Vol 25 | No 2 | Spring 17
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UCI Libraries' Korea Foundation Internship

Recently, the UCI Libraries hosted a warm farewell and welcome party for our very first two international interns. Funded by Korea Foundation (KF) under its Global Challengers Program, both interns come from South Korea to gain "meaningful work experience and related opportunities at prestigious libraries abroad."

The UCI Libraries has been chosen by KF as the only host-site, among eleven libraries, without a fulltime Korean studies librarian. Each internship is set for 10 months. Whereas intern's funding comes from the Foundation, their onsite administrative, personnel and program support are provided by the Libraries. Both interns come to us through a mutual selection process.

Ms. Hyein Sohn, our inaugural KF intern, just completed her successful internship with the Libraries at the end of February. She commented on the program, before heading back to Chung Ang University (중앙대학교) in the early March to finish up her master degree in archival studies that this was a "valuable" experience and everything in the program was "very useful". She added that she liked that the internship was flexible and customizable and provided the freedom to choose areas of training. The only regret she had is not being able to see in person the actual completion of Korea Corner in the Libraries, for which she devoted her language and cultural specialties in its planning stage. She hopes that she will have a chance in the future to revisit the campus.

ImageAs the finalist for the 2017 Korea Foundation Intern to UCI Libraries, Mr. Jun Sup Kim holds dual-degrees in History and English Literature from Korea University (고려대학교) and is currently a Masters candidate at Yonsei University (연세대학교), majoring in Library and Information Science. Mr. Kim's term with UCI Libraries is from March to December 2017. Similar to what Ms. Hyein Sohn has accomplished, Mr. Kim, during his term, will:

  • Assist Dr. Ying Zhang, Research Librarian for Asian Studies, with (1) developing and managing the Korean studies collection in all formats, (2) maintaining related subject guides, (3) providing reference services for Korean studies faculty and students on campus, and possibly (4) cataloging core Korean studies journals from Korean databased at the title level;
  • Work with Dr. Thuy Vo Dang, Archivist for the Southeast Asian Archive & Regional History, on preparing supporting materials and cultivating relations with local Korean American communities for the Orange County oral history project and archives;
  • And learn about other new forms of library collections and services, such as data management and curation, and digital scholarship services, while also spending time to travel for library visits and relevant conference attendance.
As one of the Libraries' continued global outreach efforts, the KF internship supports the campus' strategic plan of building global connections. It is regarded as a mutually beneficial program, not only to enhance Libraries' service to the Korean studies community on campus, but also to allow the interns "to develop the international mindset and special expertise needed to advance onto and succeed in the global arena."

For any more information please contact Dr. Ying Zhang, Research Librarian for Asian Studies at yingz@uci.edu or 949-824-0489.