In the event of a government shutdown, the Smithsonian Libraries and Archives will remain OPEN through at least Saturday, October 7, by using prior year funds. Visit si.edu for updates.
This post was written by Lauren Eames. Lauren was an intern with the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Library, Summer 2014. She is working on her B.A. in Religious Studies at the University of Chicago.
NEW YORK, 1982 – “Recent gifts to the museum library include a 15th-century illuminated prayer book from Northern Europe, featuring five full-page illuminations, historiated and floriated initials, and elaborate border fantasies; it is the gift of Joseph Farber in memory of his wife Caroline.” (Cooper Hewitt Newsletter, Vol. 5 no. 2)
This post was written by Katie Boodle, Book Conservation Lab intern.
As part of the Smithsonian Libraries’ Conservation of Library Materials Internship, I had the opportunity to work on projects that addressed common conservation problems in archives and special collections: preparing works for digitization and creation of enclosures. Conservation in general is focused primarily on the stabilization of ethnographic, historical, and/or artistic objects for future or continued use. A lot of our treatment decisions, therefore, are made based on how the object will be used in the future, as well as how the objects were used in the past and the specific type of damage done to them. The main project that I worked on during my six weeks was the stabilization of a set of Trow’s New York City Business Directories dating from 1858-1867 located in the collection of Cooper-Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum Library. The main purpose of repair was to prepare the volumes for digitization.
This post was written by Jenn Parent, intern at the National Museum of American History Library. Jenn is a recent graduate from Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, GA with a BS in Anthropology. She will be relocating and attending graduate school at University of Washington-Seattle for a Master’s in Library Science this September.
I spent this summer as a library intern at the National Museum of American History and I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here and learned so much! What did I get to do while I was here? Let me tell you…
I worked on two main projects; first, the impressive trade catalog collection housed here. Approximately 500,000 pieces of trade literature are available for use by curators, researchers, fellows, or anyone who wants to take a peek. The trade lit includes sales brochures, product catalogs, price lists, company histories, correspondence, and other similar items from about 30,000 companies. My tasks varied; most often I was entering new (to us) trade lit into the system. Most of what I entered fell within the medical sciences field, but I still saw a wide variety of really nifty items, including surgical equipment from the 1800s, disposable clothing of the 1960-1970s, and smoking accessories (which included ‘water pipes’).
This post was written by Kelly Baxter, Advancement Intern.
Like so many, I have always been very fond of libraries. I’ve tried to live by the motto that “one should live and work in places where there are books strewn about” and I’ve fared pretty well on that front so far. Yet despite my lifelong affinity for all things bookish, others are generally surprised to discover that I am currently channeling the knowledge I am picking up in library science graduate school into exploring library fundraising and advancement. The Smithsonian Libraries were not surprised, however, and awarded me a professional development internship with their Advancement Office for six weeks this summer to learn more about their gift-in-kind program.
Mary Smith’s Commonplace book concerning science and mathematicsis a remarkable manuscript for several reasons. 1) It contains a wide breadth of information on the sciences of the mid to late 18th century 2) Mary Smith collected and compiled the information at a time when women were still not widely educated.
This post was written by Vanessa Haight Smith, head of Preservation Services.
This year Kathryn Boodle has been awarded the Smithsonian Libraries Professional Development Internship in Preservation. She arrived this week at the Smithsonian Libraries Preservation Department directly upon graduating from the MA program in the Conservation of Art on Paper and Books and Archival Material at the Camberwell College of Arts in London.
Below are a list of projects currently available for the Smithsonian Libraries Fall 2014 General Internship Program. Please help us spread the word about these opportunities!
