Author: Loghan Hawkes
As a long-time lover of both astronomy and history, it has been a treat to work with the Allegheny Observatory (AO) archive. The opportunity arose thanks to an internship through Hillman Library’s Open Lab along with funding from the Tomayko Foundation, and I submitted a project proposal as soon as I heard about it. In May, I graduated from Pitt with a major in Museum Studies. After graduation, my plan was to enter the professional world and gain experience in my field for a year before continuing my education in Pitt’s graduate program for Library and Information Science. The Digital Making and Critical Research internship, offered by Open Lab, turned out to be exactly what I was looking for and more.
Over the twelve week span of the internship, I learned about library science, archival research, cataloging, digital creation, inclusive design, and exhibition presentation. I truly feel like a different person now, far more professionally capable in endeavors I approach independently as well as projects requiring teamwork. My internship cohort was made up of four people, including me, Hunter Lasswell, Aza Mohanty, and Hanssy Vasquez Gomez. Although we all came from different backgrounds, we helped each other grow with our own knowledge bases as well as the different project skills we learned on our own as part of the internship.
My project idea centered on creating a Virtual Reality digital exhibit that explores what I’ve learned while cleaning, reorganizing, and cataloging the AO archive. Now, I feel accomplished in every way I had hoped to feel. When I started, I had no experience with Virtual Reality, coding, 3D modeling, or any of the other skills required to create what I have created. Using Blender, I 3D-modeled the Thaw Dome at AO as well as the telescope inside of it. In this digital space, I built 3D objects from scans of archival materials, such as items from the extensive collection of photographic glass plates, and crafted an exhibit that takes viewers, using a Meta Quest headset, through the scientific history of the observatory. The exhibit is especially fun because of its interactive nature. Every day, I am amazed by what Open Lab has enabled me to make. The only prior experience I had was with archival work and exhibition presentation, and that part of my project has gone so well that the director of AO has hired me to continue reorganizing and cataloging the archive for the rest of the year, so that I’ll be finishing up right before I enter my graduate program.
Although it will take a while, if the project ends up being completed, then the University of Pittsburgh will have a well-stewarded, searchable archive of astronomical history – something it does not currently have. Now, I am working towards this goal with multiple members of Pitt’s faculty. This is, for me, the best possible outcome of this internship, and I am so excited to continue working on this project I care about.
Loghan Hawkes was a Summer Intern at the Allegheny Observatory, supported by a Tomayko Foundation Summer Internship Grant.