Special Collections Processing
Andrea
Experience Information
Employer: Grand Valley State University
Job Title: Intern
Major: English
Received Credit: Yes
Paid: No
Abroad: No
Description of the Organization
My internship at the Grand Valley State University Special Collections and University Archives took place in the summer of 2017. My understanding of what the office did, prior to my role, was that they collected and preserved donated collections and historical records at the university. Since they were located in the Seidman House on the Allendale campus, my internship in the summer was fairly quiet and my work kept me in their temperature controlled basement quite a bit. I had two main supervisors.
Description of the Tasks/Projects Completed
I began with transcribing and scanning letters from World War II. Later on, I tracked down papers for a researchers who was interested in speeches. Lastly, I helped process the materials of Mike McDonnell, donated to the university just before my internship began.
Skills/Knowledge Gained Through The Experience
- Transcribing - Photocopying - Digitizing - Photo editing - Blogging - Preservation of photographs, artwork, letters/papers, receipts, and film.
Favorite Part of the Experience
My favorite part of this experience was being able to get to know a local artist, Mike McDonnell. Now every time I am walking around campus, I sometimes see his work and am reminded of his influence in the local area.
How the Experience Influenced Future Career Goals
I was able to relate the skills I learned from this internship directly to my role working in a public library as a clerk. Aside from helping patrons and processing materials, I took on an additional function of processing and digitizing historical photos of the local area and its prominent people. This would not have been possible without the skills I learned as an intern in the Special Collections office.
Internship Format
In Person