Working in the Exhibition Program at the National Library of Medicine

My name is Elizabeth Skene and I’m a first year MSI student specializing in Archives and Records Management and Community Informatics here at the University of Michigan’s School of Information. I spent my Spring Break working at the National Library of Medicine [NLM], the largest medical library in the world, on the campus of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD.

My project description said that I would be rehousing assets used in their exhibitions. While I wasn’t sure what types of exhibitions they put together or what types of materials I would be working with, I knew that it would be good, hands-on archival experience.

First thing Monday morning we were treated to breakfast and a chance to meet a variety of staff members from the National Library of Medicine, include the current Associate Fellows. The rest of the day was spent getting to work on the project with my co-volunteer, Heather.

We were given large binders of materials that were used in past exhibitions. Our task was to take out all the photos, sort out duplicates, put the photos into acid-free sleeves, label the photo with its exhibition number and put them into new containers. Over the course of the week we were able to get through not only the materials for one exhibition, but also the binders for all the past exhibitions. Additionally, we updated the catalog records for the materials that had been moved and rehoused. By the end, we reduced the size of the assests from 8 cubic feet, down to 3 cubic feet.

Everyone we met was so helpful, friendly and enthusiastic and it felt feel like we were really able to accomplish something for them, especially since they remarked a number of times that this was a project that had wanted to do for a while, but didn’t have the time or the resources.

As for this project as a service experience, it was a different kind of service than I think most of us are used to doing. To me, “service” usually implies some altruistic element and, while this was giving of myself to help others, I definitely had some professional and personal goals in mind when embarking on this experience. Regardless of where this falls within my definition of “service,” it was a wonderful and very worthwhile opportunity and one that I think everyone should be involved in if they have the chance.