Archives at NCBS (The HOSCI Archives) | Archives Software | Applicant Evaluation 
The Archives at NCBS (The HOSCI Archives) is a public centre for the history of science in contemporary India (https://archives.ncbs.res.in/). We are looking for archives software interns who can learn and assist in web development. Interns will be trained in ArchivesSpace and DSpace administration and development, open source platforms used toward digital public access of archival material from the Archives at NCBS. Thanks again for your interest and looking forward to hearing from you.

Qualification: Undergraduate degree in Sciences or Arts in any discipline (Minimum)
Nice to have: Diploma or Degree in Archival Sciences, Library Sciences, Information Sciences

Skills:
Familiarity with managing spreadsheet.
Operational confidence with Linux environment and some command line tools.
Read/follow official technical documentation and tools.

Responsibilities (learning and assisting):
1. Process and analyze spreadsheet data (archival catalog preparatory material).
2. Auditing and revising over 24,000 ArchivesSpace records and over 5,00,000+ DSpace items for compliance (access policy, language, metadata).
3. Bulk updating archival records with new descriptive elements in existing collections -- includes name authorities
4. Use the API endpoints of  ArchivesSpace and DSpace to query, retrieve and update records and items.

Process:
All interested applicants must submit their application by filling up this online questionnaire below.
Short-listed candidates will be invited for a conversation online, following which references may be reached out to, in order to make a final selection.

Version : Sep 1, 2026
Deadline: Sep 15, 2026  
Decision by: Oct 1, 2026

Internship Duration: Three months
Start date: Earliest is Oct 10, 2026 (specific dates flexible)
Location: In-person, Archives at NCBS
Internship compensation: Rs 20,000 per month
Number of positions: 1-2

How:
Via this questionnaire: https://bit.ly/ancbs-internship-dev-aug26
Link to internship call: https://archives.ncbs.res.in/internships#software
Contact: archives-dev@ncbs.res.in

Email *
Name *
Mobile phone contact (Format: 1234567890)
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Please give us the names, affiliations and email addresses for two referees who can speak about you professionally. They will not be contacted without your consent first.
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Please share a resume. To do this, share a website link/URL to a website or cloud-based folder (e.g. Google Drive or Dropbox or OneDrive or your own website) where you have kept your resume. And please make sure it can be opened by anyone without needing a special account. This is the only mode for submitting resumes. Attachments sent to an NCBS email address will be rejected by the server. Thank you!
*
Visit the catalog of the Archives at NCBS. Search for at least one archival folder/object related to software, computers, technology, and share the catalog citation for this. Remember that it has to be an archival entry from the catalog of Archives at NCBS, and it has to be in the citation format shared on the catalog page of the object.  *
While working on the back-end interface of the software tools of the Archives at NCBS and of NCBS, you come across a cybersecurity weakness that can potentially make public (without consent) the contact information of donors from an internal spreadsheet and from donor agreement documents. You are able to identify the cybersecurity weakness, but not able to fix it. Your immediate archiving tech supervisor is not available for one week. The campus IT admin and archiving team are available, but they cannot fix the specific technical problem. As of now, only you are aware of the problem. What are the next few things you can do within this week before your tech supervisor is available? You can also take issue with this case scenario and critique it, including pointing out any specific additional information you need to formulate a response.  
 *
You come across the following archival object with this description:
"This is one page from an album on the processes of the Mysore Sericulture Department in 1925, with a photo with the given caption of 'Grainage-Microscopic Examination'. The photographs in this album are in sequence, from the time of sourcing till the time silk is produced and shipped. MS-012-5-1-4-1, Leslie C Coleman Papers, Archives at NCBS".

Look closer, look around and find more information about the image. Then, take a shot at choosing words from two controlled vocabulary databases: Library of Congress Name Authority File (https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names), and Library of Congress Subject Headings (https://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects). Linger with the object, think about all the stories that inhabit it, and find matching names of people or subjects from these two databases. Make sure that what you choose is from these two databases, and make sure that what you choose is something that can be seen/read in the object. Ingenuity and diversity above and beyond the obvious is a good aim.

*
Captionless Image
It is the year 2063. You are the guiding archivist who is called to advise for an archive of Vishwanathan Anand. This includes personal letters, photos, WhatsApp messages, emails on Microsoft Outlook, and smartphone images of draft notes of various chess moves from his training days. This inventory is written on a Post-It note in a bag that has one USB stick, with all the data. WhatsApp, USB ports and Microsoft Outlook are not used in 2063, and no tools are available readily to access this. You happen to have a cable and USB port device to access Anand's 2020s device and see the 'data' on your old 'laptop'. You read one document signed and authored by Vishwanathan Anand that he wants all of this data accessible in the year 2100 and not before. What advice do you have on ethics of access, data storage, preservation and future retrieval in 2100. Not more than one paragraph, please.  *
You are given two lists.

A list of folder identifiers
MS-011_1_1_1_1, MS-011_1_1_1_1, MS-011_1_1_1_1...MS-011_1_2_6_341...MS-011_6_1_6_341

A list of scanned jpeg files with filenames
MS-011_1_1_1_1_J_0001.jpg, MS-011_1_1_1_1_J_0002.jpg....MS-011_1_1_1_1_J_0582.jpg

Your tasks:
1. Generate test data of atleast 500 folder identifiers and atleast 50000 jpeg filenames. 
2. Given the test data write a script (in a scripting language of your choice) or pseudocode to bucket the jpeg files against their corresponding folders -- show a structured output in any text format.

To send test data / pseudocode, if needed (if space below is not enough), share a website link/URL to a website or cloud-based folder (e.g. Google Drive or Dropbox or OneDrive or your own website) for your response. Please make sure it can be opened by anyone without needing a special account.

Submitting code written with LLM-assistance is allowed.
If you are using agentic tools (Claude Code, GitHub Co-pilot, Cursor, Codex or others) we would like to see screenshot of your prompts and instruction files (CLAUDE.MD, copilot-instructions.md or others) 
This would allow us to evaluate your comfort and efficiency, working with agentic tools.

When agentic tools are used, we will only consider submission that are made openly accessible on a code repository. Please add the link to the repository in the answer below.
 *
You work for a local library that intends to make its information-dense catalogue available to the public and have been tasked with developing a maintenance and security framework. Your library requires its application to be available to the general public at all times. What technical challenges do you you anticipate while making the catalogue? How would you mitigate / resolve these challenges?
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What interests you about this potential work at the Archives at NCBS, why do you want to do this, what ideas do you want to share to push the boundaries of what this place is about, and what expectations do you have from it? (maximum 2500 character count)
*
A copy of your responses will be emailed to the address you provided.
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