AusHeritage Internship Exchange Program – March 2012

The AusHeritage internship exchange program to Madras Christian College was funded by the Australia India Institute.

Vinod Daniel (Chair of AusHeritage), Tara Elder (University of Melbourne Intern), Marcelle Scott (University of Melbourne), Isobel Harcourt (University of Melbourne Intern) and David Holly (Australian Consul General for South India)

The two interns (pictured above) were given the opportunity to study and advise on the preservation needs of two of the College’s most important heritage collections – the Historical Archive containing photographs, books and manuscripts, and the nationally significant Zoology Museum, which houses wet and dry vertebrate and non-vertebrate specimens.

The visit was aimed at gathering initial base line information on the current preservation status of the collections.

While in Chennai, visits to the Government Museum and to the Roja Muthiah Research Library were arranged, where the students discussed current preservation approaches.

The interns presented several lectures on their projects to museum studies students and a public lecture for staff and students. They also prepared a report with short, medium and longer term preservation recommendations. Opportunities for further collaboration are currently under discussion.