An Interview with Ethan Sea Yoon Shim, Collection Services Intern

Today’s interview is with Ethan Sea Yoon Shim, a summer intern working in the Collection Services Division at the Law Library of Congress.

Describe your background.

I was born and raised in Seoul, Korea; I moved to the States in 2005. As a student attending James Madison University, I obtained experience in art and artifact exhibitions. The first museum was the artWorks Gallery, which is a student-run art museum exhibiting art pieces done by students. I also worked at the Lisanby Museum, which is more well-known to the general public. There I worked on exhibitions of Rembrandt, Mennonites, and Charles Lisanby.

What is your academic/professional history? 

I’m pursuing history and computer science at James Madison University.

How would you describe your job to other people? 

Currently, I am working on the Gazette Guide Project, which consists of developing a spreadsheet and using the Library’s catalog to compile information about global legal gazettes. The project also involves evaluating content of gazettes in different languages. It demands some degree of language proficiency, so I have been studying various languages as well.

Why did you want to work at the Law Library of Congress?

Working at the Law Library of Congress was very relevant to what I wanted to do. My experience at the Library of Congress last year involved working with many languages and researching different countries. Specifically, I worked with Korean and Japanese gazettes. However, the difference between last year and this year is the new level of exposure to different languages and knowledge.

What is the most interesting fact you have learned about the Law Library of Congress?

I was very surprised by the sheer volume of information and the handling of these collections that the Library of Congress has acquired over the years. Also, the diversity of the collection was another factor that I found fascinating. It literally is a “sea of information”, incorporating various ways to acquire, preserve, and store the collections.

What’s something most of your co-workers do not know about you? 

Occasionally I enjoy classical music, particularly Bach, Mozart, and Giovanni Gabrieli. Quite a large number of people find this surprising for some reason.