The New Museum seeks an intern to assist with the physical processing of organizational records related to the museum’s history, including administrative and exhibition files, correspondence with artists and curators, photographs, audio and video recording, and ephemera.  The material documents 34 years of the New Museum’s institutional history, exhibitions and programming.

BACKGROUND – NEW MUSEUM / DIGITAL ARCHIVE

Founded in 1977 by Marcia Tucker as an alternative museum site, the New Museum has been an important platform for curatorial practice, cultural debate, and early exposure and scholarly treatment for important yet under-recognized figures in contemporary art over the last 34 years.  Unlike most museum digital archives whose purpose is primarily focused on object collections, the New Museum’s Digital Archive is a groundbreaking project to archive the programmatic history of an institution – what an art museum did, not what it owns.  The archive was built and developed with Collective Access, an open source code and database system, using modified Dublin-core metadata standards.

http://archive.newmuseum.org

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Preserve the New Museum’s history that would otherwise be lost or inaccessible by assisting with the physical processing and digitization of the New Museum’s organizational records.
• Process and re-house physical materials under the supervision of the archivist.
• Assist the archivist and curatorial team in researching materials related to institutional history, building architecture, educational and public programming for inclusion in the New Museum Digital Archive.
• Upload new and unique digital materials to the New Museum Digital Archive site using Collective Access.

GENERAL QUALIFICATIONS

• Enrollment in an advanced degree program in Archives, Library and Information Science, or related area of study.
• Familiarity with archival standards and best practices for preserving physical and digital materials.
• Ability to work independently with strong time management skills.
• Interest in contemporary art history and the history of the downtown New York preferred.

HOURS

• 1-2 days, 8-16 hours per week, depending on schedule.
• Museum office hours are Monday – Friday: 10:00am – 6:00pm.

CONTACT

To apply, please send a brief letter of interest and resume to:

Tara Hart
Digital Archivist
thart@newmuseum.org

This is an unpaid internship that may be used for credit toward a Master’s Degree in a Library Science program.