Digitization Intern at Motown Museum – Detroit, Michigan

About Motown Museum

In the 1960s, Hitsville U.S.A. was buzzing with activity. These modest buildings on Detroit’s West Grand Boulevard housed dozens of the music industry’s most talented, passionate and successful people. More than half a century later, the walls of Motown Museum continue to hold that entrepreneurial energy for its staff—and you could be part of our team. 

As a museum and cultural institution, we seek to hire talented and skilled individuals interested in careers, internships, and volunteers across a variety of functions—including staff for collections, programming, fund development, guest services, retail, management, and more.

About the role

The Motown Historical Museum seeks an undergrad or graduate student to assist with the

digitization of born-analog materials and the management of digitized and born-digital

materials for digital preservation purposes and use in exhibitions and on the Archives &

Collection website. The intern will work within the Archives & Collections Department and

report to the Digital Preservation Specialist.

What you'll do

Essential Functions:

- Digitization: Imaging of flat materials (photos, documents, publication, other

archival materials) using a flatbed scanner and 3D objects utilizing a DSLR camera.

Along with imaging, this includes some light photo editing using Adobe Photoshop

and Lightroom.

- Preservation: Creation of Preservation files for long-term digital preservation and

Access files for general reference use.

- Object handling: assisting the team with moving museum objects.

- Data input: Inputting data into databases and collection management systems

(AirTable and Qi).

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications:

- Current student or recent graduate majoring in archival studies, library science,

history, historic preservation, museum studies, or another related field.

- Interest in archives, museums, and digital preservation

- Strong written and verbal communication skills

- Willingness to learn new computer applications (Qi, AirTable, Adobe, Epson Scan,

etc)

- Ability to work independently or with others

- Excellent attention to detail

Preferred Qualifications:

- Knowledge of FADGI standards and other archival preservation practices

- Coursework in archives and collections management

- Experience with Adobe Create Suite or other photo editing software

- Experience with photography and digitization equipment

- Familiarity with archival collection management systems such as PastPerfect,

ArchiveSpace, CollectionsSpace, CatalogIt, Qi

Eligibility:

This internship is open to current undergraduate and graduate students and recent

graduates.

Required Application Materials

- Resume / CV

- One-page cover letter outlining your career aspirations and how this position will

help you achieve these.