The Elkhorn Valley Museum in Norfolk, Nebraska has internships and volunteer opportunities throughout the year, allowing students and those who love history the chance to work with exhibits, archives, and visitors. The education internship for instance is a cross-disciplinary internship designed to add more nature, science, and history elements into museum exhibits, programs, and visitor experience. Viewpoint editor Marissa Lute recently went to the museum to ask Director of Education, Jeana Ganskop what the internship is all about.

For volunteers, here is a complete list of positions available this summer and throughout the year.

Volunteer Opportunities at Elkhorn Valley Museum

Summer 2017

Historic Sites Interpreter – Inside the Dederman Cabin or Dederman Schoolhouse, provide information to visitors about the buildings and the people that lived in them. If you want to get more into it, you could lead school activities in the schoolhouse or show visitors in the cabin how do laundry, card wool, make butter, etc. This could also possibly be a costumed volunteer position. The buildings in Verges Park are open 2pm-4:30pm on the following days: June 17^th, July 15^th, and August 19^th. Volunteers need to be available for all 3 dates.

Collections SWAT Team Member – Tuesday July 11 – Saturday July 15, 10am-4pm

Join the full staff and volunteer team at EVM for a week of working with the artifact collection. During this week, we’re bringing in as many volunteers as we can get to help us process as many artifacts as possible in a one week time. We will process artifacts assembly-line style, with some volunteers updating catalog information, some labeling, some photographing, and some rehousing! It will be an exciting, hands-on week. We ask that volunteers who want to be involved in this week commit to at least 2 full days, and preferably the whole week.

Collections Assistant – Assist with various tasks cataloging artifacts such as updating catalog information in PastPerfect, labeling artifacts, photographing artifacts, and helping to rehouse artifacts. Volunteers need to make a commitment of at least 3 hours every 2 weeks.

Archives Assistant – Assist with various tasks with our 2-dimensional collection. Possible projects include updating catalog information in PastPerfect, inventorying archival collections, or fulfilling research requests. Volunteers need to make a commitment of at least 3 hours every 2 weeks.

Digital Archives Assistant – Work with our collection of digitized negatives to make them more user-friendly. This may include tagging photographs, creating digital folders, or editing photographs. Volunteers need to make a commitment of at least 3 hours every 2 weeks.

Oral History Assistant – Work with our digital collection of oral history interviews. This may include transcribing interviews, writing summaries of interviews, editing digital recordings, and uploading clips to the Nebraska Library Commission’s Nebraska Memories. This is a volunteer job that can be done mostly at home and is extra cool because the results of your work will be usable on memories.nebraska.gov!

Education Assistant – Assist with Nature Discovery Camp June 6^th-9^th, 9am to Noon (Volunteer from 8:30-12:30). Activities will include participating in crafts and games, assisting with lessons, and – if you want – leading your own activities!

Front Desk Volunteer – Be the first face visitors see when they come through the door! Front desk volunteers welcome visitors, accept admission fees, introduce visitors to the museum, process gift shop purchases, and answer the phone. Some days are busier than others. If you’d like to bring your own book to read (or homework), you are welcome to. Volunteers need to make a commitment of at least 3 hours every week.

Special Events Volunteer – Great for people who only have a little time! This summer, EVM is looking for volunteers to help out with our Old-Time Independence Day Picnic on July 4^th from 11:30am-3pm. We’d love some volunteers to walk with our float in the parade and we have many volunteer opportunities setting up, during the event, and cleaning up after.