This is a crossposting from the ALA @ SI website (http://www.si.umich.edu/ALA/).

Although I am serving as the Vice President of the student chapter of ALA here at SI, I also have interests in archives. Having previously worked in both a public and an academic library, and having completed a number of library and information services (LIS) courses during the 2006-2007 academic year, I wanted to have an experience working in an archives. In particular, I wanted to apply the theory that I had learned in SI 580 (Understanding Records and Archives: Principles and Practices) to practical work in archives – processing. SI 580 is an important introduction to archival theory and practice but it lacks actual practical work.

I obtained my summer internship through the contacts I made during SI’s Alternative Spring Break. For one week in February I stayed in Washington, D.C., and worked at the National Museum of American History Archives Center on processing parts of the George Sidney Collection, 1891-2000 and the John Vasquez Papers, 1945-2005. I thoroughly enjoyed D.C., the staff at the Archives Center, and the processing work itself. When I returned to Ann Arbor for the remainder of my second semester, I decided to contact Alison Oswald, one of my supervisors during the week, to see if I could return. Luckily for me it was not necessary to go through the official process of applying for an internship at a Smithsonian Institution museum. Instead, it was decided at an Archives Center staff meeting that I could just return.

In order to have the internship approved by the PEP program at SI, it was necessary for Alison Oswald, who would serve as one of my mentors throughout the summer, to write a proposal and submit it to Joanna Kroll, Associate Director of Career Services. The proposal outlined how many hours I would work a week and throughout the summer and provided a breakdown of the types of projects I would work on, the educational goals of those projects, and how they would be evaluated.

Throughout the summer, as part of SI’s requirements, it was necessary to submit an informal blog entry once a week, more formal reports every two weeks, documentation and photographs (“artifacts”) of my work, and a final reflection. There are further requirements at the beginning of this semester that I still have to meet, including a short PowerPoint presentation to others who participated in internships this summer. It is also necessary to complete a small webpage describing your internship experience.

As for the internship itself, I participated in at least ten different projects. My mentors, Alison Oswald and Vanessa Broussard Simmons, designed the internship to provide me with opportunities processing varying types of collections and to encounter a multitude of different documents. I processed an artificial and manuscript collection as well as built enclosures (such as phase boxes and sink mats) for scrapbooks, catalogs, and other objects. I also spent some time learning how to handle audiovisual materials, including repairing and splicing 8mm and 16mm film. Further details about my internship can be found here.

Living in D.C., while expensive, hot, and very humid, was fantastic. There are many museums, concerts, theater performances, and dining experiences! The Smithsonian Institution hosts many interns over the summer so there are plenty of opportunities to meet new people.

If anyone has questions about my specific internship, or on finding an internship and PEP requirements, feel free to ask!

- Jeremy Barney