Museum Studies Intern at Archives & Special Collections, Hillman Library – Spring 2019
It has been a fast-paced four years here in the University of the Pittsburgh and, with graduation a mere few weeks away, my time at Pitt is coming to an end. I have been able to explore an assortment of coursework, some of which I never expected to, and have found myself in both digital design and the arts. As luck would have it, I have had the pleasure melding those two aspects of myself together in my work as an intern at Archives & Special Collections (A&SC) in the Hillman Library.
As part of my primary task, I was given the objective of taking the currently displayed exhibit, Travelers Along the Silk Road: 10th Century to Present, and digitally recording it in a guide. Working with Slavic, European, and Global Studies curator, Daniel Pennell, I was allowed further insight in the wide range of research and media that went into the creation and running of the multi-case exhibit. He gave me access to the files compiled by him and his colleagues and I was able to really see the narrative behind the exhibit. It not only had the expected labels and images that you see in the exhibit, but also documents telling of the exhibit’s original conception and presentation, research not included in the final exhibit, and so on. Additionally, the Archives & Special Collections also had two book trucks of both primary and secondary sources on the Silk Roads that they used for the exhibit and I was given freedom of paging through the majority of them.
Most liberating for me was the actual aesthetic designing of the guide. Of course, I had strict limitations in areas – what topics the curators of the exhibit wanted to highlight, which information goes on what page and the pictures that should accompany them, and then there’s the system as a whole that I used, LibGuide, which has its own set of limitations that comes along with it. But outside of that, I had free reign over what the layout of the guide looks like as a whole. They allowed me to share my insight on what would be most aesthetically pleasing and accessible for the viewer. I was given the chance to take skills I have acquired in my time here at Pitt and see how I can apply them in a professional setting.
After this semester, I feel I have a better understanding of how I can move forward.
You can check Meghan's LibGuide here