The Bodleian Library

Kathryn Peak,St Cross College,Second Year DPhil,DPhil English Literature, Remote and In-person Working

Work Projects

Over several weeks before the internship began, I worked with the two curators of medieval manuscripts to put together a programme of activities and tasks. They were flexible in suggesting activities while allowing me to tailor the programme to my future career aspirations. I want to become an academic librarian, so we planned for me to research two manuscripts and write new catalogue entries for them, to learn the mark-up language so that I could place the new entries in the on-line repository, to write some educational materials based on one of the catalogue entries which could be used by the Bodleian Education Outreach team, and to publicise the internship through blogging and social media.

With lots of remote meetings (and a few meetings in person) I had plenty of support from Bodleian staff to complete almost everything on the programme. I did receive training on GitHub and Oxygen, the repository and editing software. Within the four weeks I researched and wrote two catalogue entries (with revisions and rewrites based on feedback from the curators), wrote a worksheet for the education team, tweeted extensively during the four weeks and raised the profile of the internship, and received technical training on the online catalogue. I attended a major virtual conference presented by the Bodleian on the past, present, and future of libraries. I also had many meetings and tours of departments within the Bodleian, and also with curators and librarians in some of the Oxford college libraries, which took up quite a lot of time, but undoubtedly enriched the internship significantly.

Daily Life

The internship was conducted as a combination of remote working and working in the Weston Library. I had remote meetings with my two supervisors at the start of my internship, to receive an induction, learn more about the library, its history and activities, and plan the activities for my first few days. This set the pattern for many days to come. I had plenty of remote meetings with the two curators of medieval manuscripts, as well as with other Bodleian and college library staff. I combined this with working from home on research and writing projects, assisted enormously because the two manuscripts I worked on were both fully digitised.

As I have caring responsibilities, this also meant that I could fit family commitments around my work, for instance taking time out late afternoon and then continuing to work later in the evening. I then spent two or three days a week commuting to Oxford to work in the Weston Library, researching manuscripts. I coincided these trips with face to face meetings. When in Oxford and the weather was good enough, I sometimes met with Bodleian staff for lunch outside. Staff were very welcoming, and it was a good way to learn more about library careers and the routines of the library, as well as learning how the Bodleian has adapted during the pandemic.

Lasting Impressions

I enjoyed my internship enormously. Staff supervising me and those I met with were all very welcoming, supportive, and happy to answer questions. That said, it was also a real challenge, and I felt that it forced me to think more carefully about my practices with manuscript research. I gained a great deal from the experience. It has raised the standard of my research and has given me many insights into working in both large and small libraries and working with special collections and modern library resources.

I made a point of asking everyone I met with what advice they would give to someone looking to go into a career in librarianship. I got many different answers to the question, but I did see patterns develop in the answers people gave, and along the way was directed to lots of career resources. The experience has confirmed my career ambitions. I went into the internship thinking that librarianship was an option for me and ended it with the belief that this is the sector I want to work in once I have completed my studies.