Preservation Audio Engineer positions at British Library

International Association of Sound and Audiovisual Archives; City Of London; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

A prominent national institution based in London is seeking Preservation Audio Engineers to support the safeguarding of recorded sound collections. Candidates will manage digital transfers and create metadata while ensuring compliance with international standards. A relevant degree or equivalent experience is essential, along with skills in audio technology and preservation practices.

Qualifications

• Thorough understanding of audio recording and playback technologies.
• Experience with digital preservation tools and standards.
• Ability to assess audio quality through listening.

Responsibilities

• Produce digital transfers of sound recordings.
• Create technical metadata for digital audio files.
• Quality check digital transfers and manage digital files.

Skills

Audio recording technologies

Digital audio workstations

Metadata creation

IT skills

Education

Degree-level qualification in audio archiving

Job description

Preservation Audio Engineer positions at British Library

Submitted by Richard Ranft on Fri, 20/02/2015 - 11:58

Full time, Fixed Term Contract for 1 Year (1 April 2015 to 31 March 2016)

We have four vacancies for Preservation Audio Engineers to support the safeguarding of the British Library’s recorded sound collections as part of a large-scale preservation programme.

Main tasks will include producing digital transfers of sound recordings from endangered media in the British Library’s collections to internationally agreed standards and according to agreed targets, creating technical metadata relating to digital audio files, assessing and quality checking digital transfers and related metadata, managing digital files held on networked storage, logging digitisation work carried out and providing progress reports.

Candidates will have a relevant degree-level qualification or equivalent experience in a professional audio archive, be able to demonstrate a thorough understanding of and familiarity with audio recording, playback and transfer technologies, and have an in-depth knowledge of both obsolete sound carriers and contemporary digital formats.

Applicants will have proven experience in using digital audio workstations, creating metadata relating to digital audio resources, strong IT skills and an ability to assess the quality of audio recordings by listening.

Knowledge and understanding of theories, tools and processes relating to digital preservation and experience in working with metadata formats and standards such as MARC21, RDA, XML and METS are desirable.