KOREA FOUNDATION

KF Global Challenger Internship Letter

I worked as an intern for the University of Chicago Library’s East Asian Collection from February to December of last year. The university has six libraries, and the East Asian Collection is located on the fifth floor of the Joseph Regenstein Library building. Founded in 1936, the collection houses 850,000 volumes, serving as the basis for East Asia research in North America.

The Korean Collection was established in 1988 following the Chinese and Japanese Collections. Over the past 30-some years, it has developed greatly, owing to the devoted efforts of librarians and researchers specializing in Korean studies. The collection covers a wide range of subjects but is especially focused on strengthening its bibliography in the fields of history and literature to meet the demands and goals of researchers.

My main responsibility was Romanization of Korean words, cataloguing, and digitization of North Korean postal stamps. Once each week, I was assigned to do research support by searching through and arranging references and providing feedback and answers to questions. My focal project was the digitization of North Korean postage stamps – in joint efforts with an organization that supports various research at the University of Chicago, I worked to build a database, classifying the stamps and documenting information about them. In September, I had the opportunity to report on the project at an internal forum. An exhibition of the stamps was held at the library from late September through the end of December, drawing keen interest and favorable comments.

I had quite a variety of experiences throughout my nearly year-long internship. I attended monthly library staff meetings and took part in programs large and small such as conferences, workshops, forums, and lectures. I paid visits to more than 10 American libraries, including the Denver Public Library and libraries at the University of Michigan, University of Southern California, Princeton, Yale, and Harvard. At Harvard, I met Koreans who were doing internships similar to mine and we had a memorable time together. I will never forget the year 2019 thanks to the great learning and experience I received as a KF intern.

Chicago, Unitaed States University of Chicago Library, East Asian Collection Yeom Ji-su

USA ChicagoLibraryInternship