Sound Internships at the BL

Sound archiving internships 2009-2010

The British Library is pleased to announce four additional sound archiving internships for 2009-2010.

The internships are aimed at those wanting to develop a comprehensive understanding of technical skills and are open to individuals who wish to improve their practical skills and who work in an institution that has the responsibility for the archiving of audiovisual materials. Successful candidates will be selected in part on the basis of their ability to demonstrate the benefits of the internship to their professional development.

The internships will take place at the British Library’s flagship site in central London. Each internship runs for a period of ten weeks; two internships will start in January 2010 and two will start in April 2010.

Interns will not receive any remuneration such as a living allowance or bursary so are required to meet their own living, accommodation and personal travel expenses. Interns are also responsible for making their own travel arrangements.

The internships combine training along with project work. A series of training modules will be offered on working with different audio carriers, and will include an introduction to the basics of audio theory, archiving standards and protocols and documentation. The project work is based upon existing audio collections held in the British Library. Please note that each intern will be supervised by a British Library archivist throughout their internship and work will be monitored on a regular basis.

Jonathan Draper, archivist at the Norfolk Record Office who completed his sound archiving internship in 2009, said: “The internship has given me the wonderful opportunity to have the time to focus on best practice in sound archiving. The experience has given me courage in my convictions and confirmed that a lot of what I am doing is right, whilst suggesting areas of improvement.”

All the details here.