Towards an Understanding and Evaluation of Student Fieldwork in Libraries

Abstract

UNDERGRADUATE courses in British schools of librarianship include at least one period of fieldwork, typically four to six weeks in duration. This length of period makes this single activity the longest, and consequently the most expensive, single element in a course. The nature of the activity also implies that additional costs are incurred, particularly in the staff time of the host libraries, and in simple financial costs of travel and accommodation for students and visiting tutors. Concern ought to arise that such a ponderous and expensive system survives without rigorous investigation; examination of the objectives set, or assumed, by various schools suggests that the educational purpose is far