Throughout the school year, the VRC staff is assisted by various interns, student employees, and temporary employees. These positions vary in responsibility depending on the skill and academic background of the employee. All positions work in Tappan Hall, Room 45, during the working hours of the VRC (Monday-Friday, 8:30-4:30).
Interns
The VRC works in partnership with a number of various graduate programs to host interns. Past VRC interns have been associated with the University of Michigan School of Information, Wayne State University School of Library and Information Science, and other institutions and programs. In general, these intern positions are for credit towards an advanced degree and can vary in length of appointment.
Interns in the VRC gain experience working with archives, metadata, digital and analog collection management, and user services. Typically, internships include practical experience in two different areas of the VRC (archives and cataloging) and a third project of the interns choosing. By focusing on three projects, interns learn about all aspects of image collections management, cataloging standards and authorities, archival finding aids, as well as digitization best practices. It is our goal for interns to have concrete examples of projects for portfolios and future employment after their employment at the VRC.
Past intern projects have included:
- Finding aids for various archival collections
- Help guides to online digital image collection
- Cataloging of special projects
- Study of VRC workflow
- Data standardization projects
What are we look for in an intern:
- Interest in digital collections
- Self-motivated
- Attention to detail
- Reliable
- Quick to learn
- Flexible about job assignments
VRC internship positions are posted through the University of Michigan School of Information iTrack system and other related listservs. If are interested in an internship in the VRC, please contact the staff (vrum@umich.edu).
Student Employees
Each semester, the VRC employs undergraduate and graduate employees as library/administrative assistants to help in the daily operations of the VRC. Students learn fundamentals of image resource organization and have exposure to art and architectural images used in University of Michigan History of Art courses.
Duties for these positions vary, but may include:
- Logging incoming image orders into paper and database records
- Standardizing image descriptive data in a FileMaker Pro cataloging database
- Internet research on artworks and artists
- Performing administrative assistance duties such as filing paperwork, making copies, and campus deliveries
Student employment opportunities in the VRC can be found through the University of Michigan Student Employment website.
Temporary Employees
From time to time, the VRC hires temporary paid employees to help with special projects. These positions may include working with the digitization of materials or the cataloging of images related to special projects.
Temporary positions available in the VRC can be found through the University of Michigan employment website, local job sites, and relevant listservs.
Permanent
In the event that the VRC is looking for permanent employees, openings are posted on the University of Michigan employment website: http://umjobs.org/.
