Multimedia Archives Internship

Description

Since its founding in 1978, Human Rights Watch (“HRW”) has produced and acquired hundreds of thousands of hours of multimedia content, including interviews, witness testimonials, and field footage shot by researchers, professional photographers and videographers all over the world. Our archive contains digital photographs, video, audio, microfilm, maps and graphics. HRW's media collection is active and growing, and is accessed on a daily basis by the multimedia production team and researchers to promote human rights worldwide.

The Multimedia department is seeking undergraduate and graduate students in library science, information science, audiovisual archiving and related fields to be Multimedia Archives interns for the summer 2013 semester. This program is designed for students interested in human rights work who hope to acquire training and hands-on experience in the field of audiovisual archiving, preservation, and digital asset management. Interns will inventory media assets and choose a collection of audiovisual media associated with one of Human Rights Watch's divisions or themes to research and archive. Interns will research, process, digitize and catalog this collection, taking ownership over the archiving process from beginning to end. Under the direct supervision of the Multimedia Manager, interns will build skills including video digitization, collection assessment, sorting, arrangement, rehousing and storage of assets, as well as cataloging of digital and physical collection items.

Ideally, the candidate will be available for a minimum of 15 - 20 hours per week, three days per week for a minimum of three months – timing can be flexible.

Internships are generally unpaid, although work-study funds are available. Students are often able to arrange academic credit, as HRW internships often offer direct exposure to the workings of an international human rights organization, close supervision by the HRW staff, interaction with other international organizations and foreign and domestic government officials, and opportunities to attend lectures, trainings, and special events relating to human rights. Students should check with their individual academic institutions for requirements.

Qualifications: The intern must be an enrolled student during the internship term. Applicants should be well-organized, self-motivated and reliable. Ideal candidates have an interest in human rights work, current events, archives, and preservation. Strong written and verbal communication skills are required, and some knowledge or experience using video production tools and/or working in a library or archive environment is a plus.

Applicants who are offered an internship, but who are not US permanent residents, US citizens, or in possession of a valid student visa, must apply for a J-1 visa through a sponsoring organization. This process can take several weeks and applicants will have to incur their own costs.

How to Apply: Please apply immediately by sending a letter of interest, resume, two names or letters of reference, and a brief, unedited writing sample (no calls or email inquiries, please) to commsinternships@hrw.org.  Please use “Archives Intern” as the subject of your email.  Only complete applications will be reviewed. Due to the large number of applications, only short-listed candidates will be contacted further.



Human Rights Watch is an equal opportunity employer that does not discriminate in its hiring practices and, in order to build the strongest possible workforce, actively seeks a diverse applicant pool.

Human Rights Watch is an international human rights monitoring and advocacy organization known for its in-depth investigations, its incisive and timely reporting, its innovative and high-profile advocacy campaigns, and its success in changing the human rights-related policies and practices of influential governments and international institutions.