I was lucky enough to do a one month paid internship at the University Library of the Medical University of Vienna in September 2014. Since finishing my PhD in 2012, I’d been living in Vienna and learning German. I’d done my MSc Information and Library Studies in 2007 and worked in libraries in Scotland for a couple of years before my doctoral studies, but my library skills were very rusty and I was unfamiliar with many of the systems and standards used here in Austria. Hence, the internship was invaluable to me.

The four weeks were very varied and gave me the chance to learn a lot in a very short space of time.

I gained valuable insight into the inner-workings of each department: acquisitions and eBooks-on-demand with Mag. Marian Mehl; SFX and remote access administration with Ing. Mag. Helmut Dollfuß; subject indexing and the BIX library statistics index with Mag. Elisabeth Erasimus; administration of Primo with Mag. Daniel Formanek; document supply with Andrea Straub; eJournals with Andreas Frühling; literature searching and information literacy provision with Ewa Chwala and Mag. Brigitte Wildner; the historic collections and on-going provenance research of the branch library for history of medicine with Harald Albrecht; and ALEPH administration with Günther Kindl.

My German library vocabulary was greatly extended by my work translating the website into English, and I gained much practical experience working at the circulation desk and cataloguing items in ALEPH.

In addition to the new skills and experience I gained, it was a real pleasure to be a part of a friendly and supportive workplace, even if for just a short time.

I was made to feel welcome from the start and everyone answered my many questions with patience and wisdom. For that I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone at the University Library of the Medical University of Vienna.