First days of my internship!

I am pleased to say that the first days of my internship in the Library/Archive of the Witte Museum have gone very well.

On Monday I was one of two interns starting our first day. We were greeted by the Volunteer Coordinator, with whom I had been emailing from the beginning of my application process. She showed us where to sign in, break room areas, and other important features of the building before taking us down to our work space in the Archives to meet the staff members with whom we would be primarily working for our respective internships. Our tour continued with our supervisors, who showed us around the different galleries and offices which are part of the archival domain. Then we were each given our first tasks and sent on our merry way.

My first task was data entry; if you are familiar with the Witte Museum you will know that they are currently in the middle of an amazing expansion project, which included knocking down some building storage space to make way for future improvements. Some of the items which were shifted around in preperation for the construction included essential records, which had to be moved quickly. Therefore, there was a handwritten inventory of the materials housed in a temporary records room but only the one copy. My job was to take the handwritten inventory and input the information into a Word document so that it could be digitally backed up and polished for further internal use. I completed a good portion of this task on my first day, as well as continuing to work on it throughout the second day of my internship.

Very soon I begin my primary project, at a secondary site belonging to the Witte. The delay was primarily a logistical one, but I have enjoyed having the opportunity to learn the ropes and find my way around the main offices for a few days before I head off to another site for the majority of the rest of my internship.

I will write more later! For now, here's a picture from my first day of the internship: