Internships at The Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society

The Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society at the University of Alabama is proud to partner with the School of Library Information Studies in the College Of Communication & Information Sciences to offer internships to graduate students in the field of archival science.

Using the unique collection at CSTS, the internship program gives participants a hands-on learning experience with archival materials, processes, and interfaces. As a working laboratory collection students are able to engage meaningfully in the day-to-day work of archivists from arrangement and description, digital imaging, meta-data entry and processing, and exhibition design and development.

Students gain critical insight into the methods and workings of archival administration and utilization by working with a qualified archivist and collection manager and a world-renown content expert on the global tobacco pandemic.

The Center’s new home in Quad A of the Northeast Medical Building features state of the art archival storage facilities.

On Campus

After 20 years in Nott Hall on the iconic University Quad, CSTS has a new home in Quad-A of the Northeast Medical Building off peter Bryce Boulevard at the University of Alabama. This brand new facility opened in 2020 features state of the art storage for the Center’s collection and many advanced features and specialized work areas.

On-campus internships would focus on arrangement and description, digital imaging, audio/visual preservation and presentation, and the development of museum exhibits.

The on-campus internship is designed to replicate the experience of the work of a day archivist. Participants would be scheduled to work in the facility and given a series of tasks related to the student’s interests or the Center’s needs. The position is designed to be engaging and allow students to work directly with archival materials and experience the archives as a workplace to receive credit and valuable experience doing critical archival work for a unique collection.

Students also have their names added to the credits of exhibitions to which they help contribute.

Online

CSTS has been working with distance learning students to provide an online internship experience. With the restrictions stemming from COVID-19 at the University of Alabama, the Center has expanded its online offerings. The online internship focuses on meta-data entry and the utilization of content management systems to index and describe the Center’s digitized collections.

The Center uses Omeka as its preferred content management system to provide a searchable indexed database of material in our exhibitions and collections. It can be viewed here: https://csts.omeka.net/. Omeka is a web publishing platform for sharing digital collections, creating media-rich online exhibits, and utilizing the Dublin Core metadata set.

The online internship is a low impact internship where participants are given a set of material to upload and directions on entering the corresponding metadata. The position is designed to be flexible and allow students to work at their own pace to receive credit and valuable experience doing critical archival work for a unique collection.

Students also have their names added to the credits of exhibitions to which they help contribute.

How to Apply

If you’re ready to come work with us, we have only a few things you need to do. You will need to contact Sybil Bullock at the School for Library and Information Sciences to begin your application process, this will ensure you receive credit for your internship you can apply toward your graduation.

Next, we want to know more about you, your interests, and what collection you might want to work with. CSTS offers 60+ themed collections and while the vast majority of our collections cover the global tobacco pandemic we also feature collections covering a variety of public health concerns from digital media use and addiction to marijuana and obesity. Click the buttons below to contact Dr. Bullock and fill out our applicant survey.

Sybil Bullock @ SLIS

CSTS Applicant Survey

Spring 2021 Fall 2019 Spring 2019

Megahan Cash

Metadata and Research Assistant, College of Charleston

• Tobacco & WWII
• Women and Tobacco
• CSTS Oral Histories Collection

Hi! I’m Meaghan, I am from Indiana, Pennsylvania which is about an hour from Pittsburgh and I was part of the distance learning graduate program with the University of Alabama. I started the MLIS program at UA in 2019, shortly after I had completed my MA in English at the College of Charleston, and my focus was on archival studies. While working for the CSTS, I learned how to how to work with digital records and how to use the Omeka platform. I was glad to have the opportunities they provided, because they allowed me to add some practical skills to my education in LIS. After graduation, I plan to continue the job hunt while also working for my local historical society. In the future, I am thinking about attending a rare book school program as well as possibly pursuing a PhD.

Caleb Hendrix

Archivist, Alabama State University

• Medical Journal Editorship Collection

I am a graduate student in the Master of Library and Information Studies at the University of Alabama. I volunteered with the Birmingham Black Radio Museum (BBRM). As an art history undergraduate, I paired my curriculum on historical and artifactual analysis with hands-on curatorial experience working with the Paul R. Jones Museum and the UA Gallery where I had the opportunity to work with collectors and preservationists in the arrangement of cultural artifacts and artworks for public access.

As a part of my pursuit of practical experience as an MLIS student, I had the great opportunity to appraise, arrange, and describe records pertaining to health and the history of medicine and medical journalism working with the Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society (CSTS). At CSTS, I had the privileged of assisting with the Medical Journal Editorship Collection which documents Dr. Alan Blum’s time as editor of both the Medical Journal of Australia and the New York State Journal of Medicine and the making of the first-ever theme issues on the world tobacco pandemic.

Bradley Thorne

• Universities and Tobacco
• Women and Tobacco
• CSTS Oral Histories Collection

I attended the University of Alabama and earned a BA in 2017 in Interdisciplinary Studies with an emphasis in History. After completing my BA degree, I returned to the University of Alabama in August of 2018 to work on my MLIS degree with the intention of becoming an archivist. While interning at the Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society, I worked on the Universities and Tobacco and Women and Tobacco exhibits. I will graduate from the University of Alabama on April 30, 2021, with a MLIS degree.

Hannah Hurdle

Library E-Learning Specialist, University of Arkansas

• Touchdown Tobacco
• Kids, Candy, and Cigarettes

Hannah was the Center’s second intern and worked on several projects. She is presently the Library E-Learning Specialist at The University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

Mark Usry

Archivist, Zimmerman and Associates / Food and Drug Administration

• Silk Cut
• Museum Malignancy
• Baseball & Tobacco
• Makin’s of a Nation: Tobacco & World War I
• Alabama Tobacco Headlines Collection

Mark earned a Bachelors of Arts in History from the University of Alabama-Birmingham and a Master of Arts in History Jacksonville State University as well as a Masters in Library and Information Studies at the University of Alabama; and worked for eight years as a Substitute Teacher and as an Archival Assistant for The Birmingham Black Radio Museum.

Mark worked as an intern for the Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society during the Summer of 2019, where he assisted with the processing of materials, the digitization of documents and objects, and entering metadata with archival descriptions of materials for exhibitions.

He is currently the Subject Matter Expert/File Room Coordinator for Zimmerman Associates, Inc. and performs his duty for the FDA New England District Office in Stoneham, Massachusetts.