The LP inventory is coming along! I’m at a little over 150 titles catalogued so far. Most of the LPs are kept in protective casings, so taking them out to find the information I need for the spreadsheet is a lot slower than if they all just sat on the shelf. It’s a mystery every time I pull one off the shelf because the tag with the catalog number on it only has the (sometimes incorrect) title of the LP and maybe the artist. I’m able to listen to music or a podcast while I create the inventory, and having the privilege to almost zone out makes coming to the internship such a gift. With classes starting to wrap up, everything is due all of the sudden, and the freedom to listen to something that’s just for myself while also getting the satisfaction of completing a task has been so important to me this week.
Yesterday I attended a workshop for the BDP reflection essay about my internship that I’ll need to write at the end of the semester. The workshop leader guided us through the prompt and encouraged us to begin creating an outline with our ideas as we broke down the ideas. She asked us to consider all the disciplines we come in contact with during our internships and how they work in tandem to teach us new ways of thinking about things. At first I felt reluctant to engage extensively, since it had taken valuable homework time away from me. Then, as I consulted the list of common disciplines that internships in the Museum Studies field engage with, I realized just how many different access points to research the Ransom Center has given me. I’m learning so much about information science, from completing the research guide to answering patron questions to creating an inventory of the LP collection. I’ve become familiar with the finding aids, card catalog, and preliminary inventory lists at the Ransom Center, and I’ll carry that knowledge with me for as long as I continue conducting research.
This internship is teaching me how much I enjoy having diverse tasks to complete. I love having the choice to do research or deep digging in the archives or teaching or calming, almost mindless inventorying. I have so much agency to work on what will feel/be the most productive that day, and that freedom allows me to work hard and not get burned out. I love doing work here because you know what? It hardly ever feels like work.
Lives in Boxes 