Archives Intern

                                                                Archives Spring Intern

Internship Description:

The Strong seeks a current graduate or undergraduate student intern to process, arrange, and describe the papers of George Rollie Adams, President and CEO Emeritus of The Strong. The intern will gain a better understanding of professional archival work, through hands-on experience in archival processing, preservation techniques, and familiarization with archival management software. There is a paid stipend associated with this internship, made possible through a donation by George Rollie Adams. 

The archives intern will process 15 linear feet of archival materials that documents Adams almost 60-year career in the museum field. The intern will create a processing plan, physically re-house materials, write a finding aid, and select documents for digitization. 

About the George Rollie Adams Papers:

The George Rollie Adams papers consist of 15.0 linear feet of archival materials documenting the career of George Rollie Adams in museums, as an educator, consultant, and administrator. The collection covers his time with the American Association of State and Local History, the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society, the Louisiana State Museum, the Strong National Museum of Play, and many other institutions that Adams has provided with consulting services.   

About the Brian Sutton-Smith Library and Archives of Play at The Strong:

The Strong’s Brian Sutton Smith Library and Archives of Play is devoted to the intellectual, social, and cultural history of play. In addition to housing the personal library and papers of its preeminent namesake, the 235,000-volume research library and archives holds a full spectrum of primary and secondary sources, including scholarly works, professional journals, other periodicals, trade catalogs, children’s books, comic books, manuscripts, personal papers, business records, and more. 

Summary:

The Strong owns and cares for the world’s most comprehensive collection of toys, dolls, board games, video games, books, documents, and other historical materials related to play, and offers programs for individuals of all ages to learn about the power and importance of play in their lives. The museum’s internship program provides opportunities for participating in all aspects of museum work within dynamic teams and interacting with staff across the institution and the public. The program offers educational and operational experience, as well as the opportunity to build a network of professional contacts.

All museum staff and interns are expected to cooperate with one another in furthering the museum’s general objectives and in completing museum projects. Similarly, all staff and interns consistently maintain a positive and enthusiastic attitude, act with integrity and in accordance with the highest ethical standards and demonstrate loyalty to the museum in all public contacts. Guests and colleagues deserve our best efforts every day.

Essential Duties:

The specifications described here are representative of those that must be met by the intern to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Learn the procedures for the use and maintenance of the museum’s collection database system.
• Other related duties, as assigned.
• Under the guidance of the Archivist, learn and discuss key archival terminology and principles.
• Processes three small paper-based archival collections by checking information in Argus, performing inventory, creating a processing plan, arranging materials, writing finding aids, and entering information into archives space.
• Assists with inventorying the audiovisual and digital components of a larger archival collection.

Core Values:

These are embedded in all roles within the museum. Interns must have the ability to demonstrate, understand, and apply our workplace values.

• Respect: We treat guests and each other with fairness and respect. That means our behavior is marked by courtesy, patience, compassion, and tolerance. Always.
• Focus: We share a special sense of purpose based on the museum’s mission, so to be successful we must remain committed to our common goals. We’re a playful organization, but we’re not fooling around.
• Excellence: We strive constantly for excellence and seek continual improvement in all that we do. Our team’s work precipitates our outstanding reputation as one of the leading museums serving families.
• Community: This is an interactive place. We foster community within and outside the museum through an atmosphere of collaboration, cooperation, and collegiality. Team work and flexibility lead to esprit de corps and effective public service.
• Fun: Play is both a means and an end. We’re here to delight people’s senses, spark their memories, and stir their imagination. We strive to ensure that the museum is always welcoming, fresh, vibrant, and filled with fun.
• Diversity: The Strong is inclusive. It embraces and honors cultural diversity while highlighting common experiences. It engages people of many backgrounds and interests. The museum commits to making its facility, exhibits, and programs accessible to guests of all abilities, ages, classes, ethnicities, gender identities, national origins, races, religions, sexes, and sexual orientation.

Work Environment:

Work is performed primarily indoors in a professional office environment, climate-controlled collections storage areas, and throughout exhibit galleries. This role routinely uses standard office equipment such as computers, printers, and copiers. The noise level in the environment is usually low to moderate.

Requirements:

• Candidate must be enrolled in an accredited university graduate or undergraduate program and in an associated internship/practicum.
• This intern must fully adhere to all requirements for credit-bearing internships, including specific procedures which may be required to attend the intern’s college/university.
• Candidate must work well in a team setting, be reliable, flexible, organized, and self-motivated.
• Candidate must have strong written and verbal communication skills.

Recommended skills: 

• Familiarity with basic archival theory.
• Demonstrated interest in archives, public history, or museum studies.
• Comfortable using Microsoft Word, Excel, etc.
• Social media marketing

Physical Demands:

While performing the duties of this job:

This position regularly requires full range of mobility in upper and lower body; the ability to reach overhead; the ability to work in various positions, including stooping, standing, walking, bending over, sitting, kneeling, and squatting for extended periods of time; the use or operation of objects, tools or controls; the ability to climb ladders and three flights of stairs; and the ability to talk, hear, and smell. This position frequently requires the ability to lift, pull, push, and carry weight up to 25 pounds to complete assigned job tasks.

This position requires frequent sitting in front of a computer and using repetitive typing motions.

Visual acuity to see object details at close range and operating computer equipment is required. Specific vision abilities including close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus are important for this role.

Pre-Employment Requirements:

Must consent to and pass a drug screen and criminal background check as conditions of employment.

Disclaimer: 

The job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the intern. Within reason, duties, responsibilities and activities may change or new ones may be assigned at any time with or without notice. Interns are expected to accept reasonable assignments whether or not they are specifically included in this position description. 

Equal Opportunity Statement: 

The Strong is an equal opportunity employer. It is the policy of The Strong to provide equal employment opportunity to all persons without regard to gender, sexual preference, age, race, color, religion, genetic information, national origin, disability, military, or marital status. This policy of nondiscrimination applies to all aspects of the employment relationship, including but not limited to: recruitment, selection, advancement, compensation, benefits, layoff, recall, transfer, and termination.