Library and Information Technician Diploma - 800

1. Carefully read and consider all information provided here.
2. If you have completed the prerequisite requirements for either Field Work 1 or Field Work 2 and you can complete a placement within the time parameters of a 14-week session, complete a placement planning form at least 6-8 weeks before you hope to start your placement and submit it online. The placement planning form is for students who register for the library and information technician program directly at Mohawk College. Students who register at other OntarioLearn colleges should contact program staff or the OntarioLearn coordinator at their registering college.
3. The instructor will respond regarding possible field placement sites.
4. Based on your discussion with the instructor, you will contact one of the agreed-upon libraries and make tentative placement arrangements.
5. Notify the instructor of your arrangements so that she can confirm with the library.
6. When you have access to the online course area, log on to access and complete the Student Placement Agreement form and post it in the Dropbox.
7. During the placement, read the information in the online course area, post a mid-placement report and undertake other tasks described in the online course area.
8. At the end of the placement, post your evaluation form to the appropriate Dropbox, and confirm that your field placement supervisor has submitted theirs as well.
9. Once both of these forms have been received, and the placement is seen as successful by both the student and the host library, the instructor will submit your mark (successful placement = "R" - Requirements Met or "P" -Pass).

Two field placements are required as part of the library and information technician program at Mohawk College. Field placements are unpaid.

Students with extensive library experience can apply for a PLAR challenge for Field Work 1. Contact Mohawk’s PLAR office (plar [at] mohawkcollege.ca) and Student Inquiries (celibrary [at] mohawkcollege.ca) for more information.

The goals of field work in Mohawk’s Library Technician program are to provide you with the opportunity to:

1. Apply skills and knowledge to adapt to new situations and demands
2. Work as part of a library/information services team, supervised by a librarian, library technician or teacher-librarian while applying the skills of a library and information technician
3. Demonstrate professional reliability by adhering to the guidelines, policies and procedures of the workplace
4. Advocate effectively for all types of libraries and information services
5. Create strategies for professional development and lifelong learning
6. Assemble the building blocks of a career as a library and information technician

“A wide variety of field experiences in different types of libraries is desirable for each student ... Each field placement should constitute a new library learning experience. Ordinarily this necessitates avoiding a library in which a student has already worked, as well as the library of the educational institution where the program is located.”
- from “Guidelines for the Education of Library Technicians”, Canadian Library Association, 2011

It is preferred that you undertake your field placements during the second half of your studies in the program. Following are the prerequisites for each of the placements:

For some field placement sites the student will be required to provide a police criminal record check. This should be requested from your local police department as early as possible, as it can take up to 8 weeks to receive it. 

Field placements are 112 hours. This is comprised of 105 hours of field placement (equivalent to 3 weeks work @ 35 hours per week) and 7 hours of related tasks.

Field placement hours may be worked on a full-time or part-time basis, as long as the schedule is acceptable to both you and the host library. Placement hours must be completed within one 14-week field placement session.

The field placement sessions for the academic year are scheduled as follows:

• Fall session I: Session runs September – December
• Fall session II: Session runs October - January
• Fall session III: Session runs November - February
• Fall session IV: Session runs December - March
• Winter session I: Session runs January - April
• Winter session II: Session runs February - May
• Winter session III: Session runs March - June
• Winter session IV: Session runs April - July
• Spring session I: Session runs May - August
• Spring session II: Session runs June - September
• Spring session III: Session runs July - October
• Spring session IV: Session runs August - November

Field placements cannot be done in your current or previous place of employment or within the same library system. It is also best to do placements in a type of library/information services setting that is different from your previous experience. Consider public, academic (college or university), school, and special (corporations, hospitals, law offices, government departments, etc.) libraries.

The field placement supervisor at the library must be a qualified librarian, library technician or teacher-librarian, with the appropriate educational background.

Field Placement Supervisor Evaluation Forms:

Field Placement 1

Field Placement 2

• Submit your form electronically.

Once you and the instructor jointly determine some appropriate libraries for your placement, you normally make the first contact with the library to see if they would be willing to host your field placement.

Once you have made tentative arrangements with the host library, email the instructor your field placement supervisor’s name, job title, library name, email address, and your planned start and end dates. The instructor will contact the field placement supervisor to confirm arrangements and explain the College's expectations.

Guidelines for Approaching Libraries for Field Placements

The following guidelines are for situations where students need to approach a staff person in the library in order to determine whether the library would be interested in hosting a field placement for the student.

You should check with your instructor for guidance regarding who in the library would be best to contact first – for example, the person at the reference desk, a department head or the chief librarian. Be prepared for the fact that this person may refer you to someone else within the organization.

Guidelines:

• always remember that library staff are not obligated to agree to your request; their response may depend on the time that they have available and their circumstances, however their response may also depend on how they feel that you presented your request to them
• contact the staff person well in advance, not at the last minute
• use good telephone etiquette; for example, give your name and the reason for your call immediately, or if leaving a message, do so briefly and clearly
• be courteous; for example, say thank you and promptly return phone calls and emails
• be as flexible as possible in setting a time to meet to discuss your request or to arrange a tentative schedule

Remember that you are serving as an ambassador of our program. Your contact person may assume that all students in our program will conduct themselves in a manner similar to you. Please do your best to be a good representative of our program.

You need to register for WORKLT290 (Field Work 1) or WORKLT490 (Field Work 2) with Mohawk for the appropriate session after you have notified your instructor of your arrangements. Once successfully completed, the field placement shows on your academic record, together with all other courses taken.

At the start of your field placement session, you will be given access to an OntarioLearn Desire2Learn online course area for field placement. Log on as soon as possible and follow the instructions there. 

During the field placement, you will have access to an online course area for field placement. One of the items of information in the online course area will be a reminder asking you to post a brief report part-way through your placement to ensure that the placement is proceeding satisfactorily. The instructor will contact your field placement supervisor at your host library to check in as well. Other tasks will be assigned in the online course area.

Some recommendations for you during your field placements:

• maintain a professional manner in all contacts with library clientele and staff
• act as a responsible employee, e.g. be punctual, notify your host library if an absence is necessary
• dress according to the acceptable standard within the host library

It is a nice touch to send a thank you note or email to your host library at the end of your placement.

At the end of the placement, both you and the host library complete evaluation forms. Your form is available in the online course area.

WORKLT290 Field Work 1 may be challenged through the Prior Learning Assessment process at Mohawk College, by students with extensive library work experience. Contact Mohawk's PLAR office (plar [at] mohawkcollege.ca) and Student Inquiries (celibrary [at] mohawkcollege.ca) for more information.

Students who register at other colleges, please contact your registering college for information on Prior Learning Assessment & Recognition.

As a Mohawk student on placement you are covered through the college should you be injured on placement. Your coverage applies for the duration of your placement. Should an incident or injury occur you are responsible for contacting the Program Manager and your library supervisor to inform them as soon as possible. Based on the severity of the incident or injury documentation may be required, some of which has strict timelines.

The student will be responsible for:

• working with the instructor to arrange placement
• contacting the field placement supervisor in advance of the placement to discuss the student's previous library employment and current career goals so that appropriate placement activities can be planned ahead of time
• working within the hours normally required of library technicians in the placement library
• notifying the supervisor when an absence is necessary
• acting as a responsible employee in all contacts with library clientele and staff
• providing both the placement supervisor and instructor with feedback concerning the placement
• demonstrating sufficient knowledge of library techniques to be able to adapt to practices of particular libraries; students doing the second field placement are expected to demonstrate increased knowledge and professionalism

The instructor will be responsible for:

• working with the student to arrange placement
• requesting that an affiliation agreement be sent to the library or host organization
• placing the student in a setting that will provide a beneficial learning experience
• contacting the student and supervisor during the placement to discuss the student's progress and aiding the supervisor in matters relating to supervision
• being available to the supervisor and the student to discuss any problem that might arise

The library will be responsible for:

• reviewing and signing the Student Placement Agreement
• preparing staff members for the arrival of the student
• providing orientation for the student
• discussing with the student the purpose and goals of the library's collections and services
• providing the student with supervision and ongoing feedback
• providing the student with the opportunity to practice and develop skills
• evaluating the student's knowledge and performance and discussing the evaluation with them before submitting it online

Two field placements are required as part of the library and information technician program at Mohawk College. 

Students with extensive library experience can apply for a PLAR challenge for Field Work 1. Contact Mohawk’s PLAR office (plar [at] mohawkcollege.ca) and Student Inquiries (celibrary [at] mohawkcollege.ca) for more information.

Hosting placements is beneficial to the library as well as the student. It allows the library to: 

- identify possible future employees

- see their own library/department through a different lens

- consider new ideas or approaches to issues and tasks

- raise the profile of their library, and 

- support the profession by providing a strong foundation to someone entering this field of work.

Field placements are 112 hours. This is compromised of 105 hours of field placement (equivalent to 3 weeks work @ 35 hours per week) and 7 hours of related tasks.

Field placement hours may be worked on a full-time or part-time basis, as long as the schedule is acceptable to both the host library and the student. Placement hours must be started and completed within one 14-week field placement session.

Our requirements are that the overall supervision of a placement student must be done by someone with the educational qualifications of a librarian, library technician or teacher-librarian. This is amended for other types of information service settings.

If you agree to host a field placement, the student will advise the Instructor, who will contact you to confirm and answer any questions that you may have, before the placement starts. A Student Placement Agreement will also be sent, if not already in place.

The differences in staffing, collections and services among libraries and information services are such that a specific field work plan, applicable in all settings, cannot be formulated. However as much as possible, placement students should be given the same type of work as is/would be done by a library technician who is employed in that setting. Hands-on work is encouraged. Also, as much as possible, students should be exposed to different types of tasks and functions within the library, rather than being assigned to one project for the duration of their placement hours. This provides a broader learning experience for our students.

However it is recognized that host libraries need to balance the demands that placement students make on staff time with resources available, and it is not expected that host libraries engage in large amounts of training for students.

Many students in our program have current or previous work experience in libraries or other information service settings, so they come with some practical experience as well as the knowledge that has been gained through courses. Thus they normally adapt to new library/information settings fairly quickly.

It is important, for student learning, that evaluation be ongoing rather than reserved for the end of the placement. Expectations should be clearly set out by the supervisor at the beginning of work assignments.

The instructor will contact the field work supervisor during the placement to see how the placement is progressing.

There is a brief evaluation form that the placement supervisor is asked to complete at the end of the placement, and share with the student, before submitting it online.

Field Work 1 Evaluation

Field Work 2 Evaluation

Before hosting a field placement, you may be contacted by Mohawk College regarding a Student Placement Agreement, if one is not already in place.

As a Mohawk student on placement you are covered through the college should you be injured on placement. Your coverage applies for the duration of your placement. Should an incident or injury occur you are responsible for contacting the Program Manager and your library supervisor to inform them as soon as possible. Based on the severity of the incident or injury documentation may be required, some of which has strict timelines.

The student will be responsible for:

• working with the instructor to arrange placement
• contacting the field placement supervisor in advance of the placement to discuss the student's previous library employment and current career goals so that appropriate placement activities can be planned ahead of time
• working within the hours normally required of library technicians in the placement library
• notifying the supervisor when an absence is necessary
• acting as a responsible employee in all contacts with library clientele and staff
• providing both the placement supervisor and instructor with feedback concerning the placement
• demonstrating sufficient knowledge of library techniques to be able to adapt to practices of particular libraries; students doing the second field placement are expected to demonstrate increased knowledge and professionalism

The instructor will be responsible for:

• working with the student to arrange placement
• requesting that an affiliation agreement be sent to the library or host organization
• placing the student in a setting that will provide an adequate learning experience
• contacting the student and supervisor during the placement to discuss the student's progress and aiding the supervisor in matters relating to supervision
• being available to the supervisor and the student to discuss any problem that might arise
• assigning final grade (pass/fail) for each field placement

The library will be responsible for:

• reviewing and signing the Student Placement Agreement
• preparing staff members for the arrival of the student
• providing orientation for the student
• discussing with the student the purpose and goals of the library's collections and services
• providing the student with supervision and ongoing feedback
• providing the student with the opportunity to practice and develop skills
• evaluating the student's knowledge and performance and discussing the evaluation with them before submitting it online