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Practicum Info for Students

practicum placement directory

Practicum Placement Directory

Please note that many institutions that host practicum students are still recovering from pandemic. We encourage students to use the Directory as a set of examples of the types of placements typically available, and to please continue to use the placement request form to list both specific sites in which they are interested, as well as describing the type of work they’d like to do, so that iSchool staff can contact potential placement sites to determine if a practicum placement is possible.

Practicum Placement Directory

Requesting a Practicum Placement

The process for requesting a placement is fundamentally the same for both on-campus and online students. Students begin the process by submitting the appropriate placement request form. Normally, this is done during the advising period for the semester in which a student wishes to complete the placement – e.g. Placement Request Forms requesting Spring semester placements are submitted during the fall prior; Summer placement requests are due February 1 prior to the summer in which you’d like to do the practicum; Fall semester requests are submitted during the spring prior. Specific due dates for the Placement Request Forms will be announced around the time of advising.

Online students will be placed at practicum sites that are convenient to their place of residence. Online students are asked to research local institutions where they’d like to do the placement, and then provide contact information to the iSchool using the placement request form, so that the practicum instructors can contact the potential site.

placement request Step-by-step instructions:

  1. During the advising period prior to the semester or summer in which you wish to complete the practicum, meet with your advisor to discuss the best timing for you to complete the placement;
  2. By the announced due date for requests (normally within 1-2 weeks of the iSchool advising period for fall and spring placements, and February 1 for summer), complete the appropriate placement request form for your concentration;

LIS 620: Field Project in Library and Information Studies

Students interested in public & academic libraries, archives, museums, digital libraries & collections, user experience, corporate libraries, or information work outside of libraries, will take LIS 620.

LIS 620 Placement Request Form

C&I 620: School Library media placement

Students in the school libraries program will be placed in both an elementary school and a secondary school for a total of 240 hours. They register for C&I 620, which is cross-listed with LIS 620.

C&I 620 Placement Request Form

  1. When filling out the placement request form:
    • On-campus or Madison-area students should select at least three possible sites from the most current placement directory and list those sites in preference order;
    • Online students and Madison area students seeking placements not listed in the Directory should provide the name(s) of the organization(s) where they are interested in being placed. Again, please list your possible sites in preference order. Include contact information and possible site supervisor information if you have it. iSchool staff will use the information you provide to contact the potential site you have identified and see if they are willing to host your practicum;
    • Students who have been unable to identify an organization where they’d like to be placed should use the Placement Request form to indicate the type of work they would like to do, and how far they can travel to a placement site.
  2. Submit the form to your instructor (these instructions are also on the form) along with:
    • your updated resume;
    • a printout of your iSchool coursework (which you can get from your Student Center in MyUW) OR fill in your course list on the request form.
  3. Register for LIS 620 or C&I 620
    • Approximately 2 – 3 weeks after the announced due date for placement requests, you’ll receive contact information for the onsite supervisor at your possible placement, and instructions for arranging an informal initial interview. You’ll use this information to contact the supervisor to arrange an informal initial interview at the library/info agency.

NOTE: Placements are not considered confirmed until there has been a successful interview.