Collections Care Internship, Plimoth Patuxet Museums, Plymouth, MA
Posted March 17, 2023
Descriptions
The Collections Care internship offers advanced undergraduate or graduate museum studies students experience in preventative preservation practices and collections management. The Collections Care Intern’s daily responsibilities include inventorying objects, organizing accession files, photographing objects, and constructing custom storage containers for rehousing objects. Additionally, the Collections Care intern will help reorganize collections storage spaces to promote safe object handling and accessibility. This position will teach collections management methods and techniques. The Intern will be trained in best practices in preservation care. The Collections Care Intern reports to the Collections Manager & Staff Archaeologist.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
The Collections Care Intern is directly responsible for completing various tasks including:
- Inventorying collections objects and verifying storage locations.
- Assess completion of object record data. Create condition reports as needed.
- Photographing objects and processing images for publication on PastPerfect web-edition database.
- Organizing and digitizing accession files and catalog cards associated with collections objects.
- Rehouse objects in custom storage containers and cavity mounts with archival quality materials.
- Practice safe object handling.
- Adhering to the artifact catalog standards for archaeological sites in the Plimoth Patuxet Museums’ online database, PastPerfect Web-Edition.
- Participate in weekly seminars and other personal and professional development activities, including field trips, field work assignments, and final internship symposium.
Qualifications
Ideal candidate is a bright, self-motivated advanced undergraduate or graduate student with attention to detail and experience working with museum collections. Applicants interested in cultural heritage and institutional history collections are preferred. They should be open to exploring the intersection of technology and preservation to make the Museum’s collections available online. Experience with collections management systems (CMS) software is not required, but preferred. The ability to work independently is crucial to the successful completion of this internship.
Salary Range
This is an unpaid internship. Academic credit and housing are available. Students are responsible for all paperwork, arrangements and credit fees.