Note from 3/9/16: Thanks to all for your input! My decision on this issue is posted here.
Hi, Everyone!
I’ve been thinking a lot about whether to discontinue posting unpaid internships. I try to emphasize the paid ones by putting the word “paid” in the post title, but I have generally always posted unpaid internships as well. I will always continue to post paid internships.
I know that there are a lot of strong opinions about the ethics of unpaid internships. I have opinions of my own! However, if posting unpaid internship positions is still useful for a lot of you, I want to take that into account before I decide.
This post is also open to comments, should you want to make one. You may also email me with a private comment at archivesgig@gmail.com, or tweet comments publicly @archivesgig.
I’m leaving this poll up for two weeks, closing on March 9th. Thank you all so much for your time.
Archives Gig 
I tend to ignore most unpaid internships because of the same issue of ethics and them not being practical when our generation is already being paid extremely low wages in comparison to previous wages for college and graduate students. Still, I would like to see internships that offer housing or some type of substantial expense relief. While it may not be the best situation, these internships are at least offering something of value for your services
I would keep posting them, as long the “unpaid” part is emphasized. They’re a necessary evil these days. And who knows, people might be using your website for data-mining, and those statistics would be helpful!
I’d like to see ArchivesGig focus more on professional, paid positions – either internships, temp, or permanent opportunities – so long as financial assistance is provided. With that said, I do agree that unpaid internships can be a necessary evil for some. I probably wouldn’t have the career I have now if I hadn’t volunteered two full semesters during grad school at a Museum in NYC.
But, there are plenty of sites and university list-serves out there to advertise unpaid internships to students. Also, it’s my opinion that a savvy researcher/student would know to reach out directly to a particular library or institution if a volunteer or internship position there interests them. I feel it would really benefit the professional community to have a blog for Archivists & Special Collection Librarians that focuses solely on paid job postings. You could always post useful links to outside sources that advertise career-oriented unpaid internships, or in the very least, research tips to find them by industry.
There are a few programs out there (like mine) that required their internships be unpaid. I agree that they should be marked clearly as unpaid, but I don’t think they should be removed either.
I am against unpaid internships and as a manager I never offer them, but I think ArchivesGig should continue to serve as a disinterested information clearinghouse for work opportunities and avoid de facto editorializing about the labor market by omission. In other words, keep ’em coming.
I agree with those in favor of continuing to post unpaid internships provided they are clearly identified as such, and perhaps even accessible by a separate link so that they can be ignored by students only looking for the paid variety. Unpaid internships can still be wonderful opportunities, especially if the student doesn’t have to invest money in order to take advantage of them (i.e., doesn’t have to travel, etc..). This is not to say I don’t think more of them them .should. be paid, just that students need all the real-world experience they can get these days.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if every organization could pay interns? Cold hard reality is that even professional staff at some places are paid far below the standard. I cannot offer money to my interns but what I do offer them is incredible hands-on experience and so much more than the fantasy world they are taught in school. They will see the real world of a small public library with an amazing special collections run by a certified archivist and professional librarian. Money should not be the carrot that is dangled in front of them — true work experience at a place that is interesting for them and where they can feel they make a difference is what will benefit them, regardless of the internship being paid or not. Don’t discriminate against unpaid internships — let the students decide where they want to learn by offering them both.
When I was in graduate school in 2007 and 2008, I was unable to use paid internships for course credit. I wasn’t forbidden from taking paid internships, I just couldn’t use any paid internship for course credit. My program required that every student complete an internship to graduate, and students were not allowed to get paid for the course credit they earned while completing the internship. In fact, students had to pay the university to take the internship course.