Special Collections Summer Fellowship for Firestone Library
Princeton University Library's Department of Special Collections is excited to offer the Special Collections Summer Fellowship hosted at Firestone Library (previously the Archival Residency for Manuscripts Division Collections) again for 2022.
Princeton University Library's Department of Special Collections is excited to offer the Special Collections Summer Fellowship hosted at Firestone Library (previously the Archival Residency for Manuscripts Division Collections) again this year.
The fellowship provides a summer of paid work experience for a current or recent graduate student interested in pursuing a career in Special Collections libraries or archives.
Fellowship Description: The 2022 Fellow will gain experience in the fields of technical services, public services, and curatorial. Projects for 2022 may include: learning and implementing reparative description; processing/reprocessing of manuscript collections (including hybrid collections with born-digital and audiovisual materials); participation in the reference rotation and answering reference questions in person and remotely; working alongside curatorial staff to learn and implement contemporary collecting and stewardship practices, and conducting research on areas of scholarly inquiry and supporting curatorial projects as an integral part of an acquisitions team.
Information about previous recipients and their experience can be found below.
More information about the Library and it's holdings is available on the library website.
This ten- to twelve-week residency program, which can begin as early as May, provides a weekly stipend of $1000 (subject to state/local/federal taxes). In addition, expenses for attending one North American-based conference of the fellow’s choosing (travel, registration fees, and hotel) will be covered by Princeton University Library.
Requirements:
- Must be a current graduate student or recent graduate (within one year of graduation) of an advanced degree program in archive or library/information management, museum studies and public history, literature, American studies, history, and/or other humanistic discipline.
- Must have past experience working in the archival and/or special collections profession (including positions held as part of volunteer programs, internships, work-study programs, contract/adjunct work, other fellowships, etc.)
- Good organization and communication skills.
- Time management and project management skills (ability to manage multiple projects).
Foreign language skills (particularly Spanish-language reading skills) are preferred, but not essential.
The Library highly encourages applicants from under-represented communities to apply.
To apply: Submit a cover letter, resume, and two letters of recommendation addressed to the search committee at esarconi@princeton.edu with the subject line “[Applicant Last Name] 2022 Archival Fellowship.” Any questions about the fellowship can be sent to esarconi@princeton.edu. Applications must be received by Tuesday, March 1st, 2022. Zoom interviews will be conducted with the top candidates at the end of March, and the successful candidate will be notified by April 15th.
Please note: University housing will not be available to the successful candidate. Interested applicants should consider their housing options carefully and may wish to consult the online campus bulletin board for more information on this topic.
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY/AFFIRMATIVE ACTION EMPLOYER.
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PREVIOUS RESIDENTS
2020
Carolina Meneses (UCLA) worked remotely to assist with researching and updating born-digital processing guidelines related to disk imaging and remote acquisitions; conducting web archiving crawls and quality control; and completing EAD data cleanup work in support of a project to dedupe and standardize EAC-CPF name records. She also completed a project for the Inclusive Description Working Group to research and identify women in Princeton’s Latin American manuscript collections who had previously been referred to by only their husband’s name or another familial association. She also curated a digital exhibition titled “Tourism in Cuba: From Colonial Past to Culinary Present,” and contributed to public service efforts by answering reference questions and addressing suggested corrections to finding aids from users.
Post-residency, Carolina accepted a position as Digital Archivist at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts.
2019
Alice Griffin (Pratt Institute) processed and created finding aids for the Peter Bunnell Papers and the Elizabeth Dodge Clarke Collection of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern Postcards and Photographs, processed born-digital media in the David Wilkinson Papers, and assisted in processing the Weidenfeld and Nicolson Records and additions to the Carlos Fuentes Papers. She also processed Mathieu-Guillaume-Thérèse Villenave's Collection on Alina d'Eldir and wrote about her experience working on this collection in a post on the RBSC Technical Services blog.
In addition to her technical services work, Alice contributed to public services efforts at Firestone Library by answering reference questions and addressing suggested corrections to finding aids from users.
Post-residency, Alice returned to New York City to begin a new position as Digital Asset Content Administrator at Clinique.
2018
Sara Rogers (University of Texas at Austin) processed materials and created or updated finding aids for the Charles F. W. McClure Papers, the Charles W. Millard Correspondence, the Albert Bensoussan Correspondence with Latin American Writers, the Oliver Stromberg Collection of William Beebe Book Collecting Files, and the Grace L. J. McClure Papers. She also processed born-digital content from floppy disks and optical media, including from the Toni Morrison Papers and the Neil Goldstein Collection of Working Files on Moe Berg; conducted quality control for a vendor-sourced video digitization project; answered reference questions; and served as an instructor for the inaugural Archives, Research, and Collaborative History (ARCH) program.
Sara also made significant contributions to the Manuscripts Division’s born-digital processing infrastructure and workflows by configuring the team’s KryoFlux floppy controller to work with both 3.5” and 5.25” floppy drives; coordinating with Center for Digital Humanities staff to 3D-print a case for the KryoFlux board; and drafting documentation of disk imaging and optical media processing procedures. She also collaborated with Mudd Library’s summer fellow, Michelle Peralta, to compile information about the myriad hardware and software tools used in Princeton’s digital curation workflows into a comprehensive “Glossary for Born-Digital Processing.”
Post-residency, Sara moved to Massachusetts to accept a position as the Digital Archivist at Harvard University Graduate School of Design.
2017
Kathryn (Kat) Antonelli (University of South Carolina) was the Manuscripts Division’s inaugural summer archival fellow. Working alongside the manuscripts processing team, Kat processed and created finding aids for the Albert Bensoussan Correspondence with Latin American Writers and the James P. Kimball Papers and processed portions of the John Ennis Papers. She also processed born-digital content from floppy disks in the Toni Morrison Papers and optical media in the Juan Gelman Papers; surveyed legacy audiovisual media from Manuscripts Division collections; and conducted quality control for the Latin American Collections audiovisual digitization pilot project.
In collaboration with Mudd Library’s summer fellows Valencia Johnson and Will Clements, Kat also conducted a survey and research project concerning access to born-digital records. The fellows discussed their findings in a lightning talk at the SNAP (Students and New Archives Professionals) roundtable meeting at the SAA Annual Meeting in Portland, Oregon.
Post-residency, Kat traveled to Hawaii, where she was the 2017 Roselani Summer Intern at ‘Ulu‘ulu: The Henry Ku‘ualoha Giugni Moving Image Archive of Hawai‘i. Kat currently resides in Philadelphia and is completing her Master of Library and Information Science degree at the University of South Carolina, with a focus on Archives & Preservation and Digital Image Management.
