MLIS Library Fellowship Worksites

The worksites for the MLIS+ Fellowship program will be held at the SJSU Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library on the SJSU campus and the San Diego State University Library. Some worksites will be remote.

In the application letter please indicate the name of the worksite you wish to be considered for.

‘South Asians in Silicon Valley’ MLIS+ Fellow - Location: SJSU (Ability to come to the SJSU campus as per need of the project.)

The South Asians in Silicon Valley (SASV) initiative at the SJSU King Library records, preserves, and showcases the impact and legacies of the vast South Asian diaspora in the Bay Area/Silicon Valley. Through exhibits, events, and conversations, this initiative connects South Asian community leaders and the SJSU campus and invites everyone to learn about the impact of an immigrant community. 

Fellowship Description

The student assistant will participate in various aspects of the initiative, such as 

• Conduct background research for exhibits and events
• Drive with the mentor to local community sites to collect artifacts for exhibits
• Develop virtual exhibit and install physical exhibit
• Participate in events, from planning, research, coordination, and execution to assessment
• Update website of initiative and work with Omeka platform for digital exhibits
• Participate in meetings, as needed
• Prepare for a conference presentation or other forms of research dissemination

Overall, the student will gain a range of experiences and skills in helping build a unique initiative. The student will also meet community leaders and work closely with students, faculty, and staff of SJSU.   

Learning Outcomes

• Learn to conduct primary research that is geared toward documenting history and legacy
• Learn the nuances of representing community history and achievements to make them visible
• Learn how to use digital tools and platforms to represent data
• Learn how to find and use secondary research to complement primary research and prepare for academic dissemination, such as conference presentations or journal publications
• Learn how to work with community members, including conducting interviews and leading conversations at public events

Required/Preferred Qualifications

• Must be a matriculated SJSU student currently enrolled, with at least two semesters left in the MLIS program.
• Must have completed INFO 200
• Resident of California
• Excellent writing and organization skills
• Familiarity with South Asian cultures is a plus 
• Ability to conduct independent and in-depth research.

NOTE:  When in-person exhibits will get installed and when events are being held, the Fellow should be able to come to campus and work with the supervisor and other librarians. The Fellow will meet with the mentor weekly, preferably through Zoom and otherwise through email and Google Chat as needed. If the Fellow needs a room to work on the projects, the mentor will make arrangements inside the library. 

Through weekly meetings, the mentor will share not just requirements for a project but also the larger context of the initiative so that the Fellow understands the critical work of documenting a community while engaging with it.

Demonstrating how to conduct primary research based on knowledge of the field and/or prior research is a key aspect of this Fellowship.

The mentor welcomes a student’s own perspectives or lived experiences or prior research experience to build the research for exhibits, thereby giving the student a rich experience of self-motivated learning with detailed inputs from the point of view of the larger initiative.

Special Collections and Archives MLIS+ Fellow - Location: IN-PERSON AT SJSU

Fellowship Description

The SC&A Collections Assistant will be responsible for the physical arrangement and online description of assigned SC&A collections, starting with the Chinese Historical & Cultural Project (CHCP) Records. The collection consists of 28 boxes of materials pertaining to the history of CHCP, a Santa Clara County nonprofit that “promotes, educates, and preserves Chinese and Chinese American history and culture through community outreach activities.” The SC&A Collections Assistant will process the collection according to DACS (Describing Archives Content Standard) and create an EAD (Encoded Archival Description) finding aid on ArchivesSpace to be made publicly accessible on the OAC (Online Archive of California). The Collections Assistant will also assist with Reading Room coverage in facilitating on- and off-site researchers with questions pertaining to our holdings in special collections and university archives. Time and opportunities permitting, the Collections Assistant may also assist with processing other collections, curating exhibitions, retrieving and shelving SC&A materials, and other duties as assigned.

Learning Outcomes

1. The student will learn how to process a significant collection according to the standards of the archival profession.
2. The student will learn how ArchivesSpace is used for accessioning, processing, and creating EAD finding aids according to the standards of the archival profession.
3. The student will learn the importance of assisting researchers and facilitating their requests. Whereas processing teaches the depth of various collections, reference teaches the breadth of a typical repository’s general collection.
4. The student will learn how processing and reference are connected along with other facets of the profession in the underlying objective of researcher accessibility.

Required/Preferred Qualifications

• Must be a matriculated SJSU student currently enrolled, with at least two semesters left in the MLIS program.
• Resident of California
• Must have completed INFO 200
• Familiarity with computers, Google Tools, and Microsoft Office programs.        
• Excellent communication skills.
• Ability to lift full Hollinger boxes and retrieve and reshelve materials.
• Ability to follow direction and adapt to change.
• Preferred interest in special collections librarianship or the archival profession.
• Familiarity with the SJSU Library’s online catalog (OneSearch) is desirable.

NOTE:  The mentor will begin with a thorough orientation to Special Collections & Archives as a physical entity and the importance of following protocols in our shared secure area. They will introduce the student to the CHCP Records and guide them through an introductory survey, then cover the SC&A processing manual. Also early on, the mentor will get the student acclimated in the Reading Room and to the rest of our team of student assistants, then take them through training on how to conduct a reference interview, how to find our materials, and how to ensure that researchers are following our protocols. As Director, the mentor makes a point of being present in the Reading Room at least a couple of times each day, so that students know that they are available for questions and take what we do in the Reading Room seriously. They will also do this as direct supervisor of the Collections Assistant, meeting each day they work.

We pride ourselves on being a teaching archive, and this is an exciting opportunity to give an aspirant MLIS student the tools and experience needed to work in the archival profession.

Library Assessment MLIS+ Fellow – Location: Hybrid at San Diego State University

Fellowship Description

Under the supervision of the Assessment Librarian in the San Diego State University Library, the MLIS+ fellow will take an active role in library-wide assessment projects. A hybrid position is preferred, but the modality is flexible depending on the project(s) undertaken.

Depending on the experience and interests of the fellow, they could take part in a variety of assessment projects, including:

Projects that would require some in-person attendance in San Diego:

• Coordinating a qualitative user research event for library faculty and staff
• Conducting an environmental scan of the accessibility of physical and digital library spaces

Projects that could be done remotely:

• Establishing a library data directory
• Data analysis, visualization, and reporting of an upcoming student feedback survey
• Coordinating data collection for the Annual ACRL Library Statistics and Trends Survey
• Collections assessment

Required/ Preferred Qualifications for the MLIS+ Fellow applicant 

• Must be a matriculated SJSU student currently enrolled, with at least two semesters left in the MLIS program.
• Must have completed INFO 200
• Resident of California
• Spreadsheet programs (e.g. Google Sheets, Microsoft Excel

Experience with:

• Data analysis
• Data visualization
• Qualitative and quantitative research methods
• R, Python, or other programming languages for statistical analysis

The work schedule is flexible, with preferred availability for meetings and in-person work to occur between 9am and 5pm, Monday–Friday. Ideally the fellow would be available to attend these following monthly meetings, though this could be worked around if not possible:

• Library Assessment Committee meeting, 11:00am – 12:00pm, Monthly on the third Tuesday (Hybrid)
• Library Accessibility Task Force meeting, 1:00 – 2:00pm, Monthly on the second Tuesday (Remote)