assisting with these projects for the CSWR, Ortiz was able to explore the complexities of arranging and describing architectural materials.