To host a 10-week internship to equip a student with the skills to create an interactive e-learning resource to train staff on integrated pest management (IPM). The intern will use Lynda.com to learn Captivate software which will be used to create an engaging and interesting learning programme. Topics will include: an introduction to IPM; common pests found in library and archival collections; damage caused by these pests; how to monitor for pest activity; and what to do if you find a pest.

To make the best use of time, the student will be provided with the information needed to create this resource by conservation staff. However, the student will decide how to present the information in an appealing and stimulating way. Testing the learning resource will take place during the project, and a presentation at the end of the internship will showcase the outcomes of the project. When complete, all members of staff at the CRC will be asked to complete the e-learning programme, and this will also become a part of the induction for new staff, volunteers and interns. This would be a great improvement on the current process as currently no training is given in house. This educational tool will also be freely available online, with the potential of being used worldwide. 

The internship will be used as a pilot project to see if further e-learning resources on other conservation topics (for example, disaster response and salvage, environmental monitoring, and rehousing) could be developed for training using this format. It is intended that this internship be a part of the Employ.ed programme (note of interest to be submitted in November). However, if this is unsuccessful, we will run this internship independently using a similar timeframe.