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Hello, everyone! My name is Sofia Arias, a senior graduating with my bachelor’s in history this semester at UCF. This Fall 2024 semester I was able to join the University of Central Florida’s Special Collection & University Archives (SCUA) team as the processing intern.

My work mainly consisted of surveying and processing the Robert H. Brown tourism collection, a collection of vintage travel postcards and documents capturing the tourist experience during the twentieth century – it’s a pretty big collection, so I made sure to take plenty of notes while processing so I’d be able to keep track of all of the materials in the collection and their locations. Once I’d finished surveying the collection, I drafted a processing plan – a document that would help me sort the collection into an order that not only made logical sense but would help future researchers find what they needed in a timely manner. After finishing my processing plan, I was finally able to begin rehousing materials into working order.

Alongside my supervisor Arielle, I also learned about the archival field through weekly readings and field trips. Plenty of our readings focused on recent developments in archives technology and challenges posed to archivists by developing technology. You might have heard that the Internet is forever before, but that’s becoming increasingly untrue – and a problem for many archivists! We also discussed the archival job market and job prospects for archivists and special collections librarians.

We took three field trips throughout the fall semester in and around the UCF area. We toured a public library repository, a university archives, and a history museum. On each of these trips, we were able to see the differences between UCF’s archives and other repositories in the area. I was also able to speak with the archivists at each location; these conversations offered me a glimpse into the many different forms a career in the archives could take.

The last few weeks of my internship were spent working on the finding aid (a document that, as the name suggests, helps researchers find the content of a collection) for my collection, as well as my outreach project for the SCUA department. Earlier in the semester I’d decided on a button-making station that would feature images from my collection. This way, I’d be able to inform the UCF community not only about the work I was doing for SCUA, but the resources available at the department for students. Arielle and I set up our button-making table at a Cookies & Coloring event, held in Hitt Library, with help from Katy Miller, a librarian and department head for Learning Engagement. By the end of the night, I’d made over seventy buttons for UCF students and faculty and managed to field questions about archives access and my collection throughout the night. I am really satisfied with how my project developed, and I hope the button maker will see use in the library even when I’m gone.

I had a very fulfilling time being part of the SCUA team this semester. While I faced several challenges like the emergency closures due to Hurricanes Helene and Milton, one of the main lessons I learned during my time as a processing intern was to be prepared for anything. I’ve had a great time this semester, and I hope to put my time and skills learned during this semester to use in my career going forward.

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