Cal State LA’s Special Collections and Archives Student Assistant Program provides opportunities for Cal State LA students interested in the library science, archival and museum fields. Student assistants are paired with collections and projects related to their area of interest and field of study.

The program provides hands-on training in processing, digitization, reference, instruction, programming/outreach and curation. Student assistants work closely with Special Collections and Archives personnel to develop projects that align with their academic goals and interests. The program is centered on the department's commitment to student success and fostering curiosity in the archival profession. In addition to learning fundamental library tasks such as scanning, retrieving and re-shelving, data entry, and sorting, it is designed to allow students to participate in the department's broader strategic goals in the areas of collection development, instruction, and outreach.

Past and current assistants come from a range of interdisciplinary academic backgrounds: Art and Graphic Design, Art History, Computer Science, English, History, Anthropology, Communications, Latin American Studies, and Chicana/o and Latina/o Studies, among others. They have worked, taken courses or interned at a range of local and national museums, libraries, and cultural heritage institutions, including:

• The Getty Research Institute
• The Library of Congress
• The Los Angeles County Museum of Arts (LACMA)
• The Autry Museum
• The Museum of Social Justice
• The Heritage Square Museum
• The Southwest Museum of the American Indian
• The University of Chicago Library, Preservation Department
• California Rare Book School (CalRBS)
• The Rare Book School (RBS)
• The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles
• Gerth Archives & Special Collections, California State University, Dominguez Hills
• Henry Madden Library, Special Collections Research Center, california State University, Fresno

Application Process:

All applications must be submitted directly through Handshake. The position title is “Special Collections Assistant.” To be considered, you must include a cover letter indicating your interest and resume in addition to your application.

Cal State LA Special Collections and Archives offers students an opportunity to work with rare and unique materials, process collections, develop finding aids, curate digital exhibitions, and work on digital collections. We have partnered with Pasadena City College (PCC) for their Digitization Skills Internship, UCLA for their MLIS program, and USC for their MMLIS program to provide in-person and remote internship opportunities to students interested in the field of information.

Past Projects have included:

• Digitization of College/University Times Newspapers, Bookplate Collection, and Yearbooks from scanning materials using an overhead scanner to create a preservation and access file, creating metadata and uploading files to our repository.
• Transcription, indexing, and metdata creation for the Chinese American Oral History Project and Pandemic Diaries
• Cataloging and physical processing of the Mervyn M. Dymally Photograph Collection
• Curation of digital exhibits