American Numismatic Society Library Internship
Internships/Practicum – Spring 2013
The Library of the American Numismatic Society is conducting an inventory and
physical assessment of the holdings of its rare book room and is looking for interns to continue
this project for the Spring and early Summer 2013 semester to participate. This is a project
funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and must take place between
January – June 2013. Interns will receive a modest stipend at the end of completing their
internship. The project will focus on:
Assessing and describing bound materials housed within the rare book room.
Using a custom made inventory tool (in Access database format) to enter data about each
volume, including describing the materials from which they are composed and evaluating
damage and future risks to the materials.
Re-housing selected items in the rare book room
Required skills and/or coursework:
Must have taken or be enrolled in LIS 713 (Rare Books and Special Collections Librarianship)
or LIS 658 (History of the Book) or LIS 901 (Descriptive Bibliography & Rare Book
Cataloguing)
Must have some knowledge of basic bibliographic description and ability to describe bindings
and other components of bound volumes
Preferred skills and/or coursework:
Enrolled in the Rare Books and Special Collections Specialization
Taken LIS 657 (Introduction to Preservation)
A strong interest in bibliographic description and/or cataloging, particularly in rare books
Familiarity with RBMS standards and guidelines
All internships are:
Flexible with schedules but must take part during the Library’s scheduled hours of operation
(Monday – Friday, 9:30am – 4:30pm).
Hours are negotiable depending on number of credit hours required for academic credit and
the intern’s needs.
Interns are expected to treat the internship as a professional appointment by keeping to an
agreed up schedule and cooperatively participating in all activities of the library. Interns should
be able to commit to equivalent of a full day of work per week (or 2 half days).
HOW TO APPLY
Students should submit the following: a cover letter, current resume, and a list of library
and information science program coursework to date (does not need to be an official transcript).
Via email to:
Elizabeth Hahn, Librarian (hahn@numismatics.org)
Or by mail to:
Elizabeth Hahn, Librarian
American Numismatic Society
75 Varick Street, 11th Floor
New York, NY 10013
If deemed qualified for internship, applicants will be contacted for interview. If accepted
to the program, students, sponsoring librarian(s) and/or the student’s academic advisor (if
required by academic institution) will work together to negotiate terms of the internship and an
agreement and plan of action regarding goals and objectives, training program, schedule and
methodology for recording work accomplished and evaluation of the intern’s accomplishments.
ABOUT THE AMERICAN NUMISMATIC SOCIETY
The American Numismatic Society is an organization dedicated to the study of coins,
currency, medals, tokens, and related objects from all cultures, past and present. The Society's
headquarters in New York City has the foremost research collection and library specialized in
numismatics in the United States. These resources are used to support research and education in
numismatics, for the benefit of academic specialists, serious collectors, professional
numismatists, and the interested public.
The object and mission of the Society shall be the creation and maintenance of the
preeminent national institution advancing the study and public appreciation of coins, currency,
medals, orders and decorations, and related objects of all cultures as historical and artistic
documents and artifacts; by maintaining the foremost numismatic collection, museum, and
library; by supporting scholarly research and publications; and by sponsoring educational and
interpretive programs for diverse audiences.
ABOUT THE ANS LIBRARY
The Society's Library, which houses one of the world's most comprehensive collections
of numismatic literature, presently numbers some 100,000 items. These include books,
periodicals, manuscripts, photographs, pamphlets, auction catalogs, and microforms, all of which
are cataloged.
In addition to numismatic works, the Library includes a strong reference collection and a
wide selection of non-numismatic periodicals in the areas of archaeology, art history, economic
history and other disciplines.
LIBRARY COLLECTIONS
The Library maintains a core collection of the early works on numismatics as well as the
key numismatic references published over the centuries. The Library collections do not have
geographical or chronological limitations and many of these works have come from the private
numismatic libraries of distinguished numismatists and collectors, including those of Edgar H.
Adams, William S. Appleton, Harry W. Bass, David M. Bullowa, John S. Davenport, Archer M.
Huntington, Richard Hoe Lawrence, George C. Miles, Edward T. Newell, Daniel Parish and
Isaac F. Wood.
Some 267 current periodical titles - many dealing with the related fields of archaeology,
economic history, and art history - are received, and 130 dealers regularly send their auction
catalogs and fixed price lists to the Library. On average, the Library acquires some 600 books,
200 pamphlets, 800 periodical issues, 350 auction catalogs, and 325 fixed price lists annually.
For the past several years, the Library has cataloged approximately 5000 items annually.
The Library acquires materials in most formats, including monographs, periodicals,
manuscripts, archives, photographs, pamphlets, audio-visual materials, microforms, prints and
other works on paper, machine-readable records (online and CD- ROM), and selected
memorabilia.