The library at the New-York Historical Society is one of the oldest independent research
libraries in the United States. Collection strengths include local history of New York Cityand State; colonial history; American military and naval history from the Revolutionary
War to World War II; religions and religious movements, 18th and 19th century; the
Anglo-American slave trade and conditions of slavery in the United States; American art
and art patronage; the development of American architecture from the late 18th to the
present; printed views of New York City, 19th and 20th century portraiture and
documentary photographs of New York City, and political caricatures and cartoons
The internship candidates:
Must be currently enrolled in an MLIS or equivalent program with a focus on
archives/special collections
Must be taking the internship for academic credit as part of their archival studies
Must have completed an introductory archival course
Schedule
Hours to be scheduled on weekdays between 9:30 am and 5:00 pm
Internship Descriptions
The New-York Historical Society seeks an intern for the fall 2015 semester to gain
hands-on processing experience and academic credit working with the organization’s
institutional archive. New-York Historical currently holds approximately 1,600 linear
feet of institutional archives, recording the Society's history from its founding in 1804 to
the present. These records document institution-wide activities such as collecting,
exhibitions, public programs and research that have formed the backbone of the Society’s
work throughout its history. Arranging and describing these records is currently the
subject of a 2-year grant-funded project.
The Archival Intern will work under the supervision of the Project Archivist to process
completely a record group or other significant portion of the archive. The internship
emphasizes archival description for paper, textual documents. Description will involve
writing administrative history, scope, arrangement, and other notes for the records;
identifying significant content in the archival material; documenting the records in the
collection management system, Archivists’ Toolkit (AT); generating a complete DACScompliant
finding aid using AT; and establishing name and subject access terms with
controlled vocabularies. The internship will also involve some physical processing,
including arrangement of the records and basic conservation practices.
To apply: Send a cover letter and resume to the attention of:
Larry Weimer
Project Archivist
larry.weimer@nyhistory.org
