Institute on Black Life – IBL Archives Intern

Employer

University of South Florida (USF) - Mellon Humanities Internship Program

Mellon Humanities Internship Program
Title: Institute on Black Life – IBL Archives Intern
Internship Site: Tampa, FL (USF Campus)
Field: Higher Education
Total Internship Hours: 50
Location: Onsite – Tampa, FL

MHI Compensation: This position is eligible for the MHI $1000 Scholarship. Students who receive an offer for this position will be required to enroll in the Mellon Humanities Internship course to receive the $1000 scholarship disbursement. As referenced in the Student Interest Form that you filled out to sign up for participation in MHI, this scholarship can impact, or be impacted by, other financial aid you receive. 

If an internship requires out of pocket costs, students may apply for reimbursement for expenses including background checks, qualifying travel, or equipment. All applications will be reviewed and processed for eligibility. Please contact your departments internship coordinator for more details.

The $1000 scholarship offered for this position is intended to provide financial assistance for the pursuit of your education; it is not compensation for the performance of any services and does not create an employment relationship between the you and the Site.

This position is an experiential learning opportunity and receipt of the scholarship is tied to an academic course (IDS 3947). If you do not complete your registration for the course in a timely manner, your internship offer may be withdrawn, and your department’s Internship Coordinator may notify the host organization that the position has reopened.

Job Description:                                                                                                      

The IBL Archives Intern will help inventory, describe, and begin digitizing the Institute on Black Life's historical holdings, at times in partnership with USF Libraries Special Collections. 

The intern will take ownership of two core projects: 

(1) building a structured inventory and metadata spreadsheet for specified IBL archival sets, noting format, date, condition, and descriptive metadata; and 

(2) and scanning a first set of items from that material, working directly with USF Libraries archivists to learn proper scanning specifications, file-naming conventions, and digital repository upload procedures. 

Additional tasks include surveying and assessing the condition of additional IBL records and writing a short plan recommending next steps for the rest of the collection. 

Deliverables include a completed inventory, a data spreadsheet, a first set of digitized items uploaded to the library's system, and the written next-steps plan.

Qualifications:

• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail, with the ability to handle historical materials carefully and document information consistently and accurately. 
• Basic proficiency in Excel or Google Sheets for tracking inventory and metadata. 
• Familiarity with archival practices or digitization is a plus but not required, as training will be provided by IBL and USF Libraries staff.