I interned with Las Vegas Natural History Museum for the Spring Semester as a collections technician. I catalogued artifacts from Archaeological sites and researched different Archeological theories.
This internship helped me to gain more knowledge in regards to storage and preservation of artifacts after they have been excavated. It also gave me some insight into what Museums do when collections are given to them. As well, it gave me experience in working within a museum setting. Most importantly, it gave me practical experience with Museum software. I also got to talk with archaeologists about their experiences and insights on certain archaeological questions and interests.
Some of the experience was relevant to my intended field, as I was working closely with artifact collections. Some of it wasn’t as relevant and there was no field work.
For a lot of work I did, no specific skills were necessary. Much of the work can be accomplished without a background in Museum curation or previous knowledge in related areas. They are also willing to teach how to use their software. However, familiarity with lithics, animal bones, or human bones would be very useful. Also, knowledge of NAGPRA and other laws associated with Cultural Resource Management are skills that would allow one to do more work.
I don’t know if I want to specifically work in a museum area. It is interesting and I really enjoyed the learning environment they had.
Museum curation would be good for this, or a background in archaeology or paleontology would be useful.
https://www.visitlasvegas.com/listing/las-vegas-natural-history-museum/34630/ Picture is property of LVNHM