Host Guidelines

The Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) states in their Employer roles and responsibilities in education and professional development policy "Library and information agency employers have a key responsibility to support and assist education providers in producing graduates capable of providing quality information services".

Thank you for your consideration to host a CSU student for their professional placement experience. Below you will find important information for conducting workplace learning.

Professional Placement Guidelines

• Introduction
• Principles
• Participants
• Insurance
• Program
• Supervisor's Role
• Assessment
• Feedback

Introduction

Each year the School of Information Studies at Charles Sturt University places large numbers of students on professional placement. This document provides important information for placement hosts, including the person in the organisation responsible for setting up the placement and the students' supervisor/s.

The information may not cover every eventuality and for help on any aspect of a placement please contact the Workplace Learning Officer.

Professional Placement Principles

The following basic principles apply to all professional placements:

• The needs of an information agency and its users take precedence over the learning needs of students on placement, and accepting a student on placement should not cause serious disruption to the agency hosting the placement.
• A student undertaking a placement in an information agency is expected to carry a reasonable workload as a temporary member of staff  but should also have reasonable opportunities for personal professional development.
• Professional placements should therefore take place where students are likely to have significant opportunities both to practise professional skills and to gain an increased understanding of professional principles and practices.
• Students are required to be supervised by an appropriately qualified professional with experience in the sector

Participants in the Professional Placement

Students

Students embarking on a professional placement have typically completed at least four academic subjects towards the award of their degree. They should be able to articulate what they hope to gain from the placement and have an idea of the kind of library in which they wish to be placed.

A brief overview of the courses librarianship and teacher librarianship is provided via the course links below. Host supervisors may find the links to short abstracts provided in these overviews (describing the key content of specific subjects offered as part of the TL course curriculum) particularly useful when familiarising themselves with the student's core knowledge and skills in the field of librarianship at the time of their placement experience.

Workplace Learning Officer

The Workplace Learning Officer provides liaison between the host organisations, the students and the School of Information Studies, except where other contact procedures are specified for individual subjects. The Workplace Learning Officer is also responsible for the administrative component of the professional placement.

Subject Coordinator

The subject coordinator is the lecturer responsible for the academic component of the placement.

Host Supervisor

The host supervisor is the librarian in the organisation who provides the day-to-day supervision of the student during the placement. This person typically establishes the tasks and responsibilities that are assigned to the student and reports on the student.

Insurance Cover During Placement

Insurance cover for all students attending Workplace Learning is renewed annually. Access the current letter of currency. Visit the CSU Insurance webpage

The Program

Many libraries have well-developed placement programs which provide appropriate professional experience for students. Generally this means providing students with work which requires them to apply knowledge acquired during their course to fulfil a work role and develop a range of professional skills.

It is recommended that the placement student be introduced to the total environment of the library to which s/he is assigned, developing and progressing understanding of the following aspects of library practice:

• the community served by the library;
• the roles of library personnel;
• library management and planning activities;
• technical services;
• collection management;
• information services and programs;
• library responses to developments in ICT;
• marketing and promotion of library services; and
• evaluation of library services.

Whilst it is anticipated that the placement program will provide a genuine taste of professional work, it is appreciated that it is not always possible for the student to undertake activities in all areas of the organisation. Wherever possible the student should be able to work, observe, have discussions with, and ask questions of staff and users in as many areas as possible.

Role of the Host Supervisor

Supervisors are asked to:

• orient the student to the library;
• schedule the student's time in the library with a view to providing professional experiences as well as exposure to the organisation's total environment;
• meet regularly with the student to provide feedback on the progress of the placement;
• contact the Professional Experience Officer if he or she judges that there are problems which require consultation with the School of Information Studies;
• complete the Supervisor's Report;

We value your professional feedback and ask that host supervisors complete a Supervisor's Report at the end of the placement period. Please note that the Supervisor's Report may be completed in consultation with the student on placement.

• Supervisor's Report for Information Studies students
• Supervisor's Report for Teacher Librarianship students

Please submit either of the above forms directly to:

• Email: InformationStudies-WPL@csu.edu.au

Assessment

Student Placement Report

The report outline, contained in the student's subject materials, is not meant to be prescriptive, but is provided as a starting point for analysis. It is acknowledged that library environments vary a great deal in the services and programs that they deliver, and as a result, some aspects of the report outline may not be relevant.

Each student is required to submit a placement report to their subject coordinator, highlighting key principles that are currently informing professional practice. Students are expected to be analytical about their experiences providing evidence of professional interaction across a range of areas, drawing conclusions and reasoning implications and consequences.

Students are required to explore a range of key areas within the library environment including: the role of the library; the collection; cataloguing, classification and indexing; system management; reference and information services; network infrastructure; user needs and services; personnel and staff development; promotion and marketing; and performance evaluation.

Additional assessment

Students may be required to complete additional assessment tasks which is dependent upon the subject in which they are enrolled. It is recommended that the host supervisor discusses assessment requirements with the student at the commencement of the placement.

Host Feedback

Supervisors at host libraries are invited to provide any feedback to the Workplace Learning Officer to help us improve the Professional Placement process for both students and host libraries.

The School of Information Studies greatly appreciates the continued support of the library community for the Professional Placement program.