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

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