SIRLS Internship Opportunities Academic Year 2006-07
Background on the Tree of Life Web Project
Tree of Life Web Project http://tolweb.org/tree/phylogeny.html
The Tree of Life Web Project (ToL) is a collaborative effort of biologists from around the world. On more than 4000 WWW pages, the project provides information about the diversity of organisms on Earth, their evolutionary history (phylogeny), and characteristics. The ToL also features learning materials, called treehouses, that are attached to the scientific core content and can be created by teachers and learners of all ages.
Each page contains information about a particular group of organisms (e.g. tyrannosaurs, phlox flowers) and pages are linked together hierarchically, in the form of the evolutionary tree of life. Starting with the root of all Life on Earth and moving out along diverging branches to individual species, the structure of the ToL project illustrates the genetic connections between all living things.
Types of Internships
Cataloging & Metadata Intern
This internship provides practical experience in cataloging digital resources using OAI-PMH compliant metadata such as Dublin Core and or Education metadata schema such as used by GEM or the NSDL. Under the guidance of the internship supervisor, the intern will create or enhance existing metadata for digital resources. Additional duties may include editing a Best Practices for Metadata Creation Manual, and/or creating mini-controlled vocabularies.
Specific areas of need: Cataloging/applying metadata to media, especially images, video and audio media.
Recommended coursework: (Highly recommended) IRLS 401/501 or 515 Organization of Info. Biology or Education coursework would be helpful for cataloging organism and or learning materials related media.
Contributor Facilitation (Meta-data/Cataloging Systems) Intern
This internship provides practical experience in working on creating systems for meta-data cataloging done by the public (k-12 users, community users, and site partners etc.). The intern will also participate in the creation of data retrieval systems based on the metadata schema, and focused on a k-12 and informal learning audience. All activities will be completed under the guidance of the internship supervisor. Additional duties may include editing a Best Practices for Metadata Creation Manual, and/or creating mini-controlled vocabularies.
Recommended coursework: IRLS 401/501, or 515: Organization of Info.; IRLS 424/524: Info. Resources Evaluation/Info.Resources & Services); IRLS 552 Instructional Methods for Librarians; IRLS 551 Equity of Access. Education or Biology coursework may also be useful depending on student project.
Digital Collections Intern
This internship provides practical experience in digital collection development. Specific areas of digital collection development are chosen from the ToL list of pertinent and relevant subjects. Under the guidance of the internship supervisor, the intern will select a specific subject or topic, locate freely available digital resources for the topic, and create the preliminary metadata for these resources. Additional duties include documenting selecting criteria, refining existing collection development policy, and creating or modifying selection, evaluation and collections policies for new areas or as needed.
Areas of need for collections:
- Materials instructing on the creation of digital media
- Materials demonstrating/instruction on the use of digital media for learning in the classroom and or community
- Materials/sources for using data in the classroom
- Resources for the study of local organisms.
Recommended coursework: IRLS 401/501, or 515: Organization of Info. and IRLS 424/524: Info. Resources Evaluation/Info.Resources & Services). Media Studies, Education or Biology coursework may also be useful depending on student project.
Library Education Outreach Intern
This internship provides practical experience in implementing the use of emerging technologies to facilitate the use and re-use of digital collections by diverse audiences, by working on the infrastructure of the digital library as well as interfacing with the local k-12 community. All activities will be completed under the guidance of the internship supervisor.
Recommended coursework: IRLS 401/501, or 515: Organization of Info.; IRLS 424/524: Info. Resources Evaluation/Info.Resources & Services); IRLS 552 Instructional Methods for Librarians; IRLS 551 Equity of Access. Education or Biology coursework may also be useful depending on student project.
General Information About Internships
Each internship is 3 credit units (135 hours). If the project looks like it is more extensive, hours may be added after discussion with the internship supervisor and ToL staff. The internship location may be either the ToL space at the library or the intern’s home (assuming PC and network access). At least four face to face meetings are mandatory during the course of the internship (may be more – will be determined at the discretion of the internship supervisor) and exact times may be negotiated on a mutually convenient basis. The intern is responsible for developing the internship plan; in doing so, she/he will work with a Tree of Life internship supervisor and faculty advisor and complete the plan of study (including approval) prior to the appropriate SIRLS internship deadlines.
Deadlines for Internship Applications
The deadlines (date by which internship plan is submitted and approved) are the same as for SIRLS individual studies/internships (please consult with SIRLS Dept.)