Internships and Volunteer Opportunities
with Connexions


The Connexions Archive and Library is an independent non-profit research organization and information clearinghouse (founded 1975) which produces electronic and print resources supporting social, economic and environmental alternatives, human rights, civil liberties, and grassroots activism. (See the About page for more details.)

We are a volunteer-based organization. We have opportunities for people with computer skills (Linux/Apache, PHP, MySQL, networking, hardware), HTML skills, editors, translators, photographers, people to help maintain the Connexions directory of associations, people to help develop our online archive of social change materials, and people with fundraising and marketing skills.

Connexions is located in downtown Toronto. To apply, use this contact form.
Please include some information about your skills and experience. A covering letter or resume is helpful, but not essential. Please indicate your availability, e.g. number of hours per week you would be interested in volunteering, and whether there are days or times of day which are good for you or when you are not available. Note that the Connexions Archive is open weekdays: we are not open evenings or weekends.



Computer Support – Troubleshooting - Maintenance - Linux - SQL - PHP
We need volunteer(s) with solid computer skills to help us with troubleshooting and trouble-preventing (maintenance) as well as with sustaining and improving our (Linux) servers. Knowledge of Linux, PHP, MySQL, and HTML would be valuable. If you have skills and experience with MySQL databases, PHP, Linux, server administration or related areas, we can use your help.

Design (print and web) and website/HTML work
 We need help with our website, ranging from page design and redesign, to turning electronic text into HTML pages for the website, to tweaking and improving existing pages on the site. We also need help from time to time with designing and producing print publications and promotional materials.

Office Assistant
 We need help with a variety of office tasks, including data entry, typing, sorting and organizing documents, updating our databases (of media, books, articles, organizations, images, etc.) and creating digital versions of paper documents so they can be made available via the Internet and in other formats.

Tasks may include:
- Adding and updating information in our databases.
- Scanning publications & documents
- Typing texts which can't easily be scanned
- If you have basic web/HTML skills (or wish to learn them), you could also help with creating and updating online versions of documents.
- Keeping track of various projects using spreadsheets and scheduling documents.


Fundraising/Marketing Co-ordination
Helping to plan, co-ordinate, and implement fundraising and marketing strategy and priorities.

Marketing and Fundraising Internships
Connexions offers a four- to six-month unpaid internship as a Marketing or Fundraising Intern. Responsibilities may include copywriting, phone surveys, market research, prospecting, networking, attendance at meetings and trade shows, and helping to produce customer newsletters, Web pages, and other marketing materials.
You will gain experience in a range of marketing tasks, working for an organization focused on producing services and publications for and about the news media, and for organizations looking for media attention.
You should have a flair for copywriting, an interest in the news media, an awareness of current events, and a desire to gain marketing experience. Computer and Web literacy are important attributes.
For individuals with interest in the project but with less time to commit, part-time volunteer positions are also available.
The Connexions office is in downtown Toronto.
To apply, use the Contact page.

Executive Assistant
This is an opportunity to gain hands-on experience in co-ordinating and organizing a wide range of responsibilities. This could be for you if you are a well-organized, energetic self-starter and team player. Use form to send a message.

e-Archive Internships
Connexions offers a four- to six-month unpaid internship as an e-Archivist: working on developing a Web-based electronic archive of alternative publications and resources. The project involves the digitization and e-publishing of print materials produced by activists, organizers, and community groups. Materials being digitized include newspapers, newsletters, posters, flyers, and other printed materials. Responsibilities include scanning materials, including OCR scanning of text, proofreading, conversion of materials into HTML and PDF formats, page design, subject indexing, abstracting, link creation, research, copyright checking, and correspondence.
You will gain solid experience in working with an information clearinghouse with a 37-year history of compiling, preserving, and publishing materials concerned with social justice and activism.
You should have enough relevant education/experience to feel comfortable with this kind of work, a near-obsessive concern for accuracy and detail, an excellent command of English, and the ability to work well with others. A sense of humour always helps.
For individuals with interest in the project but with less time to commit, part-time volunteer positions are also available.
The Connexions office is in downtown Toronto.
To apply, use the contact form.

Translators
Connexions maintains an online archive of documents which it aims to make freely available in several languages where possible. Translators are needed to translate documents, and terms in our comprehensive subject index, from English into other languages. The greatest need is for English-to-French translation. Also needed are translators able to translate from English to German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Polish, Swedish, and possibly other languages. We are still working on developing the ability to display non-Roman character sets (e.g. Chinese, Arabic, Farsi, Greek, Japanese, Korean) on our website. Anyone with experience in doing this on a Linux server would be much appreciated.

Writers, Reviewers, Editors
We welcome writers, reviewers, and editors to contribute content to the Connexions Web site.
We abstract and review a wide range of books, periodicals, and other materials related to social and environmental issues. We are particularly looking for people to edit, revise, and improve encyclopedia-style articles for Connexipedia.
We are also looking for section editors to help find and select articles and resources for the Focus sections on the Connexions site. These are clusters of resources, articles, websites, current news, etc. focusing on particular subject areas such as civil liberties and human rights; environment and sustainability; media for social change (including both alternative media and how to make use of the mainstream media); gay and lesbian issues; First Nations/Native Peoples; journalism and writing; women's issues; urban issues; sexuality; and Palestine/Israel. We need editors with good political and editorial judgement to select current and archival content for these sections.
Sample Abstracts: Aboriginal Ontario - The Earthscan Action Handbook - I Have Lived Here Since the World Began    - Imagine Democracy - Land and Community - Oracle Bones - Race Against Time - Stolen Continents   

Scanning Posters, Photos, Book and Magazine Covers
We try to include an image of book and magazines covers with their bibliographic records in the Connexions Library/Archive. This involves scanning the cover and saving it as a suitable image for online. We are also continually scanning photos, flyers, posters, and other images.

Documentaries & Films
Work on adding information about recent and current documentaries, as well as film projects from the past, such as the Workers’ Film and Photo League of the 1930s, the Newsreel project on the 1970s, and films distrubuted by DEC films in the 1970s and 1980s.





Brief History of Connexions
A quick overview of Connexions’ origins and development.

Connexions entry in Wikipedia
What Wikipedia has to say about Connexions.

Contact page
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Keywords: Internships, volunteering, Toronto, volunteer opportunities, social justice, environment, international development, writing, editing, research, marketing, networking, alternatives, human rights, civil liberties, translation internships, website interns, Canada.