Houghton Library Reference Intern, Harvard College Library, Cambridge, MA
Posted September 8, 2015
Hours: Academic Year: 15 hours a week September-May, during Houghton’s open hours. Some Saturday and evening hours required.
Summer: 35 hours a week June-August, Tuesday-Saturday 9:00 am – 5:00 pm.
About Houghton: Houghton Library is one of the preeminent special collections in the world. It has long been a hub for research by local, national, and international scholars; and it is increasingly becoming a humanities laboratory for Harvard students to interact with, learn from, and interpret cultural heritage objects. The reference staff at Houghton is a group of seasoned professionals ready to share their expertise with graduate students specifically interested in training for special collections public service. We would like to contribute to the future of special collections by offering an internship for graduate students in either Library Science or the Humanities, assuming that up to 2 years of experience at Houghton will provide an exceptionally strong grounding for future professionals in the field.
Description of Internship:
- Reading Room Experience: Work with Houghton’s expert reference team to orient readers, assist with circulation and reference questions. Guide readers on materials handling and maintain reading room security.
- Online Reference: Learn to answer online reference requests (including requests for copies) by navigating our discovery systems, providing guidance about library policies and procedures, and researching in the collections.
- Stacks Assistance: Working in the stacks, paging and reshelving and helping to maintain order in a complex system with materials that inhabit multiple physical locations and multiple classifications systems (some unique to Houghton).
- Teaching Program: Assisting with the Houghton teaching program in the form of gathering materials for classes; helping with set up and monitoring classes
- Additional projects as assigned and/or as talents enable may include: involvement in social media and blogging; contributing to the Library’s website content and/or LibGuides; enhancing Wikipedia entries; assisting with exhibitions (physical and virtual)
Experience:
- Required: Ability to interact well with students, faculty, researchers, and staff. High attention to detail. Some word processing experience. Ability to lift boxes weighing up to 40 pounds.
- Preferred: Strong interest in a career in archives and special collections work; completion of courses in archives and special collections and/or reference; prior library experience.
Salary: $14.00/hour
To apply: Submit cover letter, resume, and references. Open until filled.
Contact: James Capobianco, Reference Librarian, [email protected]