More Information
About the Center for Primary Research and Training (CFPRT)
The Center for Primary Research and Training (CFPRT) is a UCLA Library Special Collections (LSC) program that equips emerging scholars with the skills to use primary sources effectively. The center pairs graduate students from various academic fields with projects that match their expertise. Since its creation in 2004 — funded by a generous gift from The Ahmanson Foundation — the CFPRT has employed over 200 students. These scholars have processed archival collections, conducted oral histories, curated digital exhibits and contributed to departmental outreach efforts. This important work has made some of the Library’s most valuable resources widely discoverable. The CFPRT is committed to creating a welcoming space for students to work collaboratively, actively participate in the archival process, and engage with primary sources.
Eligibility
Eligibility
Applications are welcome from enrolled UCLA graduate students of any academic discipline.
Terms
The CFPRT hires in two cohorts: Academic term (fall, winter, spring) and the summer term.
- During the academic year, students may work up to 19 hours/week with all campus jobs combined (ASUCLA included)
- CFPRT scholars can work Monday to Friday between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m
- CFPRT scholars are paid $28.00 per hour; Undergraduate Assistants are paid $18.75 per hour
- A commitment of at least 12 hours/week is required
Review Process
CFPRT positions are awarded on a competitive basis. Applications will be evaluated based on the following:
- The availability of projects related to a candidate’s academic background and subject expertise
- The candidate’s expressed desire to work with primary source materials to enhance their research, writing and library skills
- The candidate’s general level of achievement
We will contact strong candidates shortly after they submit their application to arrange an interview and discuss potential projects. Applicants will be notified of their status by email. No phone calls, please.
Center for Primary Research and Training (CFPRT) Student Scholar Positions
The Center for Primary Research and Training (CFPRT) seeks applications from UCLA graduate and undergraduate students for positions that will provide hands-on experience working with archives and special collections materials. CFPRT scholars may work up to 19 hours per week during the academic year, Monday to Friday between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., and are paid $28 per hour or $18.75 per hour. We strongly encourage a minimum of 12 hours per week.
Application deadline for the academic cohort, starting in fall quarter 2026, is September 4, 2026.
To be considered for positions, please send a current resume and statement of interest, including position title, to speccoll-cfprt@library.ucla.edu(opens in a new tab).
Six positions available:
- Processing Scholar: Women in Comedy
- Processing Scholar: Star Trek and Science Fiction
- Processing Scholar: Archival Accruals
- Undergraduate Assistant
- Born Digital Processing Scholar: Mass Activism in Southern California
- AV Preservation Scholar: Los Angeles Creatives
Processing Scholar: Women in Comedy Project - Position Description
Processing or archival experience is not required for the position below.Processing Scholar: Women in Comedy Project
Project duration: Three quarters: Fall, winter, spring 2026-2027
The Women in Comedy Project comprises two new collections, the Louise Fazenda papers and the Carol DeLuise papers, along with two accruals to existing collections, the Phyllis Diller papers and the Fanny Brice papers. All American actresses, Louise Fazenda grew to her height during the silent film era; Carole DeLuise was a frequent collaborator of Mel Brooks and starred in many of his comedic films; Phyllis Diller was a stand-up comedian known for her eccentric stage persona and self-deprecating humor; and Fanny Brice appeared in many film, radio and stage productions and best known for the radio comedy series The Baby Snooks Show. Collection materials encompass personal and professional records, correspondence, ephemera, etc.
The scholar will work alongside processing archivists in LSC to:
- Conduct initial survey and inventory of materials.
- Develop and execute a processing plan.
- Describe archival collections in adherence to UC Guidelines.
- Autonomously process a new collection from beginning to end; physically and intellectually integrate accrual materials into existing collections.
- Create DACS-compliant finding aids in ArchivesSpace for publication on the Online Archive of California (OAC).
- Contribute to outreach activities (blog posts, exhibitions, etc.) to promote access to and discovery of archival materials.
Desired skills: Knowledge of and interest in archival processing, film and television or women in comedy.
Processing Scholar: Star Trek and Science Fiction - Position Description
Processing or archival experience is not required for the position below.
Processing Scholar: Star Trek and Science Fiction Project
Project duration: Three quarters: Fall, winter, spring 2026-2027
The Star Trek and Science Fiction Project comprises a new collection, the Lee Goldberg papers, along with two accruals to existing collections: the Dan Curry papers and the Gene Roddenberry papers.
The Lee Goldberg papers offer valuable insight into behind-the-scenes film and television production, and relates to the increasingly researched genres of sci-fi and fantasy. The Dan Curry papers showcase his work as an Emmy Award-winning visual effects producer, main title designer and fine artist, best known for his work on Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Enterprise. Gene Roddenberry, an American television screenwriter and producer, created Star Trek in 1966. Roddenberry went on to work on other shows and projects, as well as Star Trek feature films and Star Trek: The Next Generation. Collection materials comprise of set designs, cast lists, production documents, personal and professional records, correspondence, etc.
The scholar will work alongside processing archivists in LSC to:
- Conduct initial survey and inventory of materials.
- Develop and execute a processing plan.
- Describe archival collections in adherence to UC Guidelines.
- Autonomously process a new collection from beginning to end; physically and intellectually integrate accrual materials into existing collections.
- Create DACS-compliant finding aids in Archives Space for publication on the Online Archive of California (OAC).
- Contribute to outreach activities (blog posts, exhibitions, etc.) to promote access to and discovery of archival materials.
Desired skills: Knowledge of and interest in archival processing, the Star Trek television and feature films or the science fiction genre.
Processing Scholar: Archival Accruals - Position Description
Processing or archival experience is not required for the position below.
Processing Scholar: Archival Accruals Project
Project duration: Three quarters: Fall, winter, spring 2026-2027
The Archival Accruals Project supports Library Special Collection’s efforts to address our backlog. Many collections in our holdings are fully processed and accessible; however, additional materials have been accessioned. The accruals are in a variety of linear feet and encompass all curatorial areas: Performing Arts, Biomedical, University Archives, Oral History, Los Angeles Community and Cultures and Literary Archives. This is a great opportunity for anyone interested in gaining experience working with a variety of materials across genres, handling varying amounts of linear feet, and integrating additional materials into existing, accessible collections.
The scholar will work alongside processing archivists in LSC to:
- Conduct initial survey and inventory of materials.
- Develop and execute a processing plan.
- Describe archival collections in adherence to UC Guidelines.
- Autonomously process a new collection from beginning to end; physically and intellectually integrate accrual materials into existing collections.
- Update DACS-compliant finding aids in ArchivesSpace for publication on the Online Archive of California (OAC).
- Contribute to outreach activities (blog posts, exhibitions, etc.) to promote access to and discovery of archival materials.
Desired skills: Knowledge of and interest in archival processing, archival backlogs or activities related to expanding collections.
Undergraduate Assistant for the Center for Primary Research and Training - Position Description
Processing or archival experience is not required for the position below.
Undergraduate Assistant for the Center for Primary Research and Training
Project duration: Three quarters: Fall, winter, spring 2026-2027
The Undergraduate Assistant will support the LSC Archivists and CFPRT scholars with activities that facilitate the stabilization, discovery and access of archival materials in Library Special Collections, including labeling, housing and basic archival conservation.
The scholar will work alongside processing archivists in LSC to:
- Assist with labeling, housing and basic archival conservation.
- Provide research assistance.
- Perform data entry and clean-up in information management systems.
- Support the Processing and CFRPT unit in identifying and executing solutions for collections with reported container or description issues.
- Prepare material for onsite and offsite storage.
Desired skills: Knowledge of and interest in archival processing, preparing archival materials for storage or activities related to special collections repositories.
Born Digital Processing Scholar: Mass Activism in Southern California - Position Description
Processing or archival experience is not required for the position below.
Born-Digital Processing Scholar: Mass Activism in Southern California Project
Project duration: Three quarters: Fall, winter, spring 2026-2027
The Mass Activism in Southern California Project brings together 10 archival collections from worker unions, cultural organizations and mass activists struggling for genuine justice in their respective areas of responsibility. The Born-Digital Processing Scholar will be responsible for processing, preserving and making accessible born-digital archival materials in the following collections: Service Employees International Union (SEIU), United Service Workers West records, Alice G. McGrath papers, Southern California Women for Understanding (SCWU) collection, Irene Wolt papers, CLUE records, Yuji Ichioka papers, Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE) records, Blase Bonpane papers, League of Allied Arts records and Zoia Horn papers.
The scholar will work alongside the digital archivist in the Digital Preservation Lab to:
- Develop and execute born-digital processing workflows under the digital archivist's supervision.
- Conduct disk imaging and logical transfer of born-digital archival materials for ingest into LSC Digital Archive, including legacy and obsolete formats and ensure long-term preservation with Archivematica.
- Manage technical metadata and analyze files using forensic tools in the BitCurator Suite.
- Describe born-digital archival collections in adherence to the UC Guidelines for Born-Digital Archival Description.
- Update DACS-compliant finding aids in ArchivesSpace for publication on the Online Archive of California (OAC).
- Contribute to outreach activities (blog posts, exhibitions, etc.) to promote access to and discovery of born-digital archival materials.
These collections document notable worker-led campaigns such as SEIU and CLUE’s “Justice for Janitors,” LAANE’s “Living Wage Ordinance,” and local anti-war campaigns. While the archival manuscript collections have been processed, this project will focus on the born-digital components. Materials include optical discs, floppy disks, hard drives and Zip disks containing campaign materials, organizational records, correspondence and event documentation.
Desired skills: Knowledge of and interest in born-digital archival materials and Southern California social movement histories.
Audiovisual Preservation Scholar: Los Angeles Creatives - Position Description
Processing or archival experience is not required for the position below.
Audiovisual Preservation Scholar: Los Angeles Creatives Project
Project duration: Three quarters: Fall, winter, spring 2026-2027
The CFPRT AV scholar will be based in the AV Preservation unit of the Library’s Conservation and Preservation Department. The position will focus on collection assessment, digitization, metadata work, photo-documentation of original carriers, and basic digital preservation activities across 4 collections highlighting important Los Angeles creative figures, including Wanda Coleman, Eiko Ishioka, Anaïs Nin and June Wayne.
Wanda Coleman audio recordings
Wanda Coleman, also known as The L.A. Blueswoman and The Unofficial Poet Laureate of Los Angeles, was a writer, poet, playwright, screenwriter, journalist, editor and performance artist born in Watts and raised in South Central Los Angeles. Coleman is one of the most widely anthologized and published poets of her generation. This collection contains her work produced between 1960 and 2013, including manuscripts and drafts of her published writing and audio recordings of conversations, poetry readings and live performances.
Eiko Ishioka 8mm films and audio cassettes
Eiko Ishioka was born in Tokyo, with a career that began in Japan and soon branched out into the performing arts; she spent the last several decades of her career mainly designing costumes and/or sets for theater, film, opera and individual performers in Los Angeles and internationally. The archive relates to nearly every aspect of the designer's multi-faceted career, including sketches, production records, photographs and audiovisual materials for numerous projects on microcassette, audiocassette and film.
Anaïs Nin experimental films and audio recordings
Anaïs Nin was a Cuban diarist and novelist born in France who established herself in Los Angeles's creative community in the 1960s. The archive includes manuscripts of Nin's short stories and erotica, correspondence, taped interviews and speeches on audiocassette and reel-to-reel tapes and appearances by Nin in underground films by her husband Ian Hugo.
June Wayne audio and video recordings
June Wayne was an artist, activist and educator born in Chicago who moved to Los Angeles in the 1940s where she became an integral part of the art scene. The collection consists of June Wayne's personal and professional correspondence and documents pertaining to her career as a painter, lithographer, weaver, writer and political and civil activist. The materials also include 271 audio and video recordings of interviews, workshops, speaking engagements and television programs.
The scholar will work alongside AV archivists at the Preservation Lab to:
- Assess audiovisual materials within larger collections, prioritize items and strategize for conservation and preservation reformatting.
- Treat damage and degradation using specialized cleaning solvents and equipment such as the Keith Monks record cleaning machine, scientific oven for baking tapes with sticky shed syndrome and video and audio tape cleaners.
- Digitize a range of analog audiovisual formats including film, videotape, reel-to-reel audio tape, audiocassette and soundscriber discs.
- Use legacy playback equipment for digitization and learn about equipment manufacturing, maintenance and repair.
- Work with modern equipment designed for analog formats such as the Lasergraphics ScanStation.
- Create descriptive and technical metadata for assessed and digitized materials for AV Preservation’s internal database and ingest it into the finding aids for the UCLA Library.
- Produce high-resolution photo documentation of all original carriers and related documents using a flatbed scanner and camera.
- Perform digital preservation on all digitized materials, including QC, fixity verification and file migration using command-line scripts.
Desired skills: Knowledge of and interest in BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ Los Angeles communities and cultures, photography, performance, fashion, feminism and music.
Treasures of the UCLA Library
The Library has released Treasures of the UCLA Library, five short films documenting the history of the CFPRT and highlighting four student projects.
Resources
Part 2: Colonial Mexican Manuscripts
Part 3: Cuneiform Tablets
Part 4: African American Collections
Part 5: Near Eastern Manuscripts
Treasures of the UCLA Library was written, directed and produced by Erin Flannery. The films were made possible through support from the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, Irving and Jean Stone Endowment and University Librarian Discretionary Fund.
