CERL Internship and Placement Grants 2017/18

CERL would like to offer up to three 2017/2018 Internship and Placement Grants, to the value of 1,000 Euros each, to allow qualified librarians and scholars to work on CERL projects in CERL libraries, or in CERL offices, and to be trained on CERL databases, generally for a period of one month.

In particular, CERL is looking to support people new to the profession, whether in librarianship or in academia, and to facilitate international mobility.

CERL asked its member libraries to propose projects suitable to the CERL Grant. Applicants may apply to these, or suggest a different proposal in agreement with another host library, which must itself be a member of CERL. The internship should take place within the period January-September 2018.

This grant can only be assigned once to the same person. Applications not selected but positively vetted will be notified that they can be put in again for the next round.

A written report for the CERL webpage and Newsletter, and/or a presentation in person will be expected at the end of the internship/placement.

AMSTERDAM, RIJKSMUSEUM RESEARCH LIBRARY
The Rijksmuseum Research Library offers a project to re-catalogue its approximately 350 pre-1601 printed books. Most catalogue entries date from the late 1930’s and urgently need updating. The aim is to connect the records of the books with the early-title catalogues (Universal Short Title Catalogue USTC, Short Title Catalogue Netherlands STCN, English Short Title Catalogue ESTC, Short Title Catalogus Vlaanderen STCV).

CAMBRIDGE, UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
Cambridge UL incunabula were catalogued online as part of a Mellon-funded project. 3989 records have been uploaded onto MEI in October 2017 and now need to be brought in line with MEI (creation of multiple provenance blocks, geographical and chronological marking). The intern would work under the supervision and with the support of the rare books team.

Requirements for the intern: - palaeographical skills - knowledge of rare books, preferably incunabula and analytical bibliography; - knowledge of Latin and English

EDINBURGH, NATIONAL LIBRARY OF SCOTLAND
The National Library of Scotland has a collection of over 600 incunabula. The majority of these were transferred from the Library of the Faculty of Advocates in 1925 but the National Library has added a significant number since its foundation. The Advocates Library acquired its first incunabula in 1695 and had acquired well over 100 by the early 19th century. Acquisition continued through the 19th century and into the 20th, aided at the National Library by a dedicated book purchase fund that allowed for considerable additions.

Now that the collection has been catalogued in the Library’s online catalogue the Library is keen to have the provenance and other copy-specific data added to MEI to widen scholarly access to this collection. Though much of the collection’s provenance has already been recorded in the Library’s catalogue there remain opportunities for a scholar with experience of 15th and 16th-century hands to improve on existing, and discover new, provenance entries. The Library is willing to match the €1000 offered by CERL, to extend the work on the collection.

The intern would work under the supervision and with the support of Robert Betteridge and Anette Hagan.

Requirements for the intern: - palaeographical skills - knowledge of rare books, preferably incunabula and analytical bibliography; - knowledge of Latin and English

EDINBURGH, UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
Cataloguing incunabula in MEI.

Requirements for the intern: - palaeographical skills - knowledge of rare books, preferably incunabula and analytical bibliography; - knowledge of Latin and English

YALE, BEINECKE LIBRARY – two internships
Yale has a collection of more than 3600 incunabula (with about 300 of those at the Medical Historical Library and nearly 100 at the Law School), whose catalogue records vary in detail. Yale Library began to collect incunabula systematically in the 1920s and 1930s, a collecting interest that seems to coincide with the activities of Yale printers like Carl Purington Rollins, 1920 Hon. The acquisition of the Melk copy of the Gutenberg Bible, the gift of Mr. Edward S. Harkness in memory of Mrs. Stephen V. Harkness, in 1926 further inspired collecting in this area. Important additions to the holdings of incunabula and early printing were made by Louis Rabinowitz, Harold Hugo, 1963 Hon., Frank Altschul, 1908, and Edwin J. Beinecke, 1907, with an emphasis on collecting rare and unusual presses and on documenting the spread of printing in the early period. The holdings are strong in Greek and Latin classics, Italian humanist literature, historical texts, biblical literature and exegesis, and Hebrew printing. More recent areas of concentration are secular vernacular texts, illustrated books, and works by fifteenth-century authors. Copies in early bindings, notably a large group in German monastic bindings, or with evidence of early readership or provenance are prominent in the collection and in current collecting. Italian, German, and French imprints constitute the largest portion of the collection, but English and Spanish presses are well represented. The Beinecke's record of early printing in England is augmented by the extensive holdings of books printed by William Caxton, Wynkyn de Worde, and Richard Pynson held by the Yale Center for British Art.

The intern/s will catalogue incunabula in MEI, preferably during the period of June and July 2018.

The Library will provide matching funds, to extend the work on the collection, plus cover travel costs to New Haven. Non-US nationals will have to apply for a visa, for which the library will provide assistance.

The intern would work under the supervision and with the support of Ray Clemens and Todd Fell.

Requirements for the intern: - palaeographical skills - knowledge of rare books, preferably incunabula and analytical bibliography - knowledge of Latin and English

Your application should include a CV (maximum two pages) and a covering letter. This should outline preference of destination, preference of research project, or collections to work on, your suitability for the internship, your reasons for the application, and the name of one referee who can be contacted by CERL.

If the applicant is employed by an institution, the consent of the institution should be included.

Deadline: 21 January 2018. Please email the application to secretariat@cerl.org.