Student Projects List
Student Placement/Internship/Volunteer Opportunities as at April 2008
Please note that most of the projects listed below have individual position guides (PGs) that will give you more of an idea of the details for each of the projects – to see individual PGs click on the link after each project description.
If you are interested in any of these opportunities please complete the Expression of Interest form available through this web site or contact:
Helen Arnoldi
Student Projects Coordinator – Cultural Collections
University of Melbourne, tel. 8344 3103 (Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays)
or email harnoldi@unimelb.edu.au
1. University of Melbourne Archives
The University of Melbourne Archives collects, manages and provides access to the historical records of the University, Victorian business, trade unions and other labour organisations, community and cultural organisations, as well as the personal papers of many individuals prominent within them. Records date back to the first years of the colony of Victoria up until the present-day and cover a very wide field of endeavour. The Archives were established in 1960 and to date hold some 15 kilometres of records.
Archives Collection web site: http://www.lib.unimelb.edu.au/collections/archives/
1.1 Collection Management – Lucy Kerley (National Gallery School) Collection Archival Project
The goal of this project is to arrange and describe the Lucy Kerley Collection which includes the National Gallery Art School collection recently relocated to the University of Melbourne Archives. The National Gallery School (NGS) / Lucy Kerley Collection is an important resource for the history of Australian art and includes school records, photographs, letters, catalogues, scrapbooks, student magazines with original art work, ephemera and other related documents. The arrangement and description of this archive will improve researcher access to this important art historical collection.
1.2 Collection Management – Object Collection
The project’s primary goal will be for the student to assist in the collection management and preservation of museum objects that are housed in the University of Melbourne Archives (UMA) collections. Since its inception in 1960, the UMA has gathered realia alongside its main collection of archival (mainly paper) records of the University, businesses, trade unions, community groups and individuals. A selection of objects from individual archival collections will need to be catalogued, labeled and subsequently packaged to accepted industry standards.
1.3 Collection Management – Francis Hare Collection Archival Project (project assigned)
The goal of this project will be to prepare a finding aid for the Francis Hare Collection and to prepare transcripts and digital images for presentation on Archives’ website. The Francis Hare Collection comprises of 54 letters and documents covering 1859-87 received by and relating to Superintendent Francis Hare, one of Ned Kelly's pursuers and briefly in charge of the first stage of Kelly's capture. The collection includes letters by some of the key figures of the Kelly story including the Police Commissioner Frederick Standish, Superintendents Nicholson and Sadleir, Detective M. Ward and John Sherritt, as well as items by Hare. This project will improve researcher access to the collection.
1.4 Archives Project Placement
This placement will provide the opportunity for a student, in consultation with the Senior Archivist, Collection Management, to devise their own archive related project. The project will be developed to meet the specific interests of the student while at the same time engaging with the priorities of the Archives collections. This is an excellent opportunity for History in the Field student or similar who is keen to work closely with the collections of the University of Melbourne Archives to tailor a unique work placement.
2. The Malcolm Fraser Collection at the University of Melbourne
The Fraser collection itself currently consists of seventy-five metres of family and personal records relating to the former Prime Minister of Australia, the Rt Hon. Malcolm Fraser.
Malcolm Fraser Collection web site: http://www.unimelb.edu.au/malcolmfraser/collection/
2.1 Collections Management/Research - Photographs of Official Prime Ministerial Visits
This project involves researching the collection of Australian Information Service (AIS) Prime Ministerial photographs that form part of the Malcolm Fraser Collection. The photographs document the Prime Ministerial visits to Nigeria, Zambia, India, USA, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, China, Philippines and New Zealand between 1975 and 1983. Information required may include purpose of visit, itinerary, main events, as well as identifying people, places and events captured in the images. The information will provide a context in which to view the photographs. The information generated will be used on lists, finding aids and in some cases to augment the information currently available on the Fraser Collection web site.
2.2 Collection Management/Interpretation and Display - Malcolm Fraser Room (project assigned)
The goal of this position is to develop a small permanent display for the Malcolm Fraser Room which is in the Asia Pacific Centre for Military Law at the Melbourne Law School. In consultation with the Curator, the student will be responsible for the selection of items, design and layout of the space, research and writing of text panels and object labels and the installation of the display. The student will also need to source other suitable items from the University of Melbourne Archives Collection to augment the exiting display. Original items to form part of the display may include books (Oxford University textbooks), Prime Ministerial copies of federal legislation, photographs, a small number of objects (gifts to Mr Fraser as Prime Minister or following his parliamentary career).
3. Historic Academic Gown Collection
The University of Melbourne has a collection of historic academic gowns. It comprises of approximately 30 gowns and includes examples worn by important people associated with the University such as Robert Menzies, Professor David Orme Masson and Professor W.E Agar.
3.1 Collections Management – Inventory/Catalogue
This project would ideally suit two students interested in working together to create an inventory list and catalogue this unique collection of historic academic gowns that form part of the University of Melbourne’s cultural collections. This catalogue will form the basis for a future Significance Assessment to be completed on the collection. In liaison with the Coordinator Conservation Programs, the student/s will also assess the current storage of the historic gowns and re-house them in archival boxes where appropriate to meet conservation standards. Creation of a catalogue is part of standard collection management practice and will be used to assist future collection management decisions in areas such as conservation, provenance, research, valuation and access.
3.2 Collection Management – Significance Assessment
The student will complete a Significance Assessment on the collection of historic academic gowns that are part of the University of Melbourne’s cultural collections. Under guidance, the student will use the established significance assessment methodology set out in Significance: A guide to assessing the significance of cultural heritage objects and collections (Heritage Collections Council), to provide the intellectual framework to complete the significance assessment on the collection. The Significance Assessment will be used to inform future collection management decisions on areas such as conservation, acquisition/de-accession, valuation and access.
4. Physics Museum
The Museum comprises approximately 350 items of equipment and photographs spanning the history of the School of Physics, with an emphasis on scientific apparatus constructed in the School for research undertaken by former professors and staff. Included in the collection is equipment used in the development of optical munitions during the Second World War and ruling engines and diffraction gratings produced by H.J. Grayson in the School and the CSIRO.
Physics Museum web site: http://www.ph.unimelb.edu.au/museum/
4.1 Collection Management – Research Assistant
Under direction, the Research Assistant will create database content for a selected group of museum objects. The text created will be written for a general audience and aim to demystify the Physics Museum’s collections. This information will be incorporated onto the museum’s database where it will be accessible to the public via the Physics Museum’s web site.
5. Ian Potter Museum of Art
The Potter houses the University of Melbourne Art Collection, comprising Australian art, classics and archaeology, international, Indigenous cultural material and decorative arts.
Potter web site: http://www.art-museum.unimelb.edu.au/
5.1 Collection Management - Cataloguing and Conservation of the Gerard Herbst Poster Collection (project assigned)
This project will involve the manual cataloguing and conservation flattening of a selection of posters from the Gerard Herbst Poster Collection. The collection comprises approximately 3,000 posters and contains important examples of international and Australian graphic design from the twentieth century. As part of the project, and so that the student gains experience in various aspects of collection management, they will also assist in an inventory of the collection and other related duties.
6. Harry Brookes Allen Museum of Anatomy and Pathology
Contains more than 8,000 specimens, of which more than 3,000 are on display at any one time, complementing the Faculty's curricula. Historical displays include a series of bushrangers' death masks. The museum is open to current and former students and staff for study and research.
The museum’s web site: http://www.anatomy.unimelb.edu.au/museum/index.html
6.1 Collection Management – Catalogue, Anatomy Book Collection
The primary goal of this position will be to create an inventory and basic catalogue listings for a collection of 500 books in the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology. The collection mainly comprises historic scientific textbooks and some memoirs that were owned by staff members in the Department of Anatomy. The collection dates from the late 1800s to approximately the 1980s, with most of the books having been published in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The cataloguing of works in a collection is a necessary part of standard collection management practice. Once catalogued, these collection records will be added to a database and managed by the Harry Brookes Allen Museum.
7. University of Melbourne Herbarium
The Herbarium was established at the School of Botany in 1926. Today the collection contains approximately 80,000 dried, pressed plant specimens from all major plant groups. The specimens are used predominantly for teaching and research.
The Herbarium’s web site: http://www.botany.unimelb.edu.au/herbarium/index.html
7.1 Collection Management - Conservation and Cataloguing, The Rupp Collection
The Collection Management Assistant will be working on the Rupp Collection c.1880-1925, the original specimens that became the founding collection of the University of Melbourne Herbarium. The project's primary goal will be to rehouse the specimens to conservation standards ensuring all historical data is preserved and maintained. This information will then be added to the Herbarium’s database.
7.2 Collection Management – Research, Inventory and Conservation, Breidahl Moss Collection c.1880 - 1900
This project involves undertaking research and basic conservation work on the Breidahl Moss Collection c.1880-1900 which is part of the Herbarium’s collections. The moss collection comprises of approximately 500 specimens from Australia and overseas. The student will be responsible for researching the Breidahl Collection and will explore questions such as who Breidahl was, where he came from, whether he had any links to this University and if he has specimens in other herbaria. This project will also require the student to complete an inventory of the collection while separating the species into Australian and international moss collections. They will also be required to re-house the specimens into zip lock polyethylene bags and to print out new envelopes from the database and re-packet specimens in these, maintaining provenance by keeping all other labels, annotation slips and related information.
8. Tiegs Zoology Museum
A collection of zoological specimens dating from the late 19th century to the present, the Tiegs Zoology Museum holds a working set of all types of animals, both vertebrate and invertebrate, used principally in teaching undergraduate classes. The Tiegs Museum is a resource for students and researchers.
See http://www.zoology.unimelb.edu.au/aboutus/tiegs/index.php
8.1 Collections Management – Inventory (Ancillary Collection)
The student will work with the ancillary collection, which includes scientific equipment, journals, slides and documents that are currently housed within the Tiegs Zoology Museum. The project’s primary goal will be to ensure that this collection is fully inventoried. More detailed cataloguing of the rarest items may be required. The inventory is necessary as part of standard collection management practice and will be used to assist future collection management decisions in such areas such as conservation, provenance, research, valuation and access.
8.2 Collection Management - Research into the history of Tiegs Zoology Museum
The student will complete research on a specific aspect of the collections or the history and development of the Tiegs Zoology Museum. In consultation with the Collection Manager and Student Projects Coordinator the student will determine the theme of their research project. They may choose for example to investigate the history and development of the museum and its collection and its relationship to the teaching of Zoology within the Department. Alternatively, they may wish to select some ‘highlights’ from the collection and research their provenance, historical use within the Department and greater significance in the broader community. It is anticipated that this research will be used to form an introduction to the collections of the Museum that will be integrated onto the museum’s website.
9. The Henry Forman Atkinson Dental Museum
The Museum documents the history of dentistry and dental education in Victoria. It includes historic records and archival material, as well as dental surgery, workroom and laboratory equipment dating from the 18th century to the present day.
Visit the Museum’s web site: http://museum.dent.unimelb.edu.au/dental/home.html
9.1 Research Project - 19th Century Anatomical Teaching Specimens
The primary goal of this position will be to research the history of the Dental Museum’s anatomical teaching specimens, of which little is known. After consultation with the Curators, the student will complete research on the specimens, some of which date back to the early 19th century. Through this research project the student will investigate the provenance and history of the specimens themselves and may also explore their historical value as teaching aids in the study of dentistry at the University of Melbourne. The student will have the opportunity to use this research to create content for extended object labels within the Museum.
9.2 Collection Management – Significance Assessment – Dental Drill Collection
The Museum holds an important collection of dental drills dating from approximately the early 19th century through to the 20th century, which includes examples of early single point hand held drills, through to mechanical, ratchet and bow drills, and dental foot engines (dental pedal drills). The primary goal of this position will be to complete a Significance Assessment on this collection, using the established methodology Significance: A guide to assessing the significance of cultural heritage objects and collections (Heritage Collections Council).
10. Medical History Museum
The museum houses a research collection which documents the history of the University of Melbourne medical school, its teaching hospitals and achievements of its graduates and, more broadly, the history of medical practice in Victoria. The collection consists of medical, surgical and scientific instruments, archival photographs, academic certificates, personal papers and records, commemorative medals, art works and a fully equipped relocated 19th-century London pharmacy.
Medical History Museum web site: http://www.chs.unimelb.edu.au/programs/jnmhu/museum.html
10.1 Collection Management - Digital Imaging
The primary goal of this project will be the digital imaging of artefacts (19th and early 20th century diagnostic, surgical and scientific instruments) in the Medical History Museum Collection. The aim is to produce high (publication) quality images, which will subsequently be attached to the existing catalogue record of each object. The project would ideally suit two students interested in working together, where they would be trained in the appropriate handling of items, locating registration numbers, setting up, and image capture using a fixed digital camera with copy stand and lighting set-up.
10.2 Collection Management – Conservation and Re-housing
The Professor Gerard Crock Collection consists of approximately 5,750 catalogued items and comprises microsurgical ophthalmic instruments developed by the late Professor Gerard W. Crock in collaboration with Jean-Marie Parel and Lbjumir Pericic, in the Department of Ophthalmology in the 1960s-1970s. The collection is unique in that it contains drawing designs, prototypes, manufactured instruments and reports on their use. Through the objects it is possible to explore the research and development of improved ophthalmic surgical equipment and techniques at this time.
This project requires the student to assess and then report on appropriate conservation housing possibilities for the Professor Gerard Crock Collection. The student will need to consider its particular conservation storage requirements which take into account the different objects and materials that are to be found within it. Once the report has been created there will be the opportunity to assist in the re-housing of the collection.
11. Special Collections – Baillieu Library
The Special Collections comprise some 200,000 rare or historic books, serials and pamphlets and literary archives. There are incunabula, rare and first editions, Australiana, children's books, middle-eastern manuscripts, prints, theses and the Melbourne University Press collection.
Special Collections web site: http://www.lib.unimelb.edu.au/collections/special/
11.1 Collection Management – Bianchin Archive Collection
The Bianchin Archival Collection comprises of five boxes of materials that relates to Helen Bianchin, a prolific writer of romance fiction published by Mills and Boon. The collection includes manuscripts, typescripts, letters and editions of her books translated into other languages. The collection is currently housed within Special Collections at the Baillieu Library.
For this project the student will be required to sort, list and re-house the Archive Collection. There is a conservation component where in consultation with the Deputy Curator, the student will be required to consider conservation issues and to re-house to archival standards items in the collection. There will also be the opportunity to write a small summary description of the holdings in the collection which will be added to the Special Collections website to aid future researchers about the nature of the Bianchin Archive Collection.
11.2 Collection Management - Villiers Shipping Collection (Conservation)
The Villiers Collection is the library of the novelist and writer Alan Villiers (1903-1982) and consists mostly of books about ships, sailing and the sea. The primary goal of this position will be the preservation and conservation of the material contained within the Villiers Shipping Collection through the writing of a conservation report on the collection and the subsequent re-housing of items within the collection to meet conservation standards.
11.3 Collection Management – Significance Assessment, Rare Books Collection, Brownless Biomedical Library
The goal of this project will be to complete a Significance Assessment on the Rare Books in the Brownless Biomedical Library’s collections. The collection numbers approximately 1,850 volumes and covers the vast range of subjects that constitute the history of western medicine, dating from the first medical literature that emerged from the printing presses of the 16th century to the rare, privately published or limited editions of the 20th century. The student will use the established methodology set out in Significance: A guide to assessing the significance of cultural heritage objects and collections (Heritage Collections Council), to provide the intellectual framework to complete the assessment on the Brownless Library Rare Books Collection. The Significance Assessment will be used to inform future collection management decisions on areas such as conservation, acquisition/de-accession, valuation and access.
11.4 Collection Management - U of M Collection (Preventative Preservation)
The primary goal of this position will be to identify and implement preventative preservation measures on the University of Melbourne Collection within Special Collections at the Baillieu Library. This project will require the re-housing and preservation of the U of M Collection. The student will need to identify priority items for re-housing and then proceed to re-house these items to meet conservation standards. The student will also identify those items that require boxing, and make a listing of items that may require future conservation treatments. The U of M collection comprises items sourced from all Departments, Faculties and Units of the University, and the second part of this project will involve the student identifying an improved means for the sourcing of such material and making recommendations for a more systematic approach to its collection.
11.5 Collection Management – Robert Illing Collection
Working in consultation with the Deputy Curator, Special Collections, this project will require the student to create a full descriptive listing for the Robert Illing Collection. The collection includes books, records, music manuscripts and associated materials and is currently housed within Special Collections in the Baillieu Library. The student will also have the opportunity to research and write a small summary description and introduction to the holdings in the collection which will be added to the Special Collections website to aid future researchers about the nature of the Illing Collection.
Download position guide
11.6 Collection Management ‘Work Experience’ Placement
This placement will provide the opportunity for a student, in consultation with the Deputy Curator, Special Collections, to devise their own ‘work experience’ related project. The placement will be developed to meet the specific interests of the student while at the same time engaging with the day-to-day priorities of Special Collections. This is an excellent opportunity for a Library Studies/Information Management student who is keen to work closely with Special Collections.
12. Baillieu Print Collection, Special Collections – Baillieu Library
Comprises approximately 7,000 individual prints and volumes from the 16th to early 20th centuries. It covers many printmaking techniques including woodcuts, wood engravings, copper plates, steel engravings, etchings, mezzotints, aquatints, lithographs and chromolithographs.
For more information on the Print Collection go to http://www.unimelb.edu.au/culturalcollections/collections/visualarts.html#prints
12.1 Collection Management – Catalogue Assistant (project assigned)
The goal of this position will be to assist in checking and researching information on a selection of prints from the Baillieu Print Collection. The information generated will be added to the electronic catalogue (EMu) at a later date. Under direction, the student will ensure catalogue details for a selection of prints from the collection are reviewed for accuracy and that information is updated where possible. The student will be responsible for checking, updating and expanding on current print catalogue records through the close inspection of the prints and use of current records. Catalogue fields that will require particular attention include dates, attributions and print states and the student will need to research these areas using catalogues raisonnés and other appropriate resources.
13. Louise Hanson-Dyer Music Library: Rare Materials Collection
The Rare Collections of the Music Library are diverse in both content and origin. Though the Conservatorium was founded in 1891, there was no library at all until 1908, and for many years members of the teaching staff provided music for their students ad hoc. Some of these items are still with the library, augmented by numerous donations and purchases over the past century.The manuscripts are chiefly of works by Australian composers from the colonial period to the present day, while the printed music includes many early and rare editions of European composers from Corelli to Stravinsky. Among both the musical scores and the smaller collection of books on musical topics there are many unusual and obscure items.
For more information on the collection go to http://www.lib.unimelb.edu.au/collections/music/rare/
13.1 Collection Management – Conservation Research
In this project the student will be required to apply basic conservation practices to a scrapbook album held in the Rare Collections of the Louise Hanson-Dyer Music Library. The album contains programs for concerts held in Melbourne and their associated press reviews and date from 1886 to 1916. The contents provide a rich resource of historical material that relates to musical performances in late 19th and early 20th century Melbourne. The album is currently in a fragile state and requires basic conservation measures and an index to be created to ensure that the historical information it contains is preserved and accessible for the future.
14. Grainger Museum
Established in the 1930s by the composer, pianist and folklorist Percy Grainger, to show the 'sources from which composers draw their inspirations'. The collection includes music manuscripts and printed editions by many composers, correspondence, musical instruments, ephemera, photography and fine and decorative arts.
For more information on the Grainger Museum’s collections go to http://www.lib.unimelb.edu.au/collections/grainger/
14.1 Collection Management - Noel Nickson’s Tang Dynasty Music Research Materials
The primary goal of this position will be to order, classify and catalogue the materials in the Nickson Tang Dynasty Music Research Materials Collection. The Nickson Tang Collection comprises eight large boxes of material related to Professor Noel Nickson’s (d. 2006) research into music of the Tang Dynasty (China) and ancient Japan. His papers include published and unpublished research writings (his own and other’s), sound recordings and correspondence. Initially the task will be to order and classify the eight boxes of archival material that relate to Nickson’s research of the Tang Dynasty and ancient Japan and produce a one page summary of the collection. Due to the size of the collection, a manageable selection of material will be identified to catalogue with this data being integrated into a searchable catalogue. The student will also need to re-house the items in appropriate archival folders and boxes. As part of the project the student will also be encouraged to identify unique and rare items within the collection It is anticipated that an extended introduction to the collection highlighting its particular strengths will also be created.
15. Victorian College of the Arts Library - EJ Moeran Collection
The VCA Lenton Parr Library supports the learning, teaching and research activities at the Faculty of the Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne. The collection was founded with the National Gallery School Library collection, when the VCA was proclaimed in 1972. The two founding Schools of Art and Music provided early strengths in these areas including books, journals, music scores and sound recordings.
EJ Moeran was an English composer of Anglo-Irish background. He had success with a number of performances of smaller orchestral works, including the First Rhapsody for Orchestra (performed by the Halle Orchestra) and other small genres, songs and piano works. His folk-song inspired compositions exert various influences including Delius, Vaughan Williams and Holst, The EJ Moeran Collection was gifted to the VCA in 1977 by Peers Coetmore, Moeran’s wife. In her bequest to the VCA she left her collection of manuscripts and published works by E.J. Moeran (including works by other composers from Moeran and Coetmore’s own collections).
15.1 Collection Management – Significance Assessment
The goal of this project will be to complete a Significance Assessment on the EJ Moeran Collection in the VCA Library. The student will use the established significance assessment methodology set out in Significance: A guide to assessing the significance of cultural heritage objects and collections (Heritage Collections Council), to provide the intellectual framework to complete the significance assessment on the Collection. The Significance Assessment will be used to inform future collection management decisions on areas such as conservation, acquisition/de-accession, valuation and access.
16. Victorian College of the Arts - Art Collections
The VCA Art Collection spans the history of the College and its predecessor, the National Gallery School of Art. Comprising painting, sculpture, photography and works on paper, most works are by students, staff or alumni. It includes work by notable practitioners such as John Brack, John Vickery, Jan Nelson, Jon Campbell and Sally Smart. There are also many life paintings and drawings from the National Gallery School of Art by prominent alumni including Hugh Ramsay, Charles Wheeler, Grace Joel and Constance Stokes. The Margaret Lawrence Australian Ceramics Collection was bequeathed to the Collection in 2004 and comprises some 500 pieces of Australian ceramic work from the 1920s through to 2004.
16.1 Significance Assessment (National Gallery School Collection)
The primary goal of this position will be to complete a Significance Assessment of the National Gallery School Collection. The student will use the established methodology set out in Significance: A guide to assessing the significance of cultural heritage objects and collections (Heritage Collections Council), to provide the intellectual framework for the assessment. The Significance Assessment will be used to inform future collection management decisions on areas such as conservation, acquisition/de-accession, valuation and access.
16.2 Significance Assessment (Margaret Lawrence Australian Ceramics Collection)
The primary goal of this position will be to complete a Significance Assessment on the Margaret Lawrence Australian Ceramics Collection (MLACC) which forms part of the VCA Collections. The student will use the established methodology set out in Significance: A guide to assessing the significance of cultural heritage objects and collections (Heritage Collections Council), to provide the intellectual framework. The Significance Assessment will be used to inform future collection management decisions on areas such as conservation, acquisition/de-accession, valuation and access.