We were delighted to be joined last week by Year 10 student Alisa for a week of work experience in Special Collections. Below Alisa shares some of her impressions and reflections on the experience. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Alisa for her excellent work and wish her every success for the future.
Over the past week, I was fortunate enough to do my work experience in Special Collections. I had the chance to handle many rare books and archives which I found very fascinating, as well as the chance to meet the incredibly friendly University staff, as well as the delight of meeting the archivists Annie and Tash, who were very patient and kind towards me.
One of the most memorable tasks, as well as the one that I spent the most time on, was stocktaking. This is where you look for a sample selection of 500 books and pamphlets in a rare book collection by following the provided checklist to see if the item is there, as well as check the condition of the item. I really enjoyed this task as I found all the books covers extremely elegant and well decorated, which differs from modern books that lack any personality. Each cover was extraordinarily well made, especially the occasional illustrated book covers or the patterned leather. Many of the book titles were extremely interesting as well, such books containing letters between famous figures, such as ‘The letters of Queen Victoria : a selection from Her Majesty’s correspondence between the years 1837 and 1861‘ [Hypatia BIO/VIC].
Another memorable task was working on the files relating to the Exeter hip stem – a hip implant used worldwide in hip replacement surgery. This involved repackaging papers to prevent them from damage, before labeling them so they could be found. I really enjoyed doing this as it was strangely calming switching off my brain to do the repetitive task of folding folders and tying rope. Many of the files were also really interesting, as you can see the precisely drawn medical images, as well as see each individual’s different handwriting as well as thoughts back then in the day.
I was also given the chance to talk to many of the University staff, allowing me to learn more about what their job entails, as well as hear interesting stories such as how the original manuscript copy of ‘The Lord of the Flies’ was written when the author was supposed to be teaching, and since if works were written in working hours, there might be a chance that copyright would be given to the school instead, therefore the author ripped off the cover of the notebook so there would be no evidence that it was written during school hours. This greatly amused me when I first heard after seeing the fragile state of the original copy which looked like even a blow of wind would cause the notebook to disintegrate.
There was also the opportunity to explore the Digital Humanities Lab, which I found was the highlight of the week. Since there was coincidentally another student from my school that went on the tour with me, as well as another one of my classmates that did her experience in the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum, we were all able to get three 3D printed matching sharks which were absolutely adorable, as well as mess around in the sounds lab creating our own podcast which was admittedly so terrible that we deleted it from the faces of earth the moment we finished hearing it.
Overall, I really enjoyed my week in Special Collections doing work experience, as the whole experience was very valuable. I highly recommend this experience for people like me who were too scared to make a phone call, as this is first come first served by email. The work environment is extremely friendly, as well as forgiving about mistakes and patient about any concerns or questions. I found it really enjoyable working with people who obviously enjoyed their job.