Department of Labor - Wirtz Labor Library Internship Opportunities

The Wirtz Labor Library serves a diverse client base made up of government employees and contractors, academic researchers, and the general public. This research utilizes a collection that ranges from historic labor primary source materials to modern databases of academic literature. A library student intern would have the opportunity to perform a variety of daily tasks performed in a busy government library while also taking on special projects.

Sample Activities:
• Putting reference and research skills to work answering questions for library customers
• Cataloging new books and government documents using AACR2 standards for MARC records
• Develop research guides for the library’s webpage

Special Project Activities:

Digital Library
• Scan paper collections
• Run Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software to convert newly digitized materials into searchable formats
• Upload digitized items into a document management system
• Populate metadata fields

Conservation
• Review library holdings and identify items in need of conservation attention
• Rehouse vulnerable items in acid free envelopes/boxes
• Perform minor repairs such as tip-ins for loose pages (training provided)

For the summer, we are looking for library students able to work full time for 6-8 weeks. During fall and spring semesters, students will work part time based on his or her class schedule. When possible, we will work with student’s academic programs to insure internship activities satisfy requirements for course credit.

Resumes should be sent directly to Catherine Breitenbach, Breitenbach.catherine@dol.gov .

Application Deadline – April 20th