Interview with an intern at the SABC Information Library - Justice Leshilo

The SABC Information Library has a new intern, Justice Leshilo, who will be working here for 10 months.

The purpose of the intern-ship is to acquire valuable skills, but also to help with the workflows in the SABC Information Library.

Justice Leshilo is a qualified librarian.

Questions are asked to understand the type of skills that he has to offer, but also to get a better understanding of what he is doing here in the SABC Information Library.


Please tell us about your personal history as well as your studies. How did you become an intern here at SABC?


I was born and raised in Sekhukhune (Limpopo) in a village called Ga-masemola. I started school in 1991 and matriculated in 2003. I went to the University of Limpopo, Turfloop Campus, in 2004 and enrolled for BPSCH (Psychology). I dropped out in 2005. In 2006 I started with BA-Social Science which I successfully completed in 2010. In 2011 I enrolled fro Higher Diploma in information Studies (HDINF) which I completed the same year. During my studies I volunteered for being a peer counselor at the counseling centre and a lab assistant at our general lab purpose of ICT. I was later promoted to be a supervisor of the labs. I also did my practical in our academic library and a four week practical at SABC Limpopo in 2011. I heard about this internship from my friend and former varsity mate Agrineth Mashile. I applied and went through the interviews and fortunately was appointed in April of this year.

What does your job entail here at SABC?


My job in the information library entails scanning, cutting and indexing of newspaper articles in the newspaper section using the Newbase system. It includes indexing, cataloguing, classification, issuing and shelving of books in the books section, as well as indexing articles, receiving and filing in the magazines sections. My job also involves indexing SABC bulletins that will be digitized in future. We also deal with information requests from internal and outside clients.

What have you learned already while you have been there?


I have learned important skills of scanning a newspaper, responding to information requests and indexing of articles in many formats and also learned working in a busy media organization.

Tell us of any interesting anecdotes story with regards to your intern-ship.


I have found myself being a colleague of TV and radio personalities that I used to admire (still does) and I have to learn to stop being a fan but a colleague, sometimes awkward.

Tell us about you social media involvement for the SABC Media Libraries.


I love social media and being involved in social networks. I am active on Twitter and the blogs of the SABC Media Libraries when I have time. I participated on International Archives Day on June 9 2012 where I tweeted for most of the day using the hashtag #archday12. I have learned a lot and have marked it as one of my favourites.

What are you planning to do after this?


I have developed a love of media archiving and media libraries. I am looking forward to work in a broadcasting related field or any type of media organization.




Related posts:


Interview with an intern in the SABC Information Library - Agrineth Mashile

Interview with an intern in the SABC Information Library - Veronica Machate 


Blog post by Karen du Toit, Afrikaans Archivist in the SABC Radio Archives.