Vacancy for Digital Collections Officer at Special Collections & Galleries, Leeds University Library

Digital Preservation Coalition; Leeds; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading academic institution in Leeds is seeking a Digital Collections Officer. This role involves surveying, processing, and cataloguing digital archive materials while ensuring adherence to archival standards. Strong understanding of archive principles, excellent IT skills, and effective communication are essential. Join our team to contribute to preserving valuable digital collections for research and education.

Qualifications

• Good understanding of archival principles and challenges of digital archives.
• Confident with IT and willing to learn new systems.
• Excellent problem-solving skills.

Responsibilities

• Surveying, processing, and cataloguing born digital archive materials.
• Extracting metadata, establishing archival structures, and verifying metadata.
• Collaborating with the Digital Archivist and managing rights and permissions.

Skills

Understanding of archival principles

IT confidence

Problem-solving skills

Strong communication skills

Job description

Vacancy for Digital Collections Officer at Special Collections & Galleries, Leeds University Library

21 November 2022

Leeds, West Yorkshire

Full-Time

Do you have a passion for archive collections and making them accessible? Do you have an appreciation of modern archives, their challenges, and opportunities? Are you committed to meeting goals with high-quality outcomes?

Special Collections at the University of Leeds holds outstanding collections, including rare books, archives, the University’s institutional archive, the Stanley and Audrey Burton Art Gallery, and the Treasures of the Brotherton Gallery. Our collections increasingly include born digital and hybrid digital/paper materials. Managing and discovering these collections are major challenges and focus areas for our service, aiming to showcase our distinctive archives for learning, teaching, and research.

Your main responsibility will be surveying, processing, and cataloguing born digital archive materials. You will work on various collections to extract metadata, establish archival structures, and create and verify metadata according to standards. You will collaborate with the Digital Archivist to implement these standards across collections. You will process collections from arrival or capture through to ingestion, creating catalogue records for digital items and managing rights and permissions metadata to facilitate access. You will work closely with colleagues across the Special Collections and broader Library teams.

You should have a good understanding of archival principles and the challenges of digital archives, with the ability to analyze their structure and format. You must be confident with IT, willing to learn new systems quickly, and possess excellent problem-solving skills. Being a team player with strong communication skills is essential, especially in explaining complex policies and procedures to diverse stakeholders.