Intern Report: Learning to Process Collections

This is a guest post by Lauren Wolters, UCSF Archives Intern.

I have recently completed my internship working in the UCSF Archives and Special Collections. I really enjoyed the challenge of a new experience and learned a tremendous amount in my short time working there.

During my internship I was able to complete several processing and arrangement projects. I created two finding aids, one for the Langley Porter Psychiatric Institute records and another for the files of Bernice Hemphill, longtime head of the Irwin Memorial Blood Bank.

I appreciated the opportunity to learn from an archival mentor and gain practical experience by independently processing each collection and working with tangible materials. It was very satisfying being able to contribute to the preservation of these documents and their history and help make them more accessible for future use. I look forward to being able to pursue future endeavors with an informed understanding of the archival process.