CASE STUDY OF UITM KEDAH ON THEMATIC ANALYSIS OF INDUSTRIAL TRAINING REPORTS FROM LIBRARY MANAGEMENT STUDENTS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.35631/IJEPC.1164011Keywords:
Cataloguing Challenges, Employability Skills, Experiential Learning, Industrial Training, Library and Information Science (LIS) Education, Professional Identity Formation, Reflective PracticeAbstract
Industrial training in Library and Information Science (LIS) education is an important feature, which serves to integrate theory learnt in the classroom, into practice and the construction of one’s identity as an information professional. Ten industrial training reports submitted by Bachelor of Information Management (Library Management) students to Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Kedah Branch were analyzed using the Braun and Clarke (2006) thematic analysis approach to explore how the students reflected on the variety of learning they gained during industrial training. A total of seven themes were identified: experience in multiple departments of the library; technical and digital skills acquisition; user and information literacy development; outreach and promotional involvement; employability skills and soft skills enhancement; professionalism and workplace adaptation and issues related to cataloguing and technical duties. Together, the findings illustrated how industrial training acts as a technical practicum as well as a socialisation process for students. Through industrial training, they gained necessary skills, adapted to workplace expectations and began to envisage themselves as upcoming information professionals. Additionally, students described Cataloguing as a ‘productive struggle’ that developed patience, tenacity and critical thinking ability. In addition, students’ personal reflections during industrial training revealed an in-depth understanding of their development, though self-reported outcomes might represent limitations due to subjectivity and would benefit from being supplemented with external data from supervisors, users and long-term follow up with careers.
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