Notes from a Summer Intern (part 2)

One of many departmental libraries in the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Notes from a Summer Intern (part 2)

In my last blog post I discussed my process of obtaining an internship and provided some basic information about my internship at the Watson Library. Having now completed my internship and returned to IU for the fall semester I will attempt to briefly summarize my experience and provide some details about the type of work I undertook during my internship.

My work primarily consisted of the following tasks:

-       Books processing

-       Copy cataloging

-       Special projects

-        

On any given day I often engaged in all three types of activities. In the context of Watson, books processing entailed receiving books from the bindery or offsite storage, or alternatively preparing books to be sent to these locations. Over the course of the summer I was responsible for changing the call numbers and labels in one section of the reference collection; this was an on-going project that I would often work on for a few hours each day.

 The Watson library receives a large volume of printed materials from contemporary galleries; from exhibition guides to postcards. Each of these items needs a catalog record in the library system, my task was to search remotely for catalog entries to copy and then import and edit these entries. In addition to gallery ephemera, I also copy cataloged a number of auction catalogs.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has a large number of departmental libraries; the Watson library is the central research library. Over the course of the summer I assisted in a number of projects in different departmental libraries. These included: re-classifying, barcoding, re-shelving and inventorying items. One of the highlights of this experience was having the chance to visit numerous library spaces, each with its own unique personality. I was particularly excited to have the opportunity to work with the personal library of Alfred Stieglitz, which was donated to the museum many years ago.

Japanese armour stored in the same location as the Japanese armour library

Going into the internship I had very little experience in technical services. After completing my internship I feel that I have gained a much more comprehensive understanding of overall library operations and a confidence in my ability to undertake technical services projects and tasks. My focus while at SLIS has mainly been in public services, having now worked in technical services I highly recommend that library students interested in public services take the opportunity as students to gain experience in technical services. 

And thus ends my blog posting on this topic. If anyone has a specific question about my experience or wants to know more about the details of my internship feel free to include a question in the comments or email me (erothkat@indiana.edu).

Esther Roth-Katz

M.A. Candidate
Indiana University Department of the History of Art
M.L.S. Candidate
Indiana University School of Library and Information Science

VRA's Summer Educational Institute

SALS Member Erin McCall recently attended the Visual Resources Association's Summer Educational Institute and has this to say about her experience:

    
       Meeting on the campus of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, about 45 professionals and students came together for a week in June at ARLIS/NA's and VRA's 2012 Summer Educational Institute for Visual Resources and Image Management. Topics for this year's institute included intellectual property rights, embedded metadata, and digital imaging. Each topic spanned the length of a day, with afternoons devoted to the practice of the theories discussed that morning. Staff members at the Henry Ford Museum also presented their highs and lows of digitizing, including the pitfalls of too few storage capacities, as an exemplar for managing large digitization projects. On the final day, a newly implemented ThinkCamp provided the opportunity for attendees to discuss important topics on the role of the individual in the workplace. Two sessions offered three topic choices each, ranging from marketing and outreach to demonstrating value, instruction to managing students, and even professional development in the external world. This provided a great opportunity to learn what others are doing in their institutions and whether it has or has not worked. In fact, for much of the week, SEI provided a doorway for professionals and students with varied backgrounds to meet over the unifying interest in visual resources.

University of Michigan Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library


       My time at SEI provided me with the practical knowledge to working and networking as a future professional. Several of the participants had been working in the field for many years, attending the week-long institute as a refresher, and for some an introduction, to image management in anticipation of a new digitizing project at their fine art libraries, museums, and even medical institution. Students and new professionals shared their common anxiety over finding a job, but each bringing with them a unique background and insight to what has succeeded so far. As my first professional development experience, I took away a great deal of knowledge from the curriculum, but more importantly, I gained a great deal of confidence in my own career-path. SEI provides an excellent opportunity for students of library science and museum studies to expand their skill-sets. As creation and use of digital images increases, management of those images will also increase. SEI offers the chance to see what has already been done for the purpose of managing images properly and what we will be seeing in the long-term.

For more information on SEI, go to http://sei.vrafoundation.org/index.html
A useful link for viewing the embedded metadata of images uploaded to the Internet: http://regex.info/exif.cgi

If you are interested in seeing the materials used in the courses, email me at eemccall@indiana.edu

Notes From a Summer Intern (part 1)

Entrance to the Thomas J. Watson Library

Notes From a Summer Intern (part 1)

The Search:
Students in the dual MLS/MA (in the History of Art) program at IU, are required to complete an internship in an art library. Although there are a number of exciting places to pursue such an internship while in Bloomington, I elected to complete my internship over the summer and out of town. I wanted to take the opportunity to learn about a new library and see what librarianship is like outside of the university bubble. Since I have family in New York City I knew I could spend the summer in the city without the difficulties of subletting, etc. Going into the process of searching for an internship I wasn’t sure how hard it would be to find a placement in a NYC art library during the summer months. I started by generating a list of art libraries within the geographic area I was interested. Of these, only the art museum libraries seemed to have established internship programs with applications and deadlines. For those institutions that did not have an internship program I sent an email introducing myself, explaining my interests and inquiring about possibilities. I quickly heard back from almost every librarian I contacted. For the most part they thanked me for my inquiry but stated that they did not take summer interns (many of these were academic libraries who deal with a much smaller student population in the summer). With that knowledge I focused my efforts on the museum applications. After two interviews, I was informed that I had been accepted into the Summer Internship for Graduate Students at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The Internship:
The Summer Internship for Graduate Students at the Metropolitan Museum of Art is run out of the museum education office as part of the larger paid internship program. Interns spend the first week together and each subsequent monday in a series of museum seminars, Tuesdays-Fridays are spent in individual departments (my department being The Thomas J. Watson Library). In addition to departmental duties, graduate student interns conduct two gallery talks in their area of study over the course of the summer. In the Watson Library I work primarily with the cataloging and processing teams. Most of my responsibilities/projects/duties are in processing: I receive items returning from the bindery, process items for off-site storage, and work with different staff members as they re-classify items from different departmental libraries (the Met has 20+ departmental libraries scattered throughout the museum).

One of the many departmental libraries at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

At this point, I’m just about halfway done with my 10 week internship. So far, I’ve really enjoyed being at the Watson and participating in the summer internship program. I’ve had the opportunity to meet many wonderful and friendly people, including the staff and my fellow interns. In addition, I’ve been able to experience both the library and museum from an inside perspective.

More to come: part 2, the second half of my intern experience.


Useful Facts:
- The Met accepts 40 paid interns each summer (½ are graduate and the other ½ are undergraduates). For more see:goo.gl/a7DBT
- The Watson library itself has around 40 intern/volunteers at any given time.
- Both the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art also have internship programs and offer a library placement option.


If you have a specific question relating to my internship or more generally about art library internship opportunities in NYC feel free to write me at: erothkat@indiana.edu

- Esther Roth-Katz

Modern Architecture Extravaganza: Trip to Columbus, Indiana

Over the weekend, a few of us took a day trip to the 6^th most architecturally significant city in America: Columbus, Indiana. Since beginning grad school at IU, I have been pleasantly surprised by all of the goodness and culture that Indiana has to offer; a booming farmer’s market, amazing restaurants, yoga sessions in the IU art museum, and more festivals, concerts, and film screenings than you could ever ask for. But Columbus, Indiana took my new found love of the Hoosier state to a whole 'nother level.  

Back in the 40s, J. Irwin Miller (a Columbus native and CEO of Cummins Engine Company) was able to persuade some of the biggest names in architecture to begin designing churches, office buildings, schools, homes, and even a library in this small farming community.  Some of the famous architects and artists whose famous work can be seen around town are Eliel Saarinen, Eero Saarinen, I.M. Pei, Henry Moore, Harry Weese, and Dan Kiley.

Lucky for us, Columbus offers tours of the town, including interior tours of such buildings as Eliel Saarinen’s First Christian Church, and the Cleo Rogers Memorial Library, which was designed by I.M. Pei. 

The library is a large, open space with high ceilings and plenty of natural light. There is even an interior garden on the second floor loft. 

   Exterior shot of the Library with Henry Moore Bronze sculpture

Airy and bright -- this is the back half of the library

Art librarians posing in front of the library

After our city tour, I took a tour of the J. Irwin Miller home, which was designed by Eero Saarinen. The tour of the Miller home was especially interesting to me because of a trip SALS took to the IMA back in May. It was then that we learned that the museum had recently acquired the Miller Home and Garden Archives, and were just beginning to sort through the correspondence, cards, and architectural plans. What a wonderful job that archivist has!

No photography was allowed at the Miller residence, but I can tell you that it was absolutely stunning.

Overall, we had a great day exploring Columbus and learning all about its interesting design history. I can't wait to go back!

If you want to read more about Columbus's history, check out these links:

Smithsonian Magazine
Chicago Tribune

Summer Readings: Reading 1

At the suggestion of some of our members, we will be posting some readings of interest on our blog this summer. When we regroup in the fall, we will set up a time to discuss these articles, as well as other summer news. After you read through an article please post questions or thoughts in the comments section. At the end of the summer, I will gather up these thoughts and place them in another post for your consideration before discussion.

I hope you are all having a fabulous summer!

Reading 1:

• E-Reservations by Steve Kolowich (May 15, 2012)

Other articles of interest:

• Long-Awaited Ruling in Copyright Case Mostly Favors Georgia State U. by Jennifer Howard (May 13, 2012)
• Publishers and Georgia State See Broad Implications in Copyright Ruling by Jennifer Howard (May 14, 2012)
• The GSU decision - not an easy road for anyone by Kevin Smith (May 12, 2012)
• Inside the Georgia State Opinion by James Grimmelmann (May 13, 2012)

Visit to the Stout Reference Library at the IMA

In May several members of the Society of Art Librarianship Students took a short trip to Indianapolis, Indiana to visit the Stout Reference Library at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. The head librarian, Alba Fernandez-Keys, was nice enough to come in on one of her days off to show us around and answer any questions we had.

We were able to see the reading room areas and desks used by retired curators, as well as the closed stacks (which had lovely compact shelving). Alba talked with us about the roots of the IMA and the library, and the way it has changed over the years. We were also able to discuss price of materials and budget allocation, which is really useful for a librarian aspiring to art librarianship within a museum setting. Overall, our tour and the discussion gave us a good survey of multiple facets of the library: facilities, materials, budget, human resources, and an evolving patron base.

It was a great experience to get to see the library in its entirety, and hear about the sort of use it gets and the challenges and opportunities it faces. Alba also discussed internships and job opportunities at the IMA and beyond, and it was wonderful to get some career advice from a working art librarian! The group hopes to visit the IMA again in the future to see the library in action (as we were there when it was closed) and to take a more leisurely look through the collections.

Kinsey Institute Tour

Back in March members of the Society of Art Librarianship Students went on a tour of the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction's library and art gallery. The Kinsey Institute is located in Indiana University's Morrison Hall and draws scholars from across the globe. When we visited, Catherine Johnson-Roehr, the KI's Curator of Art, Artifacts, and Photographs, led us on a tour around the institute.

As we were students interested in art librarianship, Catherine showed us the KI's reading room and library stacks. There we discussed the library's collection policy in regard to fine art publications and Catherine's role as a curator under the umbrella of the institute's library and archive services. We were also able to see the Kinsey Institute Gallery where the show Love and War was on display. The exhibition featured wartime-related art and artifacts from the KI's permanent collection.

When we visited it was wonderful to see the range of resources on sex, gender, and reproduction collected by the Kinsey Institute right here at Indiana University. Catherine Johnson-Roehr also mentioned that several School of Library and Information Science students have completed internships and have volunteered at the Kinsey Institute. So if you are a library student looking for a very interesting place for an internship, you should consider doing it at the Kinsey!