Erasmus students from the CU as interns in the National Library of the Czech Repu ****************************************************************************************** * Erasmus students from the CU as interns in the National Library of the Czech Republic ****************************************************************************************** The Charles University has been fortunate enough to be able to host some very active Erasm have, besides the obligatory attending classes, socializing with their Erasmus peers and e and the Czech Republic, also found the time to take up an internship or voluntary project in the country. One of the most popular institutions for a short-term internship during th stay in Prague has, for a number of students, been the National Library of the Czech Repub department in which digital text versions of documents are prepared for the international Manuscriptorium. This has been especially popular with students of Information Science, Li and Archive Science. We asked Mr. Tomáš Klimek from the department to share his experiences of working with the with us. He explains: “The National Library of the Czech Republic (more precisely its Depa Manuscriptorium Digital Library) has been cooperating with Erasmus students studying at th University in Prague since the summer semester of 2010/11. There are around 10 students in National Library each semester which means that so far we have had approximately 30 studen total. The students who work with us prepare digital full text versions of historical text published in the Manuscriptorium Digital Library. Their work consists of basic training concerning the XML mark up languages and becoming fa XML editor. Then, the students will be able to transfer texts from an old book or other ma provided to them in its modern text edition, into XML format by adding structural tags usi structure. Finally, they correlate the text with the format of the original document (e.g. page from an old book). Students can choose the text they will work with according to their paleographical skills of the language of the original document, which is usually Latin. This means that students basic knowledge of the historical script can work on preparing texts which would be boring advanced workers and, vice versa, the most experienced students can prepare versions of th documents, which can help them to improve their editorial or language skills. This type of work is lends itself well to cooperating with student interns and both sides cooperation. Most of the students are happy with the nature of the work and the visible re increase their motivation. Being able to use both knowledge of the humanities and of Infor is also attractive to many students. On the other hand, this type of work demands a high number of working hours even from the employees and would not be possible without being able to take on external employees or in The results of our work, including that of the student interns, are very useful for schola historians, art historians, linguists, musicologists, and geographers, who deal with manus printed books, as well as students of paleography, etc. At the same time, the new material base for research into the area of computerisation, where images are converted into texts. There are also some other jobs connected with creating our digital library of historical w with several full-time interning students staying in Prague for a longer period of time on positive way.” One of these full-time interning students will be Katarzyna Sycz, originally from the Univ 2011/12. We have asked her a number of questions about her experience in the National Libr Katarzyna, I really liked your reason for applying to the Charles University in Prague. In application, you said, “I am applying for a place in the Erasmus exchange programme so tha my studies knowing that I have made use of all of the opportunities that my university has therefore having had the best possible education”. This is actually one of the best reason so far and it says a great deal about you as a well-motivated student. Your wish to make t study stay abroad also led to your internship application to the National Library. What were your main duties during the internship, did you get along well with the National and what do you think you have gained from the experience so far? Did your internship comp studies? Thank you. It's very nice of you to quote my reason for applying. During my internship at Library, I worked for the Manuscriptorium Digital Library and my duties were focused on th of electronic versions of historical documents. The work consisted of both structuring of correlating their parts to images of the original documents. The purpose of this task was to enable the public to access historical documents and to fa search for particular passages. The texts that I worked on were written in Latin. This may complicated, but on the whole the work was not too difficult – I occasionally struggled wi the Latin texts, but I could always ask for help if I needed it. Working with the National Library was very enjoyable. Mr. Tomáš Klimek, who supervised my explained what I had to do; he was also always willing to help and answered all of my ques smile. It was a very interesting experience. There’s proof that I enjoyed it - I am applyi internship in this institution again, this time for a longer period of time. In my opinion work is very necessary and I would like to broaden my knowledge in this field. Last year, at my home university in Poland, I studied Linguistics and Information Science. National Library was closely connected to my fields of study. I am not planning to continu Poland at the moment, but I might possibly go to another country in the future. Your previous internships in Poland were in a different field – journalism. When you compa fields, what do you find interesting about both of them? First of all, I should say that these fields of work are not that different. In the publis I had worked previously, I focused mainly on standard text editing, the tasks that corresp knowledge and experience gained from my specialisation in editorial work. Typical journali writing articles and interviews, was only a small part of my tasks. I am actually more interested in the process of the creation of books, from the initial pr to the printing. I find this last phase especially interesting. At the University of Pozna opportunity to work in a traditional printing house for a short period of time, where ever manually. My main duty in the publishing houses was proof-reading and wording. This was what persona greatest pleasure and satisfaction. Working in the National Library in Prague was another chance to see how one can undertake studying books, and in the case of my internship, how to make the most valuable works avai range of readers. I think that these days, this type of work, in a day and age when most p imagine working without a computer, is extremely important and modern. After finishing the short-term internship in the National Library this winter (an internsh attended during a full-time study stay), you have approached the library to arrange a long after the end of your study stay at Charles University. Will this exchange be part of the again? If so, what is the difference between the Erasmus Study Stay and the Erasmus Practi students from the University of Poznan? What do you expect to gain from this long-term coo National Library? Yes, I would again be part of the Erasmus programme. I’m currently in the process of apply Practical Placement, but I'm not yet sure if I will receive a nomination from my home univ so please keep your fingers crossed for me! The main difference between applying for the Erasmus Study Stay and the Erasmus Practical would want to hire them independently. The recruitment process is only open until the limi requests based on the compliance of the planned Practical Placement with your field of stu receive a scholarship. In the case of the Erasmus Study Stay, the procedure focuses more on academic matters; for level of proficiency in a foreign language. However, Linguists and Information Science students are not the only ones who benefit from appealing to Historians, Art Historians and students of Archive Science. We have asked Mar originally from Université Paris 12 - Val De Marne, to share her opinion on the opportunit Marion, you are a History student. When you joined the National Library for an internship were able to gain experience of a possible future career for yourself. Did you enjoy the e was working with the electronic versions of the old books and manuscripts like? I was very happy when I received the advertisement for this internship. At the time, I was third year of my bachelor’s degree and I had started to think seriously about what I wante completing my studies. The first time I went to Klementinum, the seat of the National Library, I was amazed. I li the old manuscripts, even in the electronic version, as I hadn't had the opportunity to wo of documents before. Also, my supervisor, Mr. Tomáš Klimek, was very kind. What were your duties in the National Library and did you get on well with the other staff internship influenced your future career ambitions? To start with I found the software we were using to be quite complicated, but I was fine a days. I had to search for certain words within a Microsoft Word version of a document and original manuscript version. Then, I had to link both documents together. There was a nice atmosphere in the office and Mr. Klimek was very patient and supportive. At the moment, I am planning to work in the field of protection of historical heritage. My the National Library helped me to realise that I wanted to have a career in this field. As a French student of History, you most likely attended the classes offered by Assoc. Pro in the Faculty of Arts (these classes were Czech-French History Seminaire and Historical A you think of his classes? Did you find it interesting to meet many French as well as Czech there any topics which you particularly enjoyed? Yes, I attended Mr. Nejedlý’s classes and I really enjoyed them. They were both very inter topics were very diverse and often quite original, too! I particularly enjoyed Laurent Vis on aliens. The only thing I would possibly change, if I could make a suggestion, would be Czech history topics. You had an excellent opportunity to compare the traditional work of historians (teaching a in Mr. Nejedlý’s classes and the modern work of historians in the National Library last ye consider either of these careers? I'm currently studying for a master’s degree in medieval History of Art, so firstly I have my thesis. I do really enjoy research, but I do not want to spend my whole life doing it. already mentioned, I would like to work in the field of protection of historical heritage practical field work.