Madison Community Cooperative - Archives Intern

Co-op / Organization: 
Madison Community Cooperative
Location: 
Madison, WI
Type of Organization: 
Housing
Brief Description of Organization: 

Our mission is to improve the Madison community by providing low-cost, not-for-profit cooperative housing for very low to moderate-income people and to be inclusive of underrepresented and marginalized groups of the community.

Website: 
http://madisoncommunity.coop/
Number of Members: 
200
Number of Staff: 
5
Dress Code: 
Casual
Internship Position Title: 
Archives Intern
Internship Position Duties: 
Are you interested in cooperative history? Might you enjoy digging through old stuff in a basement as part of your summer? Do you want to explore Madison, Wisconsin with one of the largest community housing co-op organizations in the universe as your home base?

In this position, you will...
  • Make an inventory of MCC’s physical archives.
  • Evaluate materials to recommend as priorities for digitization and/or of special interest to the historical record.
  • Scan materials; record alumni contact information where present; upload and organize files in Google Drive.
  • Research methods to store files securely and make them easily accessible for co-op members and others.
  • Design a way to share what interesting stuff you found in the archives (online exhibit? in-person presentation? zine? etc.)
  • (If time and resources allow) Participate in initial planning process for an oral history project on Madison cooperatives.
  • (If time and resources allow) Research holdings in Wisconsin Historical Society and UW-Madison Archives related to MCC.
Position Training: 
  • Ongoing communication with MCC officers and staff, who will share about MCC’s history and current operations.
  • Introduction to the Madison InfoShop, a collectively organized free library/archives hosted in our office space.
  • Informational meetings with representatives of other Madison cooperatives about their archival practices.
  • Training on operation of scanner equipment.
Skills Development & Learning: 
  • Archival inventory, digitization, and presentation
  • Primary-source research
  • Stories from co-op elders
Other details of working conditions: 
When working in our shared office space with several computers, some coordination with other staff will be necessary.
Compensation ($): 
Interns will receive room/board for hours up to 15, and $12.85/hr after that.
Is Room Included?: 
Yes
Working Hours: 
Very flexible
Total Hours of Work Per Week: 
25-30