Although the footer says otherwise, I am not Melanie, so I thought I would first introduce myself.  My name is Alice Rhodes and I am one of the volunteers at The Rifles Museum.  I am in my third year of an English and History degree from the University of Southampton, and planning to have a career in museums or archives.  Luckily, at the same time I was looking for more experience, The Rifles Museum was looking for volunteer Collection Assistants.

I have been volunteering one day a week since November, and will be sad to leave in June, when it comes time to graduate.  My short time here has been very enjoyable, and allowed me to see some of work that goes into the running of a museum or heritage organisation.

The main task I have been a part of has been accessioning the collection onto Modes, a cataloguing system that allows for the creation of searchable databases and a better understanding of what is in the collection.  This is part of the collections work towards gaining accreditation, whereby it will be fully recognised as a museum.  It also means I get to see a lot of the objects not on display, and learn how to safely handle and package them.  I have also had the opportunity to update the content on this website and the museum’s page on Weebly.

Although my time here has not been very long it has allowed me to see the processes required to keep a collection organised, and allowed me to be involved in one complete project.