Tag Archives: Internships

ʻUluʻulu has been brimming with interns lately! We are lucky that this Spring Semester we have both Kimo and now, our first Library and Information Sciences intern in several years, Kate Marsi! We’re doing our usual welcome interview with Kate a little late in the semester, but we still have a few months left with her and still want you to know about her. Read more about Kate’s experience with us, below.

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Tell us a little about yourself, Kate.

I am currently in my second year of the LIS program, and am studying in the archives and special collections pathway. Before entering the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Library and Information Sciences program, I received my BA in East Asian Humanities from San Francisco State University and worked in education in the states of California and Washington. I am the student assistant du jour with the Jean Charlot Collection at Hamilton Library, and I aspire to continue to work in art libraries, museum archives, and other special collections after graduating from the program. I read ravenously, adore cinema, traveling, and fashion. I enjoy cooking and hosting dinner parties, and occasionally rec dive with my husband.

What brought you here to ‘Ulu‘ulu? What are some of the things you’re hoping to learn during your internship with us?

I took the course, “Moving Image Archives”, that Janel taught over the summer, and it left me wanting to learn more and take on some hands-on experience of working with film processing and preservation. I am hoping to learn more about handling and processing film, as well as how moving image archives systems differ from more “traditional” archives. 

What projects are you working on at ‘Ulu‘ulu?

I am currently doing a good deal of work with the Hawaiʻi Home Movies Collection. I have been working on quality control of access files for newly digitized materials, and assisting with inventory, inspection, and condition reporting of two boxes of film from another family that has donated home movies to the collection.

Is there anything about the items you are working with that is surprising or unexpected?

When handling film in person, I was not ready for the realities of degrading film. I have had the pleasure of processing some yucky papers with my work at Jean Charlot, but the smell of vinegar syndrome and film decay was a massive shock. Definitely not a smell I will ever forget. On a less gross-out note, I have enjoyed the unexpected reality of being able to see these vignettes of everyday life in Hawaiʻi while working with the Hawaiʻi Home Movies Collection. 

Now that  you’ve been at the archive for a little while now, have you found a favorite aspect?

I have really enjoyed processing the Wadsworth collection. It has allowed me to get hands on, and become familiar with the different formats of film and see first hand how to determine a film reel’s condition when it arrives at the archive. 

Do you have any advice for future ‘Uluʻulu interns or fellows?

Kate decided to wait on this until she made it further into the semester. We’re counting on her to double back and fill us in. Check back with us, later!