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St. Catherine's School Turns Intern-Led Collections Work Into Archival Momentum
How two collections interns used Historiq to document campus history across publications, theater materials, art, furniture, books, and artifacts.
St. Catherine's School partnered with Historiq to support hands-on collections work across campus. With a wide range of materials, including alumni magazines, theater posters, books, trophies, founder-related objects, art, furniture, and artifacts, two interns used Historiq's software platform, Una, to bring structure, consistency, and momentum to an ambitious summer archives project.
In less than three weeks, the interns began processing three archival collections and documented nearly 300 individual items. Their work included about 40 alumni magazines, a growing body of theater history materials, and campus objects with historical significance and intrinsic value.
“It's so impressive to me how much can be done on the platform with very professional results and a hierarchy we can continue to build upon. The interns have often informed our thinking about the organization and cataloging, since they occupy a liminal space of thinking as users while also being young professionals eager to learn more about archival work.”
A Workflow Built For Real Collections Work
The St. Catherine's team used Historiq across both desktop and mobile devices. Most cataloging happened on laptops, while phones made it easy to photograph objects in place and attach images to records.
The interns used a combination of voice and typing, leveraging Historiq's AI-assisted workflow to move faster through description. As they became more comfortable, they learned how to give the system higher-level instructions. For example, they could add multiple items to the same category while carrying forward shared location details, making the process faster and easier.
“I found a workflow pretty quickly for the theater collection, and the system got really good at recognizing the structure — multiple posters for the same show, and shows that had been performed more than once.”
That flexibility mattered because the work was varied. Some materials were publications or posters. Others were objects located throughout campus, including items in display cases, boardrooms, and shared spaces. Historiq gave the interns a practical way to document materials where they were, preserve important context, and keep the work moving.
Strong Onboarding, Immediate Productivity
One of the clearest wins was onboarding. The interns described the initial training as clear and practical, with enough context to begin using Historiq almost immediately.
“I was able to start using it either later that day or the next day... it makes the process much easier.”
A short glossary of terms helped smooth the early learning curve, and the interns described the platform as intuitive compared with other museum software they had encountered. Instead of spending days just learning the tool, they were able to start building useful records quickly.
Interns Driving Real Collections Impact
With Historiq, St. Catherine's empowered interns to make meaningful, lasting contributions to its collections.
- Build structured records across three active collection areas.
- Document nearly 300 individual items in under three weeks.
- Capture photographs alongside object descriptions.
- Preserve location context for materials spread across campus.
- Use both voice and typing depending on the task.
- Employ AI-assisted workflows to reduce repetitive cataloging work.
- Start contributing almost immediately after onboarding.
The result was not just a larger body of documentation. It was a stronger, more repeatable workflow for stewarding institutional history.
A Product Shaped By Practitioners
The St. Catherine's project reflects Historiq's product philosophy: build closely with the people doing the work.
As the interns moved through real collections scenarios, their experience helped surface practical opportunities to improve operations and features. What stood out most was Historiq's responsiveness; an issue raised in conversation was addressed and resolved within hours, with a follow-up email arriving later that same day.
That feedback loop is central to Historiq's approach. The product is evolving alongside archivists, collections managers, interns, and institutions doing the day-to-day work of making history usable.
The Impact
For St. Catherine's, Historiq created momentum. The interns were able to move confidently through a wide range of materials, document objects in context, and build structured records that the school can continue to refine and expand.
“It's going really, really well... I feel like we're on a roll at this point.”
For Historiq, the project reinforced the value of designing tools that support real archival workflows: mobile and desktop work, voice and typing, AI-assisted description, image capture, location tracking, and human judgment.
At St. Catherine's, that combination helped early-career collections professionals make meaningful progress quickly and confidently, while building a foundation for the school's ongoing archives work.