Research & Discovery
Investigating questions, working with sources and evidence, and contributing to greater understanding of people, history, culture, and ideas.
Research, Libraries, Museums & Archives
Research, Libraries, Museums & Archives
Your Career Community is your professional network while you’re still in college. Connect with alumni, employers, faculty, career professionals, and students who are exploring the same kinds of careers.
What you’ll gain as a member
- Meet alumni who can show you what different career paths actually look like.
- Connect with employers who hire students with your interests and skills.
- Find internships, jobs, and hands-on experiences related to this kind of work.
- Build your professional network before you graduate.
- Learn from faculty and career professionals who can help you prepare for your next step.
- Connect with other students exploring similar careers.
What is this Career Community?
Careers in this community focus on discovering, preserving, organizing, and interpreting knowledge and cultural heritage. Professionals may conduct research, investigate historical questions, manage collections, preserve records and cultural materials, organize information, contribute to exhibits, or help others access and understand knowledge.
They work in settings such as universities, research organizations, libraries, archives, museums, historical organizations, cultural institutions, government agencies, and community organizations.
Does this sound like the kind of work you would like to do?
- I want to gather evidence to answer questions and discover new insights.
- I want to explore ideas, evidence, and historical records to better understand the world.
- I want to organize and manage knowledge so others can access and use it.
- I want to preserve historical, cultural, or institutional memory.
- I want to help people understand history, culture, and ideas.
- I want to curate and care for information, collections, or cultural resources.
- I want to ensure information is accurate, trustworthy, and responsibly managed.
Who might you serve?
Explore early career paths
Libraries & Information
Organizing knowledge, helping others find reliable information, and making collections and resources accessible.
Archives & Historical Preservation
Protecting records, documents, places, and other materials that preserve community, institutional, and cultural memory.
Museums, Collections & Cultural Heritage
Working with objects, exhibits, collections, and cultural materials to preserve them and help others understand their significance.
Examples of early career roles
These examples can help you picture the kinds of work available as you explore this community. Open a section to see what the work might look like.
Research & discovery
- Research Assistant / Research Associate
- Help a professor, research center, organization, or research team investigate a question by finding sources, reviewing existing scholarship, gathering evidence, organizing materials, and contributing to reports or publications.
- Historical Research Assistant
- Search archives, newspapers, government records, photographs, oral histories, and other primary sources to help answer questions about people, places, events, or historical periods.
- Humanities Research Assistant
- Research literature, languages, history, philosophy, religion, art, culture, or other humanities topics; locate and evaluate sources and help scholars develop research projects, publications, or digital resources.
- Oral History Research Assistant / Coordinator
- Help identify people whose experiences should be documented, prepare interview questions, conduct or support interviews, organize recordings and transcripts, and preserve first-person accounts for future research.
Libraries & information
- Library Assistant / Library Services Specialist
- Help individuals find books, databases, records, and other resources; support collections and library programs; and help make information easier for users to access.
- Digital Collections Assistant / Specialist
- Help turn photographs, manuscripts, books, recordings, or other materials into digital collections by scanning materials, creating descriptions, organizing files, and preparing them for online access.
- Metadata Assistant / Metadata Specialist
- Create and maintain the descriptive information that allows books, photographs, documents, artifacts, and digital materials to be searched, identified, and understood.
- Research Collections Assistant
- Help organize specialized research materials, documents, photographs, manuscripts, or other collections; create descriptions and guides that make those materials easier for researchers to discover and use.
Archives & historical preservation
- Archives Assistant / Archival Processing Assistant
- Work with historical papers, photographs, records, or digital files; organize collections, create descriptions and finding aids, and prepare materials so researchers can locate and use them.
- Preservation Assistant
- Help protect books, documents, photographs, artifacts, or other historical materials by assessing their condition, preparing appropriate storage, and supporting preservation projects.
- Historic Preservation Assistant / Coordinator
- Research historic buildings, neighborhoods, sites, or landscapes; document their significance; and help with projects designed to protect important historic places.
- Cultural Resources Technician / Specialist
- Help document and research historic or cultural sites and materials, conduct background research, maintain records, and support cultural resource or preservation projects.
Museums, collections & cultural heritage
- Museum Collections Assistant
- Catalog objects, update collection records, photograph materials, prepare items for storage or exhibit, and help maintain information about a museum's collection.
- Curatorial Assistant
- Research objects, artists, historical periods, or cultural topics; locate information for exhibits; help prepare labels and interpretive materials; and support curators with exhibitions and collections.
- Exhibit Research Assistant / Coordinator
- Research the people, events, objects, artworks, or ideas featured in an exhibit and help turn that research into accurate, engaging content for visitors.
- Museum Registrar Assistant
- Maintain detailed records about museum objects, track where items are located, help document loans and acquisitions, and ensure collection information stays accurate.
- Cultural Heritage Program Assistant
- Help document, preserve, and share the traditions, histories, languages, artifacts, or cultural resources of a community through research, collections, exhibits, or heritage projects.
Ready to take the next step?
Join to build connections, discover opportunities, gain experience, and get help moving from college to career.