The UCLA Department of Information Studies operates a dynamic and progressive internship program. This program provides students enrolled in the MLIS or Ph.D. degree programs with a wide range of opportunities to apply their knowledge and skills in a structured professional environment under the supervision, guidance and mentoring of current practitioners in the information profession.

The internship program has been in place since the 1970s and has grown to include nearly 250 sites. Our Los Angeles location allows us to offer an exciting and diverse range of local internship sites. Our program is highly regarded among local organizations and companies. Among those working with UCLA to offer internships to our students are:

• Getty Conservation Institute (AATA & GCI)
• Getty Research Institute (GRI)
• Go For Broke National Education Center
• HBO Archives
• Illumination Entertainment
• Inglewood Public Library
• Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
• Jewish Historical Society of Southern California
• La Historia Historical Society
• Long Beach City College Library
• Los Angeles City College (LACC)
• Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)
• LACMA – Digital Preservation (CIDA)
• Los Angeles Harbor College (LAHC)
• LA Law Library
• LA Metro Transportation Research Library & Archive
• Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL)
• Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (NHM)
• NBCUniversal
• Palos Verdes Library District
• RFK Community School
• Rio Hondo College
• San Francisco Cinematheque
• Santa Monica College Archives
• Santa Monica Public Library (SMPL)
• Scripps College – Ella Strong Denison Library
• SFPL Jail & Reentry Services
• Simon Wiesenthal Center, Museum of Tolerance
• Skid Row Museum
• Skirball Cultural Center
• Social and Public Art Resource Center
• UCLA Arts Library
• UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center
• UCLA Film & Television Archive
• UCLA Powell Library
• UCLA Law Library
• UCLA Library Preservation
• UCLA Library – Resource Acquisitions & Metadata
• UCLA Library Special Collections/Center for Primary Research & Training
• University of Sydney, Fine Arts Library
• USC Libraries
• USC Library Special Collections
• USC ONE Archives
• USC Hugh M. Hefner Moving Image Archive
• Visual Communications
• Wende Museum
• Windward School
• William Andrews Clark Memorial Library

Forms and Dates

Internship hours must be completed during the quarter in which the student is enrolled; regular academic year quarters are ten weeks, and summer sessions may be six, eight, or ten weeks. See the Annual Academic Calendar for term start and end dates.

Agreement to Supervise an MLIS Intern/Fieldwork (PDF)

Suggested Practices for Site Supervisors (PDF)

Internship Evaluation Criteria (PDF)

Internship Evaluation Form (for supervisors) (PDF)

Internship/Fieldwork Site Application (Google Form)

Become a Fieldwork Site

Interested in working with our skilled and motivated graduate students as a new Fieldwork or Internship site? The first step is to complete the online Internship/Fieldwork Site Application. The Department’s requirement for a 4-unit Internship (IS498) or Fieldwork (IS497) course is a minimum of 120 hours per quarter of responsible work at the professional level, supervised and evaluated by a qualified and appropriately credentialed professional in an information agency, archive or library approved by the Department. Internship supervisors typically hold an MLIS degree. Fieldwork supervisors must be professionals with appropriate training or credentials to oversee the type of experience offered, and will work with an instructor of record from the IS department faculty (either the student’s academic advisor or another faculty member with relevant expertise). For more information, please contact Dee Winn, the Internship Coordinator, at winn@seis.ucla.edu.