Museum Studies Intern at the University Library System - Fall 2016
As a Special Collections Department exhibit design intern during the Fall 2016 semester, I was given a unique look at one of the lesser-known aspects of scholarly research. My responsibilities were primarily related to the curation of the exhibition, James Boswell, Biographer and Diarist, as well as the documentation that accompanied it, which is a critical but often overlooked aspect of curation. In addition to preparing the books for installation, I was responsible for formatting and printing the labels, compiling the exhibit catalogue, and preparing a Libguide, which will be accessible at https://pitt.libguides.com/boswell2016 upon its publication. Both the catalogue and the Libguide required research on my part, but are essential to the use of the Smith-Boswell collection by scholars in the future. Additionally, I helped out with any other odd-jobs that came up, such as re-shelving books, reading through various materials to determine their usefulness, and office tasks such as copying and organizing. Through this array of activities, I was able to gain a new respect and awareness for the level of detail that is required in a museum or archival setting, as well as an appreciation for the behind-the-scenes tasks that librarians and museum staff undertake in order to best serve the community.