UK Libraries Special Collections Now Accepting Applications for 2019-20 Learning Lab Internships

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 1, 2018) — University of Kentucky Libraries Special Collections Research Center (SCRC) is offering undergraduates one-of-a-kind internship opportunities working with primary resources in the SCRC Learning Lab. Through this paid internship undergraduate students from all disciplines can receive training in archival methods while working with unprocessed or under-processed archival collections in their research area. Applications for fall and spring internships are due April 22, 2019.

The SCRC Learning Lab is a center of primary research, experiential learning and training. Undergraduate students interning with the lab will learn how to arrange and describe rare or unique collections in their area of research interest, while enhancing access through the production of guides, exhibits or transcriptions. In addition to their training, at the end of their internship students will create and present a poster, presentation or exhibit, reflecting on the impact the position had on their research. Interns typically present their research at national, and even international, conferences.

“Our undergraduates learn skills that we know are important to employers such as critical thinking, problem solving, communicating and working on a team,” said Interim Dean of UK Libraries Deirdre Scaggs. “The goal of the SCRC Learning Lab is to help our students become successful in whatever they do.”

Students interested in internships with the SCRC Learning Lab this year will have the opportunity to work with collections that span a wide range of interests:

• Study the presiding judge’s papers in the influential case of Louisville Black Police Officers v. the City of Louisville that sought equal employment opportunities for the city’s officers through Judge Charles M. Allen Papers, 1971-2000.
• Analyze the successful efforts to save the Red River Gorge environment through the Cathy Wilson Collection on Red River Gorge, 1974-1975.
• Witness the corporate infrastructure of the first railroad in Kentucky through the Lexington and Ohio Railway Company board of directors minutes, 1830-1833.
• Understand the beginning of our current opioid crisis through the medical records of an early Kentucky physician in the William E. Adams Collection, 1890s-1940s.
• Delve into the Louis Pardue Oak Ridge Institute for Nuclear Studies Papers, 1945-1958, to learn about the ORINS initiative at UK and the study of nuclear science in the mid-20th century.
• Handle documents dating from the time when the United States was a colony, and research Colonial law through the Barnstable Colony Papers, 1734-1741.
• Get a firsthand look at social justice protests during the Vietnam War through the papers of Don Pratt, who was imprisoned for refusing the draft.
• Explore early Jewish history in Kentucky with a largely unknown Jewish Notebook, circa 1810.

More information about these collections can be found on the Learning Lab website.

Interns will be expected to work five to 10 hours a week and will receive $8.80 per hour.

To apply for the SCRC Learning Lab internship, undergraduates should complete the internship application on the Learning Lab website by April 22. For more information about the program and how to apply, contact Carol Street at carolstreet@uky.edu.

The SCRC at UK Libraries sustains the Commonwealth’s memory and serves as the essential bridge between past, present and future. By preserving materials documenting the social, cultural, economic and political history of Kentucky, the SCRC provides rich opportunities for students to expand their worldview and enhance their critical thinking skills. SCRC materials are used by scholars worldwide to advance original research and pioneer creative approaches to scholarship. UK Libraries SCRC is the Archives, the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, the King Library Press, the Wendell H. Ford Public Policy Research Center, the Bert T. Combs Appalachian Collection, the John G. Heyburn Initiative and ExploreUK.