McMullan Arts Leadership Intern, Research Center - Libraries

Art Institute of Chicago • Chicago, IL

2d • Onsite

About The Position

The Art Institute of Chicago's Research Center is offering a McMullan Arts Leadership intern position to work with their library team. The Art Institute Research Center combines the museum’s Ryerson and Burnham Library, the Art Institute of Chicago Archives, and the department of Academic Engagement and Research to manage, modernize, and share the Art Institute of Chicago’s extensive research resources. The Ryerson and Burnham Library is a leading art research library with over 670,000 print titles, 100,000 auction catalogs, 200 serial subscriptions, and substantial digital resources. It supports the museum’s curatorial departments across all fields and time periods, and makes its collections accessible to scholars, students, artists, architects, and the public. The intern will research primary sources to document the origins of items in the library collection, focusing on attributing rare books to specific donors and identifying items donated by significant figures, which will be valuable to the Provenance, Philanthropy, and Curatorial Departments. The intern will join a museum-wide cohort with access to development programs, mentorship, and an intern alumni network.

Requirements

• Undergraduate or graduate student; recent graduates (within one year of graduation) will also be considered.
• Applicants must be based in the Chicagoland area and/or attending school in the Chicagoland area over the course of the internship term.
• Interest in, current enrollment, or recently graduated from a Library or Information Science Masters program.
• Meticulously detail-oriented.
• Agility in data entry and willingness to work with library databases and spreadsheets.
• Ability to push carts of books, handle books, bend, and occasionally lift 20 pounds.

Nice To Haves

• Discover information access points, such as written and published documentation, as well as investigating physical clues of a book such as margin notes, labels, and book plates.
• Learn about and handle rare books, including artists’ books.
• Navigate an integrated library system (Alma/Primo), including editing catalog records.
• Understand how a library functions within a museum setting.
• Develop mentor relationships with field practitioners.
• Build peer-to-peer relationships with fellow interns.

Responsibilities

• Compile data from a variety of in-house sources to create a spreadsheet documenting key data points about the sources of our library books.
• Add the relevant information into our library database, using a provided structured vocabulary.
• Collaborate with the Library Director and the Associate Director of Access Services to focus the project on the most necessary information.
• Prepare and deliver a presentation to the Research Center staff, summarizing their work and how it was beneficial to their studies.
• Participate in regular meetings with members of the department and the mentors of this position: director of the Ryerson & Burnham Libraries as well as the associate director of access services.
• Attend intern cohort professional development programs and museum practice seminars.

Benefits

• Mentorship is provided throughout the experience.
• Connections with an intern alumni network will be established.
• Access to a range of programs to support their development.
• Technological accommodations will be provided by the Art Institute of Chicago based on necessity.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Part-time
• Career Level: Intern
• Education Level: Associate degree