Library Undergraduate Internships

Located on 4 West in Ellis Library, Special Collections provides relevant and diverse perspectives by acquiring, preserving, and making accessible rare, fragile, and culturally significant materials for use in research, instruction, and outreach. The department serves University of Missouri faculty, students, and staff, as well as members of the general public across a wide range of disciplines, from the sciences to the humanities.

There are three librarians working in Special Collections:

• Kelli Hansen, Head of Special Collections
• John Henry Adams, Research and Instruction Librarian for Special Collections
• Michaelle Dorsey, Preservation & Conservation Librarian for Special Collections

Students interested in doing an internship in Special Collections should send inquiries to SpecialCollections@missouri.edu.

Interns working in Special Collections may:

• curate digital or physical exhibitions
• work on a social media or communications campaign
• process theatre programs
• construct protective enclosures
• survey the collection for conservation assessment
• monitoring environmental conditions in Special Collections storage areas
• help repair damage to books in the Rare Reference collection
• develop a teaching portfolio of sessions involving Special Collections materials

Each intern typically works with one librarian in Special Collections. Each librarian has a slightly different approach to supervision for interns, but all interns will maintain a spreadsheet with a log of their hours that they and their supervisor can access (e.g., on Microsoft Teams or GoogleDocs).

Kelli Hansen, Head of Special Collections

Kelli Hansen could take on 30 hours of student supervision in fall 2023. Projects that Kelli might supervise include:

• Digital exhibition
• Collection development research and proposal
• Social media / communications campaign
• Theatre program processing

Kelli's approach to supervision is:

• Working backward from the internship’s deliverables, I sit down with the student and map out the semester with important due dates and milestones noted on an internship syllabus.
• I almost always assign a lot of readings as well, and in order to make sure the student does them, we either have a discussion (if there is a group of students) or the student writes a short reflection or maintains an annotated bibliography.
• For processing projects and other on-site collections projects, training lasts a couple of weeks. I usually schedule a weekly meeting with the student to check in, either on Zoom or in person. The rest of the student’s work should be done semi-independently.

John Henry Adams, Research and Instruction Librarian for Special Collections

John Henry Adams could take on 60-120 hours of student supervision in fall 2023. Projects that John Henry might supervise include:

• Digital exhibition
• Teaching portfolio

John Henry's approach to supervision is:

• I usually assign a few articles for the students to read and discuss with me during our meeting, especially at the start of the semester. Later in the semester, I reduce the reading amount to let students focus on completing their projects.
• I typically meet with students for an hour each week to discuss their readings and progress on their project. This is a chance for students to ask questions or voice concerns that they may have with their projects.
• If I have multiple interns at the same time, I tend to have them collaborate on projects together: collaboration is a vital part of librarianship and it results in better, more polished projects.

Michaelle Dorsey, Preservation & Conservation Librarian for Special Collections

Michaelle Dorsey could take on 30-60 hours of student supervision in fall 2023. Projects that Michaelle might supervise include:

• Surveying the collection for conservation assessment and monitoring environmental conditions in Special Collections storage areas
• Repairing materials in the Rare Reference Collection
• Constructing protective enclosures

Michaelle's approach to supervision is:

• At the start of the semester, I will assign videos and readings that provide a basic understanding of what preservation means in the context of libraries. To compliment aspects of hands-on training, additional project-specific readings may be assigned throughout the semester.
• Teaching book repair and building enclosures, using adhesives and tools, requires considerable one-on-one time. Once trained, students will spend time practicing what they have learned. Together, the student and I will review and discuss the finished repairs.
• Students interested in preservation will learn how to evaluate the condition of library materials, monitor collection storage environments, perform basic repairs, and create protective enclosures for fragile materials. Preservation Internships require the student to be in Special Collections to work on projects. Students should expect to work at least 80% of their internship hours in Special Collections. I will work with the student to arrange a weekly internship schedule.

Hours
Special Collections is open Monday through Friday, 8am to 5pm. On-site work must take place during those hours.
N.B.: Please be aware that the stair lift that provides ADA access to 4 West in sometimes out of service.

Physical Demands
For processing projects, students will need to be okay with some exposure to dust, mold, and repetitive motion. Being able to move boxes, alternate between sitting and standing, and climb stairs is ideal, but accommodations can be made.

Content Warning
Students may encounter sensitive, disturbing, or offensive subject matter in historical collections.