Diary of a Special Collections Intern: Week Eight

Week eight was my final week as an intern in the Special Collections department of Liverpool Hope University's Sheppard-Worlock library and it proved to be very different from previous weeks. I had spent the last seven weeks researching, cataloguing, and compiling a database of rare material for the university's History undergraduates to use in their…

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Diary of a Special Collections Intern: Week Seven

Week six of my internship in the Special Collections department at Liverpool Hope University's Sheppard-Worlock library brought both change and familiarity. Week seven brought restraint and arguably a premature end to the project. With just a week left, and despite the hundreds of catalogued and uncatalogued volumes waiting to be entered into the History database…

Diary of a Special Collections Intern: Week Six

By the sixth week of my internship at Liverpool Hope University I had become familiar with my surroundings, understood the nature of the project and my role within in it, gained confidence in my research skills, demonstrated that I am not an intern in need of constant supervision in order to get the job done, and mastered the art of multi-tasking between three different departments (History, English, the library).

Diary of a Special Collections Intern: Week Five

I'm now past the halfway point of my internship and the time is really flying! It seems like only yesterday that I was gathered in a room with my fellow interns, anxiously, but eagerly anticipating the weeks ahead. I've been lucky enough to find some beautiful treasures during my time in Liverpool Hope University's Sheppard-Worlock Library, and to gain so much knowledge about so many different topics

Diary of a Special Collections Intern: Week Four

This week marked the halfway point of my internship at Liverpool Hope University’s Sheppard-Worlock Library, and week four brought fascinating manuscripts, some beautiful ephemera, and the return of an old friend

Diary of a Special Collections Intern: Week Three

Three weeks ago I began my internship in Liverpool Hope University’s Sheppard-Worlock Library. Working within the Special Collections department, my task is to sort through uncatalogued pre-1900 archival material in order to research topics that may be of interest to the university’s History undergraduate students during their dissertation research. The texts with potential use to the students are then entered into a database which the undergraduates can use to search for relevant material, and then hopefully request to use it in the Special Collections department. I use the word hopefully as in addition to cataloguing a substantial amount of unknown material, the aim of this project is to encourage greater use of the department, and to encourage students to pursue archival research.

Diary of a Special Collections Intern: Week Two

Last week I began my internship at Liverpool Hope University, working within the Special Collections department of the Sheppard-Worlock library. One of the main objectives of the project is to introduce students to the possibility of archival research, and more specifically, to encourage them to make greater use of the Special Collections department, a wonderful treasure trove of information, but one sadly neglected by students who are either too pushed for time, or too nervous to handle archival and rare material. Whilst week one was inductions, introductions and refresher courses, week two has been about settling into a routine, clarifying my role, aims, and, of course, any obstacles.

Diary of a Special Collections Intern: Week One

My first week has involved so much learning and research (and so many old books!) rather than making cups of tea and standing around waiting to be told what to do and when. I have learned what an internship can and should be, and also had some lessons in what not to do from the previous library intern who began this project initially before it was shelved.