My whole thought process on digital public humanities changed with this internship. I went into working with the Smithsonian, thinking I would be performing the tasks I did in my classes leading up. Much of the work had me creating websites and digital exhibits based on a historical topic or question I was interested in. That led me to believe I would do the same type of work. That changed when and after I started my internship. As I have said in previous blog posts, I was unsure about working with the National Collection Program. I thought I would be assigned to a specific museum and focus on a historical topic as I had in my classes. I also said previously that I was unsure about the project given to me and did not understand how it fit into digital public humanities. However, my thoughts and ideas have changed at this point in the internship. I realize now that the digital public humanities field is much bigger than I had originally thought. Similar to in-person museum and humanities work, other digital jobs fit under that umbrella. My work mapping the Collection Emergency Events that happened across the Smithsonian is just as essential as creating a digital or physical exhibit. There is not one task that defines the public humanities. I wonder what other tasks fit under that ever-widening umbrella. This internship made me realize there are several more career options than I could ever dream of, especially in the digital field. 

            Another aspect that I did not realize was a significant part of the digital public humanities is the collaboration that happens on projects. All of my other projects in the classes leading up to the internship had me working by myself. Occasionally, another classmate would give me feedback. Still, for the most part, they were projects I had only worked on. As with the types of jobs that fit under the umbrella, working with the National Collection Program changed my viewpoint. The project I am currently working on has me connecting with people across the institution. I am also working closely with my mentor and the GIS team, creating the mapping program. It has opened my eyes to the importance of having several people working on a project, even if it is digital. I wonder what kind of projects I could have created if I had worked with another classmate in my classes.