Developing Assets Before Internships

       It really isn’t until you start your internship that you really find out how qualified you are for it.  When I started my internship with the Smithsonian I was worried that there were things that I did not know that would make the internship difficult to adjust to.  However, I found that you cannot remember everything you learn or see what is truly applicable until you are working on your internship. 

            All of the things I have learned about museums, digital history, and librarianship that were once stored inside of me waiting for library school and my career to start flourish when I am put into situations such as internships.  Before I started my internship with the Smithsonian I had had no hands on training in archives.  I was slightly terrified that there would be a steep learning curve.  The first day or two was overwhelming.  Not only was I learning archival practices, but I was learning how to use software and devices that I had never seen before.  While I had used a scanner before, it was nothing that could produce the high quality of scans that the Archives scanner could. 

            I found that all of the videos and lectures about archives were ingrained in me and I could use them to help me understand the massive amounts of things I learned at the Smithsonian.  Accession numbers were not nearly as terrifying as I once thought they were.  The organizational system, which is quite different than what I have been exposed to during my time working in libraries, was manageable.  It even made more sense in context then it ever could out of a textbook.  It is important to realize that learning only begins in the classroom; it does not end in the classroom.  One cannot fully understand what they are taking notes on and being tested on without firsthand experience.  However, without these firsthand experiences I would have never been able to take away as much as I did from the internship.

            I also learned, while shopping for a new printer for myself, that all scanners do not have a removable top that can be removed to scan negatives.  It was hard to explain to the sales associates at Target what I was doing to their display printers, but it was at that moment I realized that I had learned and grown because of my internship.  I am no longer willing to accept a printer as just a printer- I look for the technology that has so quickly affected the digitization movement.  I am sure, as I move on to other internships, I will start looking for Adobe Bridge and assessing the metadata standards that are used.