Practicum information for host organizations

Information on this page:

About the practicum experience

The goal of the practicum at the Faculty of Information is to provide students with hands-on experience to supplement their theoretical knowledge, and to help them develop professional competencies.

All practicum courses are open to students in their second year of studies at the iSchool. Students participating in the practicum will have completed, or will be in the process of completing, all core and required courses for the Master of Information (MI) degree.

As a supervisor, you will have an opportunity to enhance your management skills and become a mentor to a future colleague. By participating in the educational process, you are contributing to the growth of the information profession.

The main steps for host organizations are:

  1. Host submits a project proposal by the deadline date
  2. Course instructor informs the host whether a student has chosen their project or not, usually within the first three weeks of the term
  3. Student writes and submits a work plan to the instructor and host
  4. Student attends classes and works on the project at the host's office
  5. Student submits a final report by the end of the course
  6. Host submits the student evaluation form by the end of the course
  7. For INF2158H course, students present their practicum work at an exhibition to which all hosts are invited to attend

2013-2014 Fall, Winter, and Summer term schedules:

  • Fall term: September 9 – December 9, 2013
  • Winter term: January 6 – April 4, 2014
  • Summer term: May 5 – June 16, 2014
     

Practicum courses for MI students

INF2173H Information Professional Practicum

INF2158H Management of Corporate and Other Special Information Centres

  • Usually offered only in Winter term
  • Students will commit 45 unpaid hours to your workplace and project
  • This course is designed for those students interested in working in or learning about special libraries and information centres in a private, public, government or academic setting
  • There is required class time for this course
  • At the end of this course, students will participate in a trade show of displays featuring their practicum work, which will be held in early April
     

Host organization requirements

Supervisors

  • Supervisors must be professionals in their fields
  • For placements involving library and/or archival work, supervisors must be graduates of appropriate programs at the masters level: Master of Library Science, Master of Information, etc.
  • Upon the completion of the project, the supervisors will be asked to provide an overall evaluation of the student's work
  • The instructor of the course will provide ongoing support to you and the student as needed

On-site work

  • It is anticipated that all practicum hours, or the majority of the hours, will be conducted on-site to enable the student to gain some exposure both to the culture of your institution and to the values of the information profession
  • In order to help students develop an understanding of the culture of information organizations, students should receive an orientation to all aspects of your institution’s services and responsibilities
  • Desk space must be available for students to do their placements, as well as appropriate equipment, software, and access to other necessary tools
  • Placements should allow students to experience the organizational culture as much as possible by involving students in day-to-day tasks such as meetings, in addition to their specific projects

Projects

  • Project description should offer enough information about the required skills and expected outcomes, in order for students to choose the project that fits their needs and skills
  • Based on the project description and outcomes, each student will be required to create a work plan for the project in the first few of weeks of the course
  • All placements must be completed within the time frame and the requested number of hours in which the course is offered
  • Placements in other subjects or fields are subject to approval by the Faculty

Additional information

  • There is no direct cost to the hosting organizations.
  • Instructors will contact you should your placement not be selected. Please note that it may take up to three (3) weeks at the beginning of the term for this to happen, as placement selection may not be final until then.
     

How to submit a proposal

In order to submit a proposal, hosts must first create an account on our new online system with a username and password.  This information may be used to access all of your proposals in future.  Steps to 1) register an account, and 2) submit a proposal are outlined below, along with deadline dates.

Proposal submission start and due dates

   Start date  Due date
 Fall 2013 term  July 2, 2013  August 23, 2013
 Winter 2014 term  November 1, 2013  December 6, 2013
 Summer 2014 term  March 3, 2014  April 11, 2014

 

How to create your account

  1. Please open the new iSchool Practicum courses page: http://practicum.ischool.utoronto.ca
  2. Click on HOST REGISTRATION* in the upper left corner
  3. Complete the registration form
    • You will now receive an email with instructions on how to create your password
  4. Click on the link in the email, which will take you to the website, and create your password.
    • To confirm that you have successfully created your password, a message in a green box will appear on top of the page stating that The changes have been saved.
  5. Use your newly created username and password to:
    • Submit a project proposal right away, or
    • Login in at any time to submit a project proposal

How to submit a project proposal

  1. Log into your account with your username and password by clicking on HOST LOGIN at: http://practicum.ischool.utoronto.ca
  2. Click on ADD PROJECT* and complete the proposal form
  3. Once you submit the proposal, you will receive confirmation via email

* NOTE: Please note that HOST REGISTRATION and ADD PROJECT will be disabled between proposal submission due date and the date when we start accepting proposals for the next term.

How to re-submit a project proposal

  1. Please open the iSchool Practicum courses page: http://practicum.ischool.utoronto.ca
  2. Click on HOST LOGIN and log into your account with your username and password
  3. Click on PROJECTS and then the PROJECT TITLE to open the old project
  4. Click on CLONE THIS PROJECT on top of the page
  5. Select the appropriate YEAR and TERM and make any other changes if needed, then click on SAVE
     

Thank you for being instrumental in helping students gain some practical experience before they graduate! If you know of other information professionals who may be interested in participating, please feel free to forward this web page to them.

For more information, please contact:

Isidora Petrovic
Careers Officer
Faculty of Information, University of Toronto
Telephone: 416-978-3282
Email: isidora [dot] petrovicatutoronto [dot] ca (subject: Practicum)