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CHAPTER THREE. Setting the Context of the Intern Programme: AMPS and Architecture_MPS
Background information
The background to the relationship between the organization hosting the ITP, AMPS, and the researcher was covered in the Introduction. As discussed there were several issues to be dealt with in order to form an agreement with AMPS. Once done, one of the first tasks for the researcher was to become fully familiar with the organisation and its own working practices so she could propose a variety of tasks that librarians could perform in support of that. Once done at meetings with AMPS staff, the researcher then had to find interns to take part in the ITP and begin to develop the induction materials they would need. The first step for the researcher in beginning her ITP with interns was to reach out to library schools to make contact with recent graduates and MLS students approaching the end of their programmes. This was done, in the first instance, by sourcing relevant librarian electronic mailing lists that could help disseminate news about this online internship opportunity internationally. Given its virtual nature, opening the ITP to a range of international participants was a relatively simple thing to do. One important criterion was a high level of English, established through a series of written correspondence, submitted essays, and Skype interviews. Examples of the electronic mailing lists used include: COLLIB-L College Libraries Section (CLS) of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL); ARLIS/NA and ARLIS UK electronic mailing lists; LIS-LINK (general library and information science list in the UK); and LIBREF-L (library reference electronic mailing list; American Library Association (ALA), Art Libraries Society of North America (ARLlS/NA); and Association of Architecture School Librarians (AASL). Another approach was to send a job announcement to be disseminated by tutors on MLS programmes. This was sent to school administrators in relevant programmes in Australia, Canada, the UK and the US. The first round of calls generated a positive response with some 15 recent graduates and current students applying to participate. Given the duration of the internship is limited, this procedure has been carried out several times since with the aim of always maintaining a minimum of five interns engaged in the ITP. Subsequently, previous interns have also helped disseminate information about the ITP to peers and the researcher has been invited to make a presentation at the Association of Architecture School Librarians (AASL) conference (Isaac-Menard 2013). Conference presentations have been made about the work of AMPS, including one for the Archivists Round Table of Metropolitan New York (Whysel 2015). Also Dr. Graham Cairns has disseminated news about the ITP at a range of conferences for architecture academics. In addition, the researcher has had material published in Art Documentation (Isaac-Menard 2015) and Feliciter (Isaac-Menard & Cairns 2014) about the ITP. The stamp of approval represented by publication in a leading journal has helped when discussing the ITP with potential interns who in one or two instances have been nervous about engaging in a work placement not set in a traditional library context.
After the first round of calls to gather participants for the ITP, the researcher set up a thorough interview process. The intention was to reflect the professional paid workplace as much as possible and, as a result, this involved a standard set of questions asked of all applicants and the development of an entrance questionnaire that would double as a key tool in analysing the perceived effectiveness of the study. Subsequently, the researcher also established induction procedures and documentation that would orientate the intern in both the needs of AMPS as a form of employer. Documented in this written component of the thesis, these materials also had to underline the skills that would be acquired and developed, the lessons that would be learnt, and be explicit about how the experience would demonstrate to both the intern and any prospective future employers, that the skills, knowledge and working practices of librarians are applicable in contexts outside the traditional library. All this was done by reference to literature in the field (Aldrich 2007; Callister 2009; Cheng & Ho 2001; Ford & Weissbein 1997; Foxon 1993; Foxon 1994; Stagg & Kimmins 2012) which underlines the principles of transferable skills that are intrinsic to the practices of this type of internship.
As it developed in the first twelve months, the researcher was able to fully establish a taxonomy of tasks (outlined below) carried out by interns and document for the intern the skills they already have that will enable them to fulfil these tasks and also the skills they need to develop in order to successfully meet the requirements of the ITP. Formulated into an induction package formally given to each intern when they commence the ITP, these documents have become important guidance to interns after the internship as they summarize the ways in which the interns themselves can present their experience in a range of job contexts, with particular emphasis on the issue of transferability.
As already indicated, early on in this process the researcher was seeking funds to cover the time that she was spending on this project. This continued throughout 2012 despite having found a home for the study. Outlined in more detail below, AMPS is a non-profit entity which, at the time of agreeing to the placement of the ITP within its organization, did not have the funds to cover the programme. The implication of this has been significant, with the researcher spending the past three years supporting over forty early careers librarians in her spare time, weekends and evenings. Although this has represented difficulties, these problems have been minimized by the supportive context of the scholarly journal Architecture_MPS and its associated research and publication group AMPS. Although unable to financially support the project, the academic, journalist and author members of AMPS have supported the researcher in giving end-user feedback on the work done by the interns as part of the ITP. This has given the feedback a professional basis to complement the pedagogical focus of the feedback offered by the researcher. Before presenting some of these documents and examples of feedback, it’s important to give the reader some more detail about the organization within which the internship sits.
AMPS
AMPS is a non-profit research organisation. It operates in partnerships with universities and professional bodies internationally. Its peer-reviewed, open access journal Architecture_MPS (ISSN 2050-9006) is published with UCL Press. Responsible for organising research networks and programmes, and freely disseminating research outputs, these two related entities share the same aim: to operate as a socially positive forum for the analysis of architecture, landscape and urbanism in the mediated, politicised environment of contemporary culture.
To this end the research organisation and journal have initiated two main areas of research represented by the programmes: Housing – Critical Futures and The Mediated City. These programmes set up networks of researchers and operate through an international series of conferences and workshops, and associated book and special issue journal publications. Events have been held in conjunction with universities in the UK, the United States, Spain and Cyprus. Articles have been published by leading and emerging scholars from Italy, the US, Australia, China, the UK and the United States. Books have been published and are in development with editors and authors from over twenty nations.
Premised on working collaboratively with universities, professional, student and charitable organisations to promote a socially responsible approach to the development of the built environment, AMPS has partners in Europe, North and South America and Australia. Its home base is in the United Kingdom.
On its website AMPS states that it sees the definition, debates and concerns of the built environment as intrinsic to those at the heart of other social, cultural and political discourses (AMPS 2017: About). The territory it seeks to explore is an overlaid terrain in which the physical, material and the environment are critically examined through the prism of the cultural, the mediatic, the social and the political. Its focus is cross disciplinary and draws on media studies, political science and the social sciences. It invites participation from all sectors: architects, planners, policy makers, artists, academics, the public and community activists. Its social aims can be defined as: promoting an understanding of the role of architecture and the built environment on communities, public health and society more broadly; engaging all its stakeholders in events and debates aimed at better understanding and communicating the needs of each party; and providing openly accessible materials such as written articles, research guides, current event listings, and a database of organisations that support these aims.
Amongst the aims of AMPS is to establish an innovative academic online forum which combines, for the first time, an open access peer-reviewed academic journal with a collection of resource material related to the journal content. Launched in 2013, it represents a new approach to facilitating cross-disciplinary collaborations in academic institutions both nationally and internationally. Materials are added continually in order to build up an extensive information source for archiving. Interns are integral to its creation.
Intern training programme
In establishing the ITP, the researcher developed a programme designed to fulfil the work requirements of AMPS and also to prepare early careers librarians for the changing nature of the job market in which their ability to transfer their skills to non-standard contexts will be a key attribute. The scheme is run “for-credit” and “not-for-credit” allowing current MLS students to complement their studies with practical training and providing recent graduates with their first library-related work experience (Isaac-Menard 2015). Since the programme was launched in 2013, the researcher has mentored over forty trainees from the UK, US, Canada and Australia.
CHAPTER ONE. The Research Problem
CHAPTER TWO. Literature Review
Introduction
Subject area 1. Library science
Issue 1: job market
Issue 2. Transferable skills
Issue 3. Library internships
Subject area 2: Education and educational psychology
Subject area 3. Workplace transfer of training
Subject area 4. Psychology
CHAPTER THREE. Setting the Context of the Intern Programme: AMPS and Architecture_MPS
Background information
AMPS
Intern training programme
Intern activities
Description of components worked on by interns
Resource Repository
Current Listings
Image Archive
Outreach – Social Media
IT Systems
Research Support
Host Project Support
Editorial Support
CHAPTER FOUR. Running the Training Programme
Orientation for interns
Advice on job searching
Example tasks and feedback
Sample task 1
Sample feedback 1
Sample task 2
Sample feedback 2
Sample task 3
Sample feedback 3
Sample task 4
Sample feedback 4
Managing intern managers
Advice on outline planning, interviewing and recruitment
Internship planning
Hold an orientation and maintain contact
Day to day managements and instruction of interns
Feedback
Communication compatibility
Establish cultural understanding
Remember course requirements
Have a contingency plan
Liaise with AMPS and the intern’s institution
Evaluation
Checklist
CHAPTER FIVE. Methodology
Research approach
Case study
Aims of the research
Research questions
Research design/method
Qualitative / quantitative methods
Quantitative research
Qualitative research
Open ended component
Triangulation
Instrument
I.1. entrance interview questionnaire
I.2. post-internship open-ended survey
I.3. post-internship questionnaire using a 4-point Likert scale
I.4. post-internship in-depth interview
Internet administered surveys
Participants
Population risk and consent
Data analysis
Limitations
CHAPTER SIX – Results and Discussion
Instrument 1. entrance interview questionnaire
Summary of instrument 1
Analysis
Instrument 2. post-internship open ended survey
Summary of instrument 2
Analysis of the individual themes from instrument 2:
Instrument 3: post-internship questionnaire using a 4-point Likert scale
Results
Analysis of instrument 3
Instrument 4. post-internship individual in-depth interview (qualitative)
Questions for interns currently seeking work
Questions for former interns now in a job
Analysis of instrument 4
Summary of themes
CHAPTER 7 – Conclusions
Revisiting the literature
Revisiting the research problem
The programme and the process
Evaluating the research methodology
Issues for further exploration
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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Librarian skills in the 21st century workplace: The development, running and analysis of atraining scheme for non-traditional library work contexts
