Condition Assessment Internship  overview image

Condition Assessment Internship

  • Post Date: 07/13/2018
  • Author: Elizabeth Sutton
  • Reading Time: 1 minute read

Roger Erickson, a Junior majoring in History and Political Science, recently completed a 150-hour internship at the Spurlock in which he evaluated over 16,300 artifact condition reports. That’s a rate of over 100 records per hour! The Museum uses artifact condition reports to identify which objects are in need of conservation or preservation treatments and pinpoint specific areas in which we need to improve the storage environment for our collections. By assessing and grouping these reports into categories, Roger provided valuable assistance to our Collections team who now can focus their efforts on the artifacts most in need of documentation.

We were curious if Roger had discovered a favorite artifact from our collection among all those reports. His answer? “My favorite would have to be a child’s toy wood carving from Russia of a fox playing basketball.”

After a busy semester combing through thousands of reports, we thought Roger may have had enough of museum work for a while, but when offered a student position working with Collections, he eagerly accepted. Roger now builds upon his internship efforts in our Artifact Preservation Center, getting hands-on experience with many of the same objects he previously reviewed.

Are you a student considering an internship project in a museum? Contact our volunteer coordinator Monica Scott (monicams@illinois.edu) today. Depending on your interests, and the skills you are looking to develop, we may be able to place you in an internship here at the Spurlock.

  • Intern, Roger, sitting at his work station and facing toward the camera, smiling.
    Roger at his work station during his internship