Internships in Special Collections

Special Collections welcomes opportunities for undergraduate and graduate interns during fall, spring, or summer semesters.  Internships are available in manuscript processing, archival research, oral history, preservation, and digital projects. Fall and spring internships are based on a minimum standard of ten hours of work per week; summer interns may work up to 30 hours per week.  All internships are supervised and evaluated by either the Special Collections Librarian or Preservation Specialist.

Manuscripts Processing interns learn the theory of archival organization and apply it by arranging and describing a manuscript or archival collection. This includes researching people or events covered by a collection, sorting, cleaning, arranging, boxing, and creating an online finding aid for the collection.

Archives Administration internships are reserved for graduate students who will work with the Special Collections Librarian on various administrative projects related to the daily administration of Special Collections, making tangible contributions in the areas of collections management, intellectual access, statistical analysis, or another area of interest.

Archival Research interns research a topic on local history using primary sources and complete a major research project or paper. Projects are dependent upon the student’s interests and the feasibility of the project.

Oral History interns are introduced to the broad range of issues in the methodology of oral documentation. Projects may be proposed by the intern or assigned by Special Collections staff.  Projects are structured to include a short background research paper that defines the historical context of the topic, a minimum of two interviewees to gain different perspectives, extensive preparation of interview questions, and transcription of all interviews. The completed project becomes part of the Library's permanent collection.

Preservation interns will receive training in conservation activities including: archival quality repair of library materials; environmental monitoring; and stabilization and re-housing of library materials.  Additional options for preservation projects are: pre-processing of manuscript collections for Special Collections; condition reporting and documentation.  Students will be encouraged to develop a portfolio of conservation techniques.

Digital Project interns utilize emerging technology to create or enhance access to documents, images, oral histories, or finding aids in Special Collections. Possible projects include digitizing documents or images for online exhibits, creating a more interactive webpage for access to oral histories, and standardizing existing and future finding aids on our website.

Ideal candidates would be considering a career or further study in the fields of conservation, library science, museum studies, or history and archives.  Extreme attention to detail and fine motor skills are requirements of the position.  Interested students should contact their academic department’s internship coordinator, and contact Special Collections or Preservation to discuss potential internship projects.

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