Digital Preservation Specialist (Temporary)

Motown Museum; Detroit (MI); On-site; USD 40,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

Join a dynamic team at a renowned cultural institution as a Digital Preservation Specialist. This temporary full-time position offers the chance to support the Archives and Collections department by developing digital preservation policies and workflows. You will work closely with collections staff to maintain and digitize a variety of materials, ensuring their integrity and accessibility. If you are passionate about preserving cultural heritage and have a keen eye for detail, this role is perfect for you. Embrace the opportunity to contribute to the legacy of Motown while working in a collaborative environment that values creativity and innovation.

Qualifications

• Master's degree in a related field preferred with proficiency in digital preservation.
• 2+ years experience digitizing and preserving digital assets; museum experience is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Prepare and digitize materials while ensuring quality and integrity.
• Implement digital preservation policies and manage workflows for digital assets.

Skills

Digital Preservation Practices

Attention to Detail

Multitasking

Quality Control Assessments

Metadata Creation

Education

Master’s Degree in Information Science

Experience in Digitization

Experience in Museum Collections

Tools

Adobe Creative Suite

MS Office

Digital Imaging Equipment

Collection Management System (Qi)

Job description

Digital Preservation Specialist (Temporary)

About Motown Museum

In the 1960s, Hitsville U.S.A. was buzzing with activity. These modest buildings on Detroit’s West Grand Boulevard housed dozens of the music industry’s most talented, passionate and successful people. More than half a century later, the walls of Motown Museum continue to hold that entrepreneurial energy for its staff—and you could be part of our team.

As a museum and cultural institution, we seek to hire talented and skilled individuals interested in careers, internships, and volunteers across a variety of functions—including staff for collections, programming, fund development, guest services, retail, management, and more.

Overview

The Digital Preservation Specialist supports the Archives and Collections department with stewarding the digitized and born-digital assets of the Motown Museum’s collections. The position is responsible for developing a digital preservation policy and sustainable workflows for managing and preserving the digital assets of the Collection and overseeing digitization activities of physical materials. Working closely with the Archives and Collections staff, this position shall maintain proper handling, documentation, and storing of all collection materials in accordance with industry standards and best practices. The Digital Preservation Specialist reports to the Director of Archives and Collections and will work closely with the Collections and Curatorial staff.

Essential Functions

1. Prepare materials for digitization in consultation with the Collections and Curatorial teams.
2. Operate specialized equipment and software for scanning and imaging of a variety of formats, including photographic materials, printed materials, oversize items, and 3D objects.
3. Conduct quality control assessments to ensure the accuracy and integrity of digitized/digital content.
4. Work with the Collections team to create descriptive and technical metadata for preservation of and access to digitized/digital assets.
5. Maintain and troubleshoot digitization and imaging equipment.
6. Implement digital preservation policies, processes, and workflows to ensure the integrity, preservation of, and access to these digitized/digital assets.
7. Coordinate the transfer of born-digital and digitized materials from current formats and utilize digital preservation tools to ensure authenticity, preservation, and access.
8. Catalog and link digital content in collection management system (Qi).
9. Work with IT contractors to develop and maintain a digital preservation program.
10. Work closely with Digital Media Curator on web archiving projects as developed.

Qualifications

1. Proficiency in digital preservation practices and standards as they relate to museum collections.
2. Experience with digital preservation tools and software.
3. Experience using, calibrating, and maintaining digital imaging equipment and software, including flatbed scanners, DSLR cameras, and medium format cameras.
4. Experience with imaging software applications, Adobe Creative Suite, and MS Office programs.
5. Knowledge of still image capture workflows, including working with TIFF/RAW image formats.
6. Demonstrated familiarity with national and international digitization guidelines such as the Federal Agencies Digital Guidelines Initiatives (FADGI) and archival metadata standards.
7. Experience managing digitization workflows.
8. Familiarity with archival and/or collection management software.
9. Ability to safely handle and transport fragile and rare collection artifacts; adherence to security, privacy, and confidentiality practices.
10. High attention to detail.
11. Ability to multitask and work well under pressure, while remaining flexible and adaptable.

Supervisory Responsibility

Yes – interns

Standard open office work environment shared with co-workers, with related phone, computer and printer noise. Position requires ability to operate a computer and other office productivity machinery, software, and systems; The person in this position occasionally communicates with public membership and staff who have inquiries and must be able to exchange accurate information in these situations.

Demands/Strength

While performing the duties of this position, the employee is regularly required to sit and stand for long periods of time, hear, talk, handle, grasp, feel, repetitive movement, and use eye/hand/foot coordination. The employee is occasionally required to lift up to 30 lbs. This position requires light work with occasional physical effort.

Environmental Conditions

Moderate noise and occasional temperature changes.

Position Type/Expected Hours of Work

Temporary full-time hourly. 35 – 40 hours/week

Travel

Some travel. Must have a valid driver’s license and proof of insurance.

Education/Experience

1. Master’s degree in information science, digital preservation, or a related discipline preferred.
2. Proficiency in digital preservation practices and standards required.
3. Photography and digitization experience required.
4. Minimum of two (2) years of experience digitizing and/or preserving digital assets; may include internship experience and education.
5. Minimum of one (1) year of experience working with collections in a museum or similar environment; may include internship experience.