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Introducing Eleanor

by Katharine Short on 2021-12-02T16:59:00+00:00 in Archives, DMU Students, Special Collections | 0 Comments

 

We are very pleased to have welcomed Eleanor to the Special Collections team! Eleanor is a third-year History student, taking a Frontrunner internship alongside doing her dissertation at DMU. Here she tells us a bit about her role and how she's found the internship so far:

 

Eleanor, a young white woman with brown hair wearing jeans and a jumper, stands in front of a computer desk holding a long stream of paper that's pooling on the floor. She is laughing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eleanor with a fax that she found in a collection; she'd never seen a fax before!

What does your Frontrunners role involve? 

My role consists of cataloguing, researching, and packaging items for preservation from collections associated with the DMU Special Collections. Much of my work focuses on the cataloguing side of archiving new collections using Epexio, in preparation for people to research them in the future. Recently I’ve been trained in scanning and digitising items for the Special Collections Twitter pages showing off the history of fashion and its development throughout the 20th century which has been a lot of fun to do.   

A book held open at a fashion plate showing two women and a child in early 19th century clothing

One of Eleanor's tasks has been sourcing pictures for our #FashionFriday feature.

How do you feel your internship will help your future job prospects? 

My role has assisted me for future job prospects by helping me to develop valuable skills needed for employment both logistically and digitally. Regarding logistically, I’ve developed working independently, analysis of items to find finer details about them for future research and working as a team. Much of my role is working independently following the instructions and work set by my line manager which is an important skill to develop for the future. Digitally, I also developed my skill to utilise Microsoft Excel to make it work for the data required.      

 

What have been the highlights of your internship so far? 

My highlight so far has been using the scanner for digitisation of records first hand before they’re uploaded to Epexio. Before this internship, I never used this piece of technology but now I am confident in using it to help my confidence for future employment. I really enjoyed using it as it enables me to work directly with the records (especially some of the older ones) and preserve them to be used for future research, thus enabling me to have that interaction into the work of wider projects in the Special Collections.   

 

What projects have you worked on and enjoyed? 

So far, I enjoyed working on the collection of papers from Stewart Reuben and how the world of chess works outside of being a game you play with your family and learning how the professional side of it works. 

A poster entitled Bad Bishops and Red Rooks Hastings Chess Congress Centenary Exhibition, featuring an illustration of antique chess pieces 

A poster from the Stewart Reuben collection which Eleanor has been listing.

Do you have any advice for future Frontrunners? 

If you see an internship which you think is interesting, just apply for it. What's the worst that could happen? Take all the opportunities you can and ask questions along the way. Believe me they help!

 

Look out for future blog posts exploring the collections Eleanor has been working on!


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