Digital Archives Internship, Trustees of Reservations, Sharon, MA
Posted January 5, 2015
Internship Title: Digital Archives Internship
Application Deadline: January 31, 2015
Organization: Trustees of Reservations
Location Name: Archives & Research Center, The Trustees of Reservations
Address: 27 Everett Street
City, State, ZIP: Sharon, MA, 02067
Website: http://www.thetrustees.org/what-we-care-about/history-culture/archives-research-center.html
Supervisor: Sarah Hayes, [email protected]
Hours: 4-10 hours per week, Monday-Friday between 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Transportation: Travel reimbursement available: gas mileage (if driving) or train ticket (if taking commuter rail)
Parking: Free parking available onsite
Mass Transit: Accessible via mass transit, Commuter train from South Station to Sharon. Walk 15 minutes to the Archives & Research Center.
Internship Description
The Trustees of Reservations seeks a Digital Archives intern for the winter/spring semester. The Digital Archives intern will assist the Archives & Research Center (the ARC) to prepare two photographic collections for inclusion in the online collections catalog that will be launched June 2016. The intern will work closely with the Digital Archivist and ARC team to identify images that best represent the families, development, and overall history of two of The Trustees’ most popular properties: Castle Hill and Naumkeag. The intern will participate in multiple aspects of the digital archiving process, including:
- Identifying images, both physical and digital, that best represent the selected properties and their stories;
- Digitizing a variety of photograph types from the 1800s to present day in accordance with ARC best practices and standards;
- Cataloging digital images in PastPerfect in accordance with ARC best practices and standards;
- Implementing preservation strategies, such as migration of unstable media and applying preservation metadata to digital files.
Qualifications
Qualified applicants will have completed the core classes in their program, as well as at least one of the following:
- LIS 444: Archiving and Preserving Digital Media,
- LIS 448: Digital Stewardship,
- LIS 462: Digital Libraries.
Students must possess an attention to detail and strong organizational skills, as well as a general familiarity with handling archival photographic materials. There is no required knowledge of PastPerfect, Adobe Photoshop, or other digital asset management tools. However, the student should be eager and comfortable learning new programs.
Organizational Overview
Founded in 1891, The Trustees of Reservations (TTOR) preserve, for public use and enjoyment, properties of exceptional scenic, historic, and ecological value in Massachusetts and work to protect special places across the state. We have helped protect more than 50,000 acres, including 25,000+ acres on more than 100 reservations that are all open to the public. We are a nonprofit conservation organization funded and supported entirely by our visitors, supporters, volunteers and more than 40,000 members.
The Trustees of Reservations’ curatorial resources include archives, buildings, landscapes, ruins and artifacts covering hundreds of years of human history. In the historic houses, at the Archives & Research Center, and in the land itself, TTOR preserves the landscapes and material culture of Massachusetts people. Objects and archives enrich a wide range of programs and activities.
Archives & Research Center (ARC) and the Collections
The Archives & Research Center (ARC) is the hub of The Trustees of Reservations’ curatorial stewardship. Located in Sharon, Massachusetts, the ARC provides outside researchers, Trustees staff, and volunteers access to thousands of historical documents, objects, and artifacts related to The Trustees’ properties. The ARC, an energy-efficient, climate-controlled building, opened in 2008 and houses 1,500 linear feet of archival materials which document The Trustees’ founding role in the land trust movement, the stories of Trustees properties across the Commonwealth, and the lives of American families from the 1600s to the present.
The Trustees’ collections represent domestic furnishings, outdoor sculptures, fine and decorative arts from pre-contact to the 20th century. They include more than 30 private collections featuring exceptional pieces from indigenous Massachusetts peoples to mid-century Modern. Archival collections include works of art on paper, photographs, maps, architectural plans, garden designs, botanical specimens, manuscripts, letters, diaries, books, business ledgers, legal documents and deeds linked to specific properties and to the organization’s history.