First for our Finnish readers: 

Työharjoittelu Amerikassa voisi olla joillekin suomalaisille liian suuri pala, mutta minä lähdin rohkeasti matkaan. Työpaikkana Maryland State Archives on ehkä hieman outo tulevalle IT-ammattilaiselle. Alkuun olikin vaikeuksia hahmottaa, että Archivesin päätehtävä on varastoida ja entisöidä kaikki vanhat sanomalehdet, oikeusistunto asiakirjat ja vastaavat viralliset dokumentit. Pääasiahan oli tulla tänne työkokemusta hakemaan joten... Nyt kun työharjoittelujakso on jo edennyt yhden kolmanneksen on aika katsella hieman saavutettuja tavoitteita. Tavoitteena oli saada oppia ja tuntumaa lähiverkkoihin ja muihin siihen liittyviin tekniikoihin. Tähän mennessä olen perehtynyt jo lähiverkotustekniikkaan ja DSL-verkotukseen. Yhtenä tehtävänä minulla on ollut verkkosivustopalvelimen
lokitiedostoanalysointiohjelmistojen vertailu. Vertailu on tullut siihen pisteeseen että, olen tehnyt jo alustavia valintoja. Nyt odottelen uuden laitteiston saapumista, jotta valitsemiani ohjelmistoja voidaan testata realistisissa olosuhteissa. Olen ollut myös vastuussa verkon kuvauksesta, ja olen piirtänyt kuvaukset jo melkein kaikista verkoista. Olen oppinut todella paljon jo kuluneiden kahden kuukauden aikana, mutta onneksi minulla on neljä viihtyisää kuukautta edessä. 

And now for the rest of the world: 

I am senior at Pohjois-Savo Polytechnic in Finland with a major in computer science. Our study program requires us to do a six month work placement in the real world. So I will stay a bit longer than other interns. The only requirement for our work placement is that it has to be in computers. And now I am here working as a computer network specialist trainee. My first project concerned the evaluation

Throughout my summer as an archival intern, I have been involved in many aspects of the fledgling Register of Wills project. For legal researchers, family genealogists, and history lovers alike the vast holdings managed by the registers of wills are of undisputed historical and legal value. 

One of my first tasks was to pull together series descriptions from several sources for the future development of standardized versions. Most of the work was more technical as the Archives examined hardware and software for handling images of records. Equipment used during the project included a Wicks & Wilson microfilm scanner, Zeutschel planetary scanner, and Epson 836XL flatbed scanner. Using Visioneer PaperPort 6.1 Deluxe, I determined quality control methods (i.e., cropping, straightening edges, adjusting contrast, and sharpening) that were applied to numerous records, many of which were low quality source documents. 

While evaluating numerous software programs that enhance, convert, compress, and batch process image files, I conducted extensive experiments and test procedures for image enhancement and web presentation. These experiments allowed the Register of Wills project staff to compare output quality and determine the best image editing software programs. In addition, we dealt with and compared the relative advantages and disadvantages of TIF, GIF, JPEG, and MAX file types, as well as Group IV and LZW compression of TIF files. 

The Register of Wills project will be ongoing for many years, and the Archives is well equipped to blaze this trail for online probate research. 

Most of my internship has involved researching and learning as much as I could about the history and functions of the office of the Secretary of State. Compiling the history entailed hours of searching the laws of Maryland and then deciphering and placing them in context with the numerous duties given that office. Many revisions later, the agency history was presented to the current Secretary of State, John T. Willis, and eventually will be available online. 

Further research of the events leading up to the creation of the office of the Secretary of State in 1837 developed into the most fascinating aspect of the internship. Examined were histories of the time period in order to understand the political happenings of the 1830s, proceedings of the Governor and Council, House and Senate journals, and a letter written by Governor Thomas Veazey. 

Other activities this summer consisted of writing series descriptions for newly transferred records of the Secretary of State and developing standardized series descriptions for the more common Register of Wills records.