2020 Internship Blog Post #12

         This week, I am still unable to go into UCF Special Collections and University Archives. I have since emailed Ms. Mundy and purchased a voice recorder to record the oral history interview. However, I have not received an email back from her yet. I have still been working on creating questions just in case Ms. Mundy does get back to me via email and wants to do the oral history interview for hours towards my internship. I will submit them to my supervisor and my professor Dr. French for approval once they are completed. However, I was hoping to hear back from Ms. Mundy first. I will still submit my questions even if I don’t hear back from her.
            On another note, as I mentioned in last week’s post, I was given another assignment to assist in finishing out the rest of my internship hours. I am assisting with the STARS website, which means I am working on the Historic Building Tour of buildings that belong to the University of Central Florida. I have been working on creating an Excel spread sheet that covers all the buildings, if they are already on the STARS website, containing the information on each page for each building on the website, such as architect, citations, and square feet. When I was originally given this project, I found what I was supposed to do somewhat unclear even after reading the directions. However, I have been in conversation via email and via phone with the supervisor who is in charge of the STARS project at UCF Special Collections and University Archives. The supervisor who is in charge of STARS is a different supervisor than I have been working with on processing the Carol Mundy Research Files. Once all of the more technical aspects with the Excel sheet is completed, I will write a few paragraphs about a building that is not currently on the STARS website for the database. I am currently thinking about writing on Health Sciences Building II or the new Trevor Colbourn Hall. My only hesitation about writing on Trevor Colbourn Hall is that because it is such a new building, there is very little information at the UCF Archives for me to use to write the historical note on the building. It’s a very interesting project and a digital tool that is very useful. For those doing research or just trying to learn more about the history of our campus, the STARS website is an amazing digital tool, as more buildings continue to be added to it, modified, and changed. I am extremely happy and excited to be able to have the opportunity to be a part of this project. I am so thankful for being given this assignment to assist with. 
            To me, I never expected, as I am sure many other people did not as well, how much coronavirus would change our daily lives. I really hope I can volunteer at some point to finish up the Carol Mundy Research Files finding aid and process the collection into their final boxes, once we are allowed to go back to work and classes in person. I really enjoyed doing that. 

The University of Central Florida Special Collections and University Archives Website:

https://library.ucf.edu/about/departments/special-collections-university-archives/

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