For internships, you have two options: apply to established internships or create your own.

The advantages of established internships is that they will typically provide a quality internship that will prepare you professionally. The downside is that they may not be best suited to you geographically and/or be best suited to your interests.

Creating your own internship is as easy as contacting a prospective internship site and asking them to host you. Lay out what your goals and interests are and then complete any forms required by the school (if you want to receive credit. Even if you don't want to receive credit, use SLIS's guidelines to help ensure that your internship will give you the experience you need to get a job.) If you already have a dream library or information center where you would like to intern, it's fine to start the internship approval process right away. There is not reason to wait until SLIS starts sending out information about internships. Besides, the site might look favorably on you and respect you for being so ahead of the game.

Lastly, read the experience of other students in the full-text archive of published articles.

You can also read:

• Practicum Insights by Mana Tominaga
• A Non-Traditional Library: My Practicum at San Diego State's Slide Library by Felicia Palsson
• A Practicum at World Images by Katie Melville
• From the Ground Up: Managing Content Guerrilla Style by Michael J. Ludwig
• Community College Internship: Great Rewards by David Gross