Each year we ask our interns to write a post reflecting on their time working in the DH Lab. Here is Charlie’s post:
Being a DH intern has been one of the greatest opportunities I’ve ever had. It’s been my favourite job by far, always something new and exciting awaiting for me when I get in for my shift. I have been able to work on a range of projects from photography to audio editing. Coming from a photography background it was great to be able to use my skills in new ways and interact with the actual archival material. It is impossible to include all of the activities and great projects I’ve been involved with over the past nine months but here are some of the highlights.
To get us used to Lab 1, all of us interns began with the digitisation of Exeter theatre playbills. It helped me feel connected to the history of Exeter and I was excited to see this playbill advertising Henrik Ibsen’s play The Doll House which I studied for my international baccalaureate.
Using the same skills, I had the chance to photograph some of the Busy Bee collection. As an English literature student, it was wonderful to photograph these bound letters and as someone who still writes letters to people it led me to think about the importance of material culture and how special the written form is.
One of the great things about the Digital Humanities Lab in Exeter and Special Collections is their focus on Southwest archival material. I didn’t know about the mining culture and school that existed before taking photos of The Camborne School of Mines Magazine. I was able to go through the entire process of physical print to searchable PDF which as a student I know the value of. It’s fantastic to think I was behind a process which will allow future researchers to interact with them.
This internship came with lots of training in all parts of the digital humanities world. Having been a long-time fan of photography, it was great to see how photographic practices could be used in different ways to create 3D effects. I had never done photogrammetry or RTI before and I loved being able to experiment with new modes of creating photographs which are interactive and offer 3D applications.
Another great gem of the DH lab is the 3D printer and since being able to work with a 3D printer it is now one of my life goals to own my own. Using TinkerCad I was able to design and make two of my own creations including a Christmas tree decoration for DH as well as develop a column structure for a model of a globe I own. It was wonderful to see the real world (and fun) ways 3D printing can be used. When it came to open days, I loved talking visitors through the process of creating replicas of the votive of the lady, showing why the digital humanities is so important in maintaining culture and heritage. To see this get made into a greater project where I was able to create my own wax votive and be part of a widening tradition, seeing how each step came to be, felt incredibly special.
But my favourite project to be involved in was ‘Section 28 and its afterlives’. Working closely with Dr Chris Sandal-Wilson I edited interviews to create audio excerpts for the project’s website. Whilst this led to many hours being holed up in Lab 3 and becoming very familiar with Audacity, I loved listening to people’s experiences, and I loved the feeling of being part of something larger. I had never done audio editing before, but I was determined to learn as much as I could to create something that would continue on and have a legacy. It was great to then put my newly learned HTML skills to the test to put the audio excerpts on the website and be part of the decision-making process for the way the project moved forward. Whilst I’ve had a lot of fun, making and creating things for both me and as part of projects, this project brought home the value of the digital humanities and the important role it plays in maintaining and preserving history and culture.
This internship would never have been as good as it has been without the constant support and friendship from the amazing Digital Humanities team and my fellow interns. I will not only miss the work, I will miss banding together to listen to Cornish farmers from reel-to-reel tapes, hanging out in the breakout space over coffee even if we weren’t scheduled to work and sharing photos of when our photogrammetry processes didn’t go quite right. It’s sad to leave but I know there will be a new band of interns who get the fantastic chance to work as part of the best internship scheme!