Internships 101: Research for the "real world"

Duke's librarians teach hundreds of library instruction sessions every year to support courses with topics ranging from Modern Chinese Cinema to Sport in the 19th Century United States.  Subject librarians work closely with faculty members to ensure that students have the resources they need to produce well documented research papers and dynamic multimedia projects.

But we certainly know that not every Duke undergraduate is going to spend his life in academia, passing his days mining bibliographies and exploring arcane archives. While it is critical that undergraduates learn how to find relevant scholarly literature and then frame a research question that will continue the scholarly discussion in order to be successful in a their coursework at Duke, these skills are not the only ones they will need when starting a job in an engineering firm, on Wall Street or on Capitol Hill.

Duke Student Government students realized this, too, and came up with a way to help students translate the research skills they gain in library instruction sessions and by drafting countless research papers and projects into the ones required for "the real world."

And, thus, Internships 101 was born.  Now in its second year, Internships 101 sessions offer students who have secured summer internships the chance to meet with librarians in their field to learn strategies for doing research not in the classroom, but on the job.  This year, sessions will be held for students who plan to work in politics, finance and engineering.  Participating students can expect to learn suggestions for writing memos chock full of persuasive data, tips for using financial modeling software, and strategies for searching for patents and standards.

Interested in learning more or registering for a session?  Check out the Internships 101 event page.  Have an idea for another Internships 101 session?  Leave a comment.