History student Steph’s internship adventures in London…….

Hi everyone,

My name is Steph Wood. This summer, after completing the first year of my History degree at the University of Southampton, I interned at the Imperial War Museum in London. The majority of my job was spent in the new War Memorials Archive, contributing to a website which is now live and can be accessed through the link below.

 
The bulk of my job was inputting data into the database, this was done by looking at reports by field workers all over the country and researching everything possible about the site and memorial. To input a new record we had to give the file a name, specification, and describe the memorial in as much detail as possible (a good method was imagining you were describing it so someone could draw it). We then found the location, which wasn’t as easy as it sounds: the address given was rarely accurate and we had to find the exact grid reference for each memorial, sometimes ending in the entire office searching Google maps for one tiny church in the middle of the English countryside!

 
We were also tasked with uploading 70,000 picture files to the database, initially uploading individually while working with the developers to find a more efficient method, which is an ongoing project I will potentially be involved with again this December. By the end of my time my team and I were able to upload 40,000 files – far more than our 20,000 target.
We were also given the opportunity to explore some other areas of the museum, including the library, archives and digital engagement department. I attended the weekly department meetings and was able to contribute to many discussions regarding the future of the department.

 
My time at the IWM has been an incredible experience, which will help me in the future as it has given me the skills to work in any office and efficiently input data, as well as giving me the opportunity to see the many different ways this country has remembered the fallen, which in itself was fascinating.

 

Steph
http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/search