Internship at American History

Lemelson Center Special Project: Online Archival Practices Internship, Summer 2009

The Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation at the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, offers a full time (40 hours per week) for ten weeks, special project internship opportunity. The internship stipend is $6,000. Housing and benefits are not provided.

Scope of Internship:
The internship is located in the Lemelson Center, an interdisciplinary unit dedicated to documenting, preserving, and disseminating information about the history of invention. The intern will collaborate with the Lemelson Center archivist and historians to develop the Documenting Invention section of the Lemelson Center’s Web site (http://invention.smithsonian.org). Documenting Invention will serve as a guide for archivists, museum curators, oral historians, and other researchers studying or collecting in the field of the history of invention. The site will disseminate information about the Center’s ongoing work, findings, and resources on documenting inventors and the invention process; will offer guidelines and present current thinking on documenting invention beyond the paper record; and will bring together diverse sources relevant to the Center’s documentation work in an easy-to-navigate site.

Qualifications:
•Knowledge of archival theory and practices;
•Experience organizing, writing, and preparing materials for the Web;
•Knowledge of most of the following: Abobe Dreamweaver, Photoshop CS3, Acrobat, Adobe Audition;
•Experience with databases;
•Experience with handling audio-visual materials and editing video a plus;
•Experience with blogging or setting up a blog; knowledge of TypePad a plus;
•Ability to work in both PC and Mac platforms;
•Ability to work independently, take initiative, and problem solve; and
•Must be hardworking, meticulous, dedicated, accountable, and time-conscious.

Duties:
•Apply archival concepts to establish an intellectual framework and organize materials for presentation on the web;
•Format, edit, and prepare documents and images for web;
•Assist in laying out the web site; and
•Other duties as assigned.

Application Process:
Applicants must be enrolled in a graduate degree program and have completed graduate course work in archival, library, or information management, and/or graduate course work in American history, or another area that relates to the history of invention and innovation in American society.  Coursework or relevant experience in graphic design a plus. Recent graduates may also apply.

Applicants should submit one copy of the application form, available online at: http://invention.smithsonian.org/downloads/archives_intern_app.doc; two letters of recommendation; official academic transcripts (undergraduate and graduate); example(s) of Web work, including writing, information design, and/or graphic design, with the URL; and an essay discussing their interest in this internship and how it will benefit them.

Mail or email completed application form and all materials requested to Alison L. Oswald. All materials must be postmarked by March 2, 2009 for consideration. Offers will be made by April 6, 2009. The internship begins on or after June 1, 2009.

Contact: Alison L. Oswald, Archivist
National Museum of American History
Smithsonian Institution
Archives Center
P.O. Box 37012
Room 1110/MRC 601
Washington, DC 20013-7012
Phone: (202) 633-3726
Fax: (202) 786.2453
Email: oswalda@si.edu
http://www.si.edu/lemelson/lemelson/internships.html

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