Andrew Phelan Internship

I spent most of this week with the Catholic Textbook Project finalizing the work I began last week. I compiled a document of images to include on the running timeline across the project with the considerations about style and clarity that I talked about last week. Because this is one of the last phases of edits for the textbook project I had to create a much more thorough compilation of possible images for each historical figure and present it directly to my supervisor. This task felt very rewarding as I was able to see the progression of this part of the textbook that I have had so much personal experience with.

My presentation was given to my supervisor and a few other members of the team on Thursday. I focused on having at least three possible images for each figure that not only fit into the needs of the textbook, but also each brought something unique of quality to the project. For example, my original image of St. Patrick from a month ago was of a statue in Ireland that was too washed out when put onto the page. For my revised list I was able to find a statue in a field that had more clarity against the backdrop of the page, a stained-glass depiction of St. Patrick from a church, and a painting from a few centuries after his life. No official decision was made on any of the images at the time of the presentation, but the feedback I received leaves me to believe that my new collection was greatly improved from my last and will be a valuable addition to the editorial staff.

Along with my hands-on work with the project, I have been very involved in meetings and smaller tasks surrounding the project. After over a month of working with this team I have become very familiar with how issues come up and how they are addressed. I am able to sit-in on meetings and conversations and assist the group much more than I was at the beginning of my work. I am really enjoying this phase of my work on the Catholic Textbook Project and look forward to my last few weeks with this team.