A guest post by Nathan Rodney, a graduate student assistant who recently finished his summer internship at the Special Collections Research Center. He is a second year graduate student with a concentration in public history.
This summer, I interned at App State’s Special Collections Research Center in order to progress toward my masters degree in public history. During my time here, I learned a lot about the world of archival management and obtained a better understanding of how items are processed. I also was involved in the public services aspect of the special collections and became familiar with the kind of work that goes on at the front desk. Overall, this internship was a valuable learning experience.
The tasks I performed during my internship were based on where I was on a given day. When I was in the back, I did a lot of processing, specifically a lot of photos from the George Flowers collection. I also was tasked with redacting annual reports. When I was at the front desk, I performed the typical duties of being available to answer phone calls, check out books, and monitor researchers, but I also did research to fulfill researcher requests. However, I also engaged in a few public history projects at the desk.
The first project was writing a blog highlighting some of the international students who attended App State in the early years, and I conducted most of my research while at the front desk. I also provided some archival photos to be highlighted on the screens on the fourth floor. The second project was a collaborative effort with the other intern and fellow graduate student, Brianna Anctil, to create jigsaw puzzles of historical photographs to be placed throughout the library, Anne Belk, and the Hickory library. All of these projects are part of the celebration of the university’s 125th anniversary, and they were definitely a highlight of my internship.
I valued the time I spent here because the work done at special collections is the kind of work that I am looking for in my career. The experience I gained here is useful for operating either an archival or museum collection, and what I learned is valuable in applying or practicing public history. I would certainly recommend the Special Collections Research Center to future graduate interns, and I look forward to continuing my work here in the fall.
Image of Nathan Rodney sitting at the SCRC desk
Nathan Rodney sitting at the SCRC desk