Central Park Conservancy Digital Library Summer Internship 2016
Reports to: Central Park Conservancy Archivist
Department: Institute for Urban Parks
Internship Summary and Organization Description:
Central Park Conservancy is a private not-for-profit organization whose mission is to restore, manage, and enhance Central Park in partnership with the public. It raises 75% of Central Park's annual Parkwide expense budget and is responsible for the day-to-day maintenance and operations that keep the Park beautiful and vibrant. The Conservancy has overseen the investment of nearly $750 million in Central Park since its inception in 1980, is recognized as the world's leader in urban park management, and sets the standard for excellence in park care. To sustain the Conservancy’s work, the Institute for Urban Parks was established in 2013. As the educational arm of the Conservancy, the Institute for Urban Parks is taking steps to develop responsibility and respect for these open spaces by training and teaching urban park managers and public stewards, both locally and globally.
With establishment of the Institute for Urban Parks, the Conservancy aspires to facilitate discovery of the Park and transfer learning of our world-class urban park management and stewardship practices. Documents and images related to the history of Central Park are housed (either physically or digitally) by multiple institutions, including Central Park Conservancy, the Library of Congress, the New York City Municipal Archives, the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation Archives, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Within the Conservancy, multiple departments retain and organize materials most relevant to their efforts. The archive includes contemporary and historic videos, maps, photographs, reports, memos, and other documents in order to better share our story and solidify our leadership position to a wide public audience by becoming known as the clearinghouse on Central Park information resources.
Summary of Essential Intern Functions:
The Digital Library Intern will assist the Archivist in populating and cataloging assets in a new digital asset management system purchased by the Central Park Conservancy. The intern will assist the Archivist by:
• Uploading assets of various formats to the new database
• Entering metadata into records
• Digitizing current collections
• Organizing physical asset in preparation for storage and/or scanning
• Researching ownership, copyrights and provenance of assets
• Perform other duties as required
Minimum Requirements:
• Bachelor’s degree required
• Currently studying for a Masters in Library and Information Sciences, or a recent graduate
• Strong understanding of and experience with collections and cataloging of digital resources
• Flexible, attentive to detail, organized
• Able to work independently and on teams to meet deadlines
• Understanding of the importance of urban parks to healthy and vibrant cities and interest in furthering this notion
• The candidate should feel comfortable with and have a strong understanding of cataloging practices, with studies in library science, history, preservation, design, or planning
• Excellent administrative, analytical, research and writing skills
• Excellent oral and written communications
Payment:
$14 per hour. Average of 15-20 hours per week.
To Apply:
To apply please send a letter of interest and CV to Camille Lannan: clannan@centralparknyc.org
