Unravelling the Buckland Archive

Project summary

The project will be for students to examine, organise, and list the rolled diagrams and maps in the archive of William and Mary Buckland..

Project details

The project will be part of the wider initiative to catalogue all the papers in the Buckland Archive. The students will examine and organise the items so that they can be catalogued onto Axiell EMU, the Collections Management System.
To complete this, the students will:

Organise and list each item on a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet
Enter data according to the criteria provided, with descriptions that will later be catalogued onto the museum’s collections Photograph the items as a record of their content
Prepare the items for storage and package them in boxes
Label each box clearly as they will be sent to the Collections Storage Facility in Swindon

Full training will be given

Selection criteria

Essential

Interest in fossils
Excellent attention to detail, with an organised and methodical approach
Strong self-motivation and ability to work independently without close supervision
Good written communication

Desirable

Experience or an interest in Earth Sciences (e.g. an A Level in Geology or a fossil collecting hobby)
Experience working in a library, archive or museum setting

Outcomes for students

Opportunity to handle uncatalogued material which offers the potential for interesting and important discoveries in the collections.
Experience in the organisation and management of library and archival collections.
Good organisational, documentation and IT skills learnt in a museum context and applicable to future research career.
Particularly valuable experience for any intern seeking a career in libraries, archives or museum collections.

The interns will be lifting large and heavy items inside the room and walking up several stairs to reach the room, there is no lift available for this workspace.

Reasonable adjustments

The museum is committed to making reasonable adjustments to its summer placements to make sure that students with disabilities or health conditions are not substantially disadvantaged. If you are concerned about meeting the selection criteria for a project of interest, or completing relevant tasks, please get in touch with Hannah Betts before submitting your application to discuss possible adjustments to the project: summerplacements@oum.ox.ac.uk.