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.

New Archives Intern: Lauren Wolters

Lauren Wolters

Lauren Wolters is a rising junior undergraduate student at Skidmore College. She is double majoring in History and Psychology and is interested in learning the basics of archival theory and practice. Being a history major, Lauren is fascinated by old artifacts and is excited to have the unique opportunity to work with collections that are not always available to the public eye. Currently, she has been assisting by taking inventory of a collection of photographs and organizing a digital list of metadata. Eventually, she will be transitioning to aid on a project relating to the Langley Porter Psychiatric Institute Records. This project is perfectly tailored towards both of her interests as it combines her two majors.

Lauren was born and raised in San Francisco, CA. She plays volleyball at Skidmore College and enjoys photography as a hobby. Lauren is enjoying working in the library with the archivists and looks forward to learning even more about the archives.