SI Archives Interns: Where Are They Now?

Every year, the Smithsonian Institution Archives (SIA) welcomes interns who are interested in getting hands-on experience in an archival environment. The Digital Services Division recently caught up with some of its former interns, and reported its findings on their blog, The Bigger Picture. Below are some of the highlights from their conversations with former interns.

Emma Wolman

Emma Wolman interned at the SIA in 2009. Now, she is the Digital Assets Manager for the Portland Art Museum in Portland, Oregon. She creates, migrates, preserves, and catalogs digital assets and is part of a team working hard to increase access to art digitally.

Susan Eldridge, an intern at the SIA in 2010, worked on the digital conversion of Digital Audio Tape (DAT) recordings of the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra. The recordings had to be converted in real time, which meant s got to enjoy jazz concerts for nearly eight hours a day. Today, she is an instructional designer at the San Francisco State University. She works with faculty to design and improve their courses. Though not an archive or museum, working in academic technology allows her to be at the heart of a university, solve interesting problems, and work to make the higher education experience better for all.

Carrie Tallichet Smith took part in the Smithsonian Human Sunburst photo during the staff picnic, July 2010.

An intern at the SIA in 2010 and 2011, Carrie Tallichet Smith participated in a wide variety of projects, many of which involved digitizing analog materials, recording metadata, and performing quality control. Today, she is an Archivist in the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and Special Access unit of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).

Greg Palumbo at the National Zoological Park (NZP).

Greg Palumbo interned at the SIA in 2011, helping to archive Computer Assisted Design (CAD) files and aiding in research of Smithsonian architectural plans. He now works as a contractor for the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC). He manages digital assets, including audio, video, and still images, as well as oversees their rights and reproductions efforts.

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