Internship at Northwestern Library

Internship at Northwestern

Conservation Intern
Northwestern University Library

Part-time up to 18.75 hours per week, Monday-Friday 8:30am-5:00pm
Temporary position for 3-6 months

Salary: $8.75/hour

Northwestern University Library is offering a pre-program
conservation internship for a period of three to six months. The
Conservation Internship provides practical experience in a busy
academic library conservation lab and is designed to help prepare
applicants to Master's level training programs in conservation. The
internship is also an ideal opportunity for a Northwestern
University student interested in learning more about the
conservation profession.

The Conservation Intern will develop an understanding of the
functions and responsibilities of a research library conservation
lab working with a variety of library and archival materials.
Through the completion of specific internship projects, the
Conservation Intern will gain bench experience, develop skills in
treatment decision making, and participate in a broad range of
preservation and conservation activities.

The Conservation Intern reports to the Conservation Librarian and
works closely with other Preservation Department conservators
depending on the nature of assigned projects. Internship projects
will include the conservation treatment of a collection of
scrapbooks from University Archives and assisting with an item-level
survey of the Arabic Manuscripts Collection from the Herskovits
Library of African Studies. Treatments are likely to include
surface cleaning, humidification and flattening of paper, mending
paper and filling losses (including aesthetic compensation),
creating appropriate housings, and other treatments. The complexity
of treatments and level of decision making will increase as skills
develop. At the end of the internship, the intern will be required
to produce a written report or presentation of their work.

Qualifications:

Candidates will need to demonstrate hand skills and attention to
detail.

Previous experience in conservation is preferred, but not
required.

Applicants must be U.S. Citizens or eligible to work in the
United States.

Candidates must be enrolled in a bachelor's degree program or
have completed a bachelor's degree.

The application deadline is January 31, 2011. The internship will
begin in February 2011. Candidates should indicate desired length
of the internship in their cover letter. Interested candidates
should send a resume and a cover letter to:

Tonia Grafakos
Conservation Librarian
Northwestern University Library
t-grafakos [at] northwestern__edu