History and Korean Studies Work-Integrated Learning Library Internships: Past Students and Host-Supervisors' Reflections

The paper presents an evaluation of History and Korean Studies WIL internships at Monash University Library, focusing on past students' views of the program in relation to their future career, and past host-supervisors' perceptions of its benefits. Data collection for the qualitative research was conducted through semi-structured interviews with past students and host-supervisors. The results revealed that both past students and host-supervisors expected the internships to facilitate students to gain hands-on experiences and develop 'soft-skills.' There was a gap where past host-supervisors consistently mentioned teamwork in their expectations, yet none of the past students had teamwork as one of their expectations. Both past students and host-supervisors view the program as beneficial for students, therefore, they suggested that the programs continue to be offered. Upon being asked what the benefits of internships were for themselves however, the host-supervisors put forward benefits that were more related to the library.