Please
note: No financial assistance, housing, or travel
are provided as part of this opportunity. Students
are responsible for making their own arrangements.
ABS
Project List - 2007
Not
all projects are available all weeks.
Some projects require special skills and requirements.
PROJECT
TITLE:
Assessing
the Value of a Science Publication
PROJECT
DESCRIPTION:
The
Institution publishes information about erupting
volcanoes in what is currently called the Bulletin
of the Global Volcanism Network. This is available
both in black-and-white as a paper copy, and as
a pdf file, and it forms a key part of our website
where it is typically described as an 'activity
report.' We would like to find ways to evaluate
the impact of the Bulletin on scientists and research.
The process is complicated by the fact that the
name of the publication has changed several times
since it began in 1968. Furthermore, the publication
is 'gray literature' that often gets cited in
differing ways in various publications. We are
also uncertain whether investigators are clearly
citing the data obtained from our website. Still,
we'd like to explore how we might establish a
reasonable estimate of our "citation index."
Perhaps there are other indices that come into
play in cases like this, in which case, we would
like to learn more about the options for evaluating
this publication.
In
addition, various experiments and comparative
tests can be made using citation indexing techniques.
If time is available, the student may wish to
explore some of these.
Another related publication that we support, Weekly
Reports on active volcanoes might also be the
subject of a similar evaluation (that publication
is just a few years old and only web based).
The
results of these efforts will bear upon our planning,
direction, and strategy. How important is our
work in current research and for future assessments
and understanding of planet Earth?
QUALIFICATIONS
/ REQUIREMENTS:
TIMETABLE:
CONTACT
Staff
Sponsor:
Rick Wunderman
|
Phone:
202-633-1827
|
E-mail:
rwunder@volcano.si.edu
|
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PROJECT
TITLE:
Discovery Room Collections
PROJECT
DESCRIPTION:
The intern will organize and catalogue the collection
of the Museum's Discovery Room as well as identify
unknown objects utilizing the expertise available
from the Museum's research and collections staff.
The Discovery Room is a unique educational facility
for families and students. The room features activities
using real Museum objects and interactive, hands-on
experiences that allow visitors to explore the
natural world at their own pace, guided by their
own interests and sense of wonder. The Discovery
Room serves two primary audiences: families and
school groups. Activities in the room for the
families (during public hours) and school groups
(during reserved times) are designed and developed
by museum staff and incorporate objects from the
Discovery Room collection. The Discovery Room
collection is comprised of about 1,000 objects
representing anthropology, botany, entomology,
invertebrate zoology, mineral sciences, paleobiology
and vertebrate zoology (birds, fishes, mammals,
reptiles and amphibians). The objects are deaccessioned,
gifts or purchased items. Not all the objects
are catalogued and not all the objects have been
identified.
QUALIFICATIONS:
Undergraduate or graduate students in science
or museum studies or graduated students with a
minimum of a bachelor's degree and experience
in the fields of science or museum studies. Applicants
should have an interest in science and museum
studies; excellent organizational and cataloging
skills; good communication skills and computer
skills; ability and interest in working with collections;
be a self-starter and work independently.
TIMETABLE:
STATUS:
All positions have now been filled. We are no
longer accepting new applications for this project.
CONTACT
Name:
Amy Bolton
|
Phone:
(202-633-1071
|
E-mail:
boltonam@si.edu |
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PROJECT
TITLE:
Database management for the
Plant Conservation Unit
PROJECT
DESCRIPTION:
The Plant Conservation Unit of the Department
of Botany maintains reprints of scientific literature
related to the conservation of plant species.
The intern will catalogue and database the reprints
using ProCite (bibliography computer program),
and organize the reprints in file cabinets. The
Plant Conservation Unit also maintains a database
of U.S. National Herbarium plant specimens that
is being used to assess the conservation status
of plant species. The intern will work with the
head of the Plant Conservation Unit on correcting
species names and making the database suitable
for analysis.
QUALIFICATIONS:
Experience using Microsoft Excel.
TIMETABLE:
CONTACT
Name:
Gary Krupnick
|
Phone:
202-633-0940
|
E-mail:
krupnickg@si.edu |
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PROJECT
TITLE:
Contributions
to the U.S. National Herbarium: two projects
PROJECT
DESCRIPTION:
Botany
Maps: The Department of Botany has a collection
of over 10,000 maps dating from the 1860s to the
present. Volunteer help has been organizing the
maps, photographing them and entering them into
a database. Depending on the student's skills
and interests, s/he would assist in identifying
obscure maps, photographing maps, editing the
photos, entering information about the maps into
the database and/or cleaning up the database code
and web interface. The database is written in
Microsoft Access and its primary user interface
is in ColdFusion / HTML / SQL.
Ethnobotany
Research: The Department of Botany is studying
the ethnobotany of the border regions of the United
States and Mexico, using historical specimens
in the United States National Herbarium. A preliminary
step is to ascertain all available published,
archival and online resources associated with
the collecting of ethnobotanist Edward Palmer,
the government funded Mexican Boundary Survey
(1852-1855) and International Boundary Commission
(1911). The Spring Break student would assist
the project researcher is assembling and organizing
these references and, if time permits, begin the
task of extracting specific botanical and ethnobotanical
data from these references.
QUALIFICATIONS
/ REQUIREMENTS:
No
specific experience or academic requirements required
for either project.
TIMETABLE:
CONTACT
Staff
Sponsor:
Rusty Russell
|
Phone:
202-633-0943
|
E-mail:
russellr@si.edu
|
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PROJECT
TITLE:
Botany of the United States
Exploring Expedition: 1838-1842
PROJECT
DESCRIPTION:
Interns will have an opportunity to work directly
with historic specimens, assist in the conservation
effort, help to organize an enormous amount of
data, and perform library and archives research.
The U.S. National Herbarium is in the third year
of a multi-year project to locate, organize and
conserve the historic plant collections of the
U.S. Exploring Expedition (1838-1842) under the
command of Lt. Charles Wilkes. Because the approximately
10,000 specimens are stored in the collection
according to the plant identification, the entire
herbarium must be searched in order to locate
these important specimens. With the assistance
of published reports and archives documents, we
are enhancing the collection data for each specimen
and preparing a comprehensive publication on the
Botany of the U.S. Exploring Expedition.
Safety
Note: One reason the conservation effort is so
critical is that many of the specimens have deteriorated
due to historic treatments of mercuric chloride.
This compound not only affects the specimen, but
continues to generate mercury gasses at extremely
low levels. The original studies into the effect
of these compounds on historic specimens has been
conducted at the Smithsonian. We have conducted
over four years of sophisticated testing to insure
the safety and health of all those who work with
our collections.
QUALIFICATIONS:
Must have a strong interest in working directly
with museum collections, especially with regard
to botanical specimens. Must possess strong research
skills. Must be able to work independently and
demonstrate a commitment to achieving project
goals. Must be detail oriented and highly motivated.
Careful handling MUST be applied in working with
fragile, historical specimens. Knowledge of Microsoft
Excel and Microsoft Access a plus. A minimum of
10 hours per week is required. Individuals best
suited to the project are eager to search for
'buried' specimens, patient when they don't find
them, and possess a sense of humor.
TIMETABLE:
Indefinite
AWARD
PACKAGE:
None
CONTACT
Name:
Rusty Russell
|
Phone:
202-633-0943
|
E-mail:
russellr@si.edu |
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PROJECT
TITLE:
Human Studies
Film Archives, Museum Support Center
PROJECT
DESCRIPTION:
Student would work with HSFA staff to design an
accession register database based on criteria
developed by HSFA staff. Student will enter at
least one year's worth of accessions as a test
for the effectiveness of the database.
QUALIFICATIONS
/ REQUIREMENTS:
Experience using Microsoft Excel a must. Knowledge
of database functions and design a plus. Knowledge
of Filemaker Pro a bonus!!
TIMETABLE:
CONTACT
Staff
Sponsor:
Pam Wintle
|
Phone:
301-238-1324
|
E-mail:
wintlep@si.edu
|
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PROJECT
TITLE:
Archiving
and document scanning and database management
for the Wilson Copepod Library
PROJECT
DESCRIPTION:
We seek an intern to use our high speed scanner
to scan and archive copepod information cards.
The scanner scans both sides of the card, create
and then saves a .jpg file. This file is then
renamed following a specific protocol and attached
to an Access database. The Wilson Copepod Library
was started in the late 1800's by Charles B. Wilson,
and is the largest collection of literature dealing
with the crustacean group known as copepods in
the world. One of the unique features of this
library is the copepod species 3x5 card collection
of approximately 40,000 cards. There is a card
for every known genus and species including synonyms.
Each card records who published on the species,
the year and what pages referenced this species.
It is an invaluable resource, with many cards
over 100 years old, these cards have been added
to and maintained up to the present. Many of the
older cards are becoming brittle and worn and
this resource needs to be digitized and converted
to jpg's. This unique collection will then be
made available on the web at the World
of Copepods. The library also has many very
old books and papers that need to be placed in
archival Mylar envelopes, labeled and filed back
into the collection, some of the more delicate
older publications will need to be scanned before
deterioration of the paper results in its loss.
At the end of the project the Genera database
on the web will be updated with these pdf files
making the information available to all researchers
in the world. Credit for this work will result
with the student name appearing on the World of
Copepod web site.
QUALIFICATIONS
/ REQUIREMENTS:
Student should have basic know of the database
Access and or Excel, an interest in archival processing,
and electronic record management. Knowledge in
web development would be helpful but not required.
TIMETABLE:
CONTACT
Staff
Sponsor:
T. Chad Walter
|
Phone:
202-633-0677
|
E-mail:
walterc@si.edu
|
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PROJECT
TITLE:
Wield the
Power of RSS
PROJECT
DESCRIPTION:
The
RSS, the Really Simple Syndication XML format
is among the fastest growing internet technologies
to distribute, expose, and share online information.
It is also growing as one of the best ways to
promote museum websites and dynamically changing
and rich museum web content. The NMNH Web Branch
seeks to take advantage of the established RSS
technologies and utilize its power and trend in
support of the new NMNH Web Site which is about
to be launched in the Spring of 2006 as well as
for the promotion of existing websites, exhibits,
and other promotional venues. The technical focus
of this opportunity is to work with the NMNH IT
Web Branch and/or internal content providers and
web managers to develop and implement the required
RSS XML templates, usage standards, guidelines,
and documentation for multiple museum RSS feeds
through which to distribute and promote museum
information. If necessary, this opportunity would
require ample research (if not already known)
into RSS industry standards and best practices
from which the museum can take full advantage.
Since the NMNH web sphere is emerging deeper into
the Smithsonian's utilization of Interwoven TeamSite/OpenDeploy,
our Web Content Management (WCM) system, this
internship opportunity also offers the advantage
of gaining valuable experience by working with
a powerful and industry standard, enterprise wide
WCM.
QUALIFICATIONS
/ REQUIREMENTS:
This
opportunities best suited for candidates with
basic or advanced levels of web development and
especially those with a good or aspiring understanding
of XML and RSS and those that are interested in
working within an industry standard WCM. Moreover,
good communication skills, dynamic initiative,
creativity, and thorough follow-up with solid
documentation skills would also be important to
find success with this opportunity.
TIMETABLE:
CONTACT
Staff
Sponsor:
Dennis Hasch
|
Phone:
202-633-0848
|
E-mail:
haschd@si.edu
|
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PROJECT
TITLE:
Power to
the Podcasters!
PROJECT
DESCRIPTION:
Podcasting,
like RSS (Really Simple Syndication), is among
the fastest growing internet audio visual technologies
to syndicate and distribute online information.
Likewise, it is growing as one of the best ways
to promote museum events and dynamically changing
and rich audio and video museum content. NMNH
seeks to take advantage of established Podcast
technologies and inexpensive tools to utilize
its power and trend in support of the new NMNH
Web Site which is about to be launched in the
Spring of 2006 as well as for the promotion of
museum events, new exhibits, online websites,
and other museum promotional venues. The technical
focus of this opportunity is to work with the
NMNH IT Web Branch and/or internal content providers
and web managers to develop and implement an easy-to-use
Podcast toolbox, establish usage standards, audio
encoding guidelines, and documentation for multiple
and/or custom museum Podcast feeds through which
to distribute and promote museum audio or visual
information. If necessary, this opportunity would
require ample research (if not already known)
into Podcast standards and best practices from
which the museum can take full advantage. Since
the NMNH web sphere is emerging deeper into the
Smithsonian's utilization of Interwoven TeamSite/OpenDeploy,
our Web Content Management (WCM) system, this
internship opportunity also offers the advantage
of gaining valuable experience by working with
a powerful and industry standard, enterprise wide
WCM.
QUALIFICATIONS
/ REQUIREMENTS:
This
opportunities best suited for candidates with
basic or advanced levels of audio and video web
development and especially those with a good or
aspiring understanding of Podcast technologies
and associated encoding and RSS formats, and those
that are interested in working within an industry
standard WCM. Moreover, good communication skills,
dynamic initiative, creativity, and thorough follow-up
with solid documentation skills would also be
important to find success with this opportunity.
TIMETABLE:
CONTACT
Staff
Sponsor:
Dennis Hasch
|
Phone:
202-633-0848
|
E-mail:
haschd@si.edu
|
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PROJECT
TITLE:
Fantastic
Flash Development and Educational Flash Interactives
PROJECT
DESCRIPTION:
Flash
has been called the industry standard for creating
high-impact interactive web presentations, and
this description fits well for many museum virtual
efforts, online exhibits, and educational and
informative interactives. As with other museums
and public educational institutions, the use of
Flash at NMNH has paralleled the industry trends.
This Flash based internship opportunity offers
2 optional directions:
a)
The firsts is to work with the NMNH IT Web Branch
or NMNH Content Providers and implement a small
collection of Flash based applications that use
the "scribble" coloring book Flash interactive
application technology, which basically allows
web users to color or draw on a selection of images.
The Smithsonian has complete usage rights to these
tools and various implementations are already
in use at a few other Smithsonian museums. Specifically,
the intern(s) would assist in choosing and editing
optimal natural history related images (dinosaurs,
gems, animals, plants, etc.), work with Flash
and code configurations, upload, test, and document
the steps and procedures. An example of the "Scribble"
Flash application can be seen in use at the Smithsonian's
Postal Museum: http://www.postalmuseum.si.edu/activity/coloraway/index.html.
b)
The second opportunity is to develop a less specific
Flash based interactive that would allow the intern
to come up with and implement his or her own idea
for an educational or edutainment oriented Flash
interactive that makes innovative use of our rich
online educational and collections content.
QUALIFICATIONS
/ REQUIREMENTS:
These
opportunities are best suited for candidates with
basic or advanced levels of Flash experience,
but aspiring Flash developers are also welcome.
Moreover, good communication skills, dynamic initiative,
creativity, and thorough follow-up with reasonable
documentation would also be important to find
success with these opportunities.
TIMETABLE:
CONTACT
Staff
Sponsor:
Dennis Hasch
|
Phone:
202-633-0848
|
E-mail:
haschd@si.edu
|
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PROJECT
TITLE:
Internal
Navigation and Emerging Cascading Style Sheet
(CSS) Development
PROJECT
DESCRIPTION:
NMNH
is among the largest and most complex museums
in the world. As the Web Branch moves forward
to support the web and online needs of our web
visitors and professional associates, we also
must provide an efficient internal (intranet)
web presence to meet the growing needs of internal
communication and information sharing. Traditionally,
the museum intranet space as been a disparate
collection of various office and departmental
spaces without a necessary logical structure that
supports the internal museum structure. Efforts
to consolidate our intranet resources into the
Smithsonian's enterprise wide web content management
system (WCM) are already underway. The Smithsonian
uses Interwoven TeamSite/OpenDeploy among the
most powerful and industry standard WCM systems.
The focus of this opportunity is to work with
the NMNH IT Web Branch and internal content providers
to build and implement a more solid navigational
foundation and structure for museum internal resources
within the Intranet WCM and assist in the migration
of disparate intranet content sources into the
new proposed structure and system. Because new
NMNH Intranet efforts are moving to CSS functionality,
it will also be important to implement a dynamic
and changeable format for the navigation that
takes advantage of style sheet functionality,
from which the NMNH Web Branch has already started
to build and manage.
QUALIFICATIONS
/ REQUIREMENTS:
This
opportunities best suited for candidates with
basic or advanced levels of web development and
especially those with a good understanding of
CSS and those that are interested in working within
an industry standard WCM. Moreover, good communication
skills, dynamic initiative, creativity, and thorough
follow-up with reasonable documentation would
also be important to find success with these opportunities.
TIMETABLE:
CONTACT
Staff
Sponsor:
Dennis Hasch
|
Phone:
202-633-0848
|
E-mail:
haschd@si.edu
|
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PROJECT
TITLE:
Museum Specimen
Web Development
PROJECT
DESCRIPTION:
The student will gain experience with the Smithsonian’s
new Research and Collections Information System
(KE EMu), and asssist with testing of intranet
and internet query and display functions for collections
data from several departments, particularly in
the life sciences. Project includes testing of
data field mapping and proper data output from
simple and complex searches, in line with specifications
from each department.
QUALIFICATIONS
/ REQUIREMENTS:
Students with a background in biodiversity or
other nautural history subjects, and with some
experience in web development are encouraged to
participate.
TIMETABLE:
CONTACT
Staff
Sponsor:
Tom Hollowell
|
Phone:
202-633-0849
|
E-mail:
hollowellt@si.edu
|
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PROJECT
TITLE:
Archiving
Crustacean Images
PROJECT
DESCRIPTION:
The intern will: scan crustacean line drawings
and photographs, along with some photographic
negatives and text plates, for archival and permanent
storage purposes; digital images edited using
Adobe Photoshop photo-editing program; Images
saved as TIFF files at high resolution (mostly
600 DPI); TIFF files arranged in an organized
fashion in designated subdirectory on computer;
completed digital files burned onto CD for permanent
storage; CD's
properly labeled and organized
QUALIFICATIONS
/ REQUIREMENTS:
Computer skills: file management and organization;
burning files to CD. Basics of image scanning
(helpful, but not totally necessary). Experience
with Adobe Photoshop or any other photo-editing
program. Independent
worker.
TIMETABLE:
STATUS:
All positions have now been filled. We are no
longer accepting new applications for this project.
CONTACT
Staff
Sponsor:
Rafael Lemaitre
|
Phone:
202-633-0667
|
E-mail:
lemaitrr@si.edu
|
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PROJECT
TITLE:
Documenting
Museum History: our longest resident scholar
PROJECT
DESCRIPTION:
Who is Smithsonian's longest resident scholar
at natural history? We think we know but the first
part of this project is to do a little investigative
research, talking to our senior staff to determine
who's been around the longest. This project involves
interviewing senior staff and then writing an
article (or two) about our longest resident. The
article may be featured on the Natural History
web site as well as in our newsletters.
QUALIFICATIONS
/ REQUIREMENTS:
Interest in learning about early history of our
Museum, interviewing techniques, plus writing
skills to interestingly and accurately recount
the stories told by our senior staff.
TIMETABLE:
CONTACT
Staff
Sponsor:
Mary Sangrey
|
Phone:
202-633-4548
|
E-mail:
sangreym@si.edu
|
Logistics
Questions
How
do you apply for the Alternative Spring
Break Program?
Students
interested in participating in the ABS
should contact (e-mail) the person listed
as the ""Staff Sponsor"
for the project they are most interested
in working on. Include in your e-mail
the name of the project you're interested
in, the dates of your spring break, and
your academic background including any
experience relevant to the project selected.
How will students be selected?
Students
selected for participation will receive
a confirmation e-mail from the project
Staff Sponsor.
How many students will be selected?
Each
week of spring break no more than 12 students
will be selected for participation in
the program.
Where will students report on the first
day of the week? Do you have advice or
directions for how to get there?
Students
selected for participation will report
to the National Museum of Natural History
(10th Street and Constitution Avenue,
NW) Constitution Avenue Lobby. Have a
security officer call Mary Sangrey (633-4548)
who will meet them in the lobby.
What time should students arrive on the
first day? And what will be their regular
working hours?
Monday
at 9:00 a.m. is preferred arrival. Regular
work hours are 8:45 a.m. to 5:15 p.m.
After selected and reporting for the first
day, whom should students ask for?
Mary
Sangrey, 202-633-4548
What sort of attire should students wear
throughout the week?
Work
dress is casual attire. Anything easy
to work in is best. (yes, jeans are fine).
