Throughout the course of my internship with the National Collections Program of the Smithsonian Institute, I have gained new insights into working in the field of digital public humanities. Through my work as part of team creating a collections based hazards flipbook, I have participated in created an online resource that can be used in a wide variety of different collection types. I have been able to see how much time and effort goes into creating a quality digital public humanities project and the value that these types of projects can have to a wider community.
One of the most important insights about working in digital public humanities from this internship, is the importance of collaborative team work. With the work I have done as part of my internship, I have been able to see first hand the importance of having a team where everyone works together and has their own individual roles to play for the project to be completed. For the collections based hazards flipbook, each member of our working group has been given a very specific set of tasks to accomplish in order to move the project along during various stages of its development. For me specifically, these tasks have included finding a platform to use to publish the flipbook on the National Collections Program’s website, writing up draft language about the flipbook to be used when it is published on the website, reaching out to and collection Job Hazard Analyzes from various Unit Safety Coordinators, and currently I am working on collecting images of the various collections based hazards that are included in the flipbook. I have been able to see the importance of all the tasks that I have been assigned throughout my internship in created the final product that will be published on the National Collections Program’s website this summer. I understand how my failure to complete any of the tasks that I have been assigned can set the entire project back and can affect all the members of the working group and not just me.
As a result of my internship experience, I would be interested in seeing how feedback given on a project, like the collections based hazards flipbook, can be used to improve the and make the project better. After spending so much time and effort on this project I am generally interested in observing how the flipbook is received by the collections community. I would like to know what they like and find helpful about the flipbook, and what elements of it should be changed.
