Metadata Integration Specialist

National Museum of Wildlife Art; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

The Getty Research Institute's GPI department seeks a collaborative and innovative Metadata Integration Specialist to contribute to a new Linked Open Data environment. The role leads in metadata creation, curation, mapping, and ingestion into Arches, and applies semantic data standards to support interoperability and reuse.

You will work with the Arches Product Manager and GRI teams to develop workflows, document procedures, and test new technologies.

Qualifications

• Master's degree in library and information science, digital humanities, or related field.
• 2+ years related professional experience in art or cultural heritage setting preferred.
• Familiarity with linked data models, Arches platform, or graph databases is a plus.
• Technical expertise in data analysis, data management workflows and standards.

Responsibilities

• Research, create, and curate metadata of advanced complexity for art provenance research.
• Develop new workflows and facilitate adoption of new technologies and skills.
• Apply semantic data standards and best practices for data interoperability.
• Perform data cleaning, transformations, analysis, and reporting with OpenRefine and SPARQL.
• Ensure metadata crosswalks, mapping, and semantic integration into Arches.
• Create and maintain scripting processes (e.g., Python) for automating workflows.

Skills

Team collaboration

Semantic data standards

Data analysis

Communication

Education

Master's degree in library and information science, digital humanities, cultural heritage, or related discipline

Tools

OpenRefine

SPARQL

Python

Git / Github

Arches

XML / JSON

Job description

Job Summary

The Getty Provenance Index (GPI) department at the Getty Research Institute (GRI) seeks a collaborative and innovative Metadata Integration Specialist to contribute to the team's new Linked Open Data (LOD) environment. The candidate will play a key role in the development and implementation of semantic data workflows to produce and maintain open, structured, and linkable evidence-based data in the GPI's instance of Arches, an open-source software platform for managing cultural heritage data.

A pioneering digital resource for art provenance, collecting, and art markets research, the GPI provides open access to data about ownership of artworks from primary sources dating as far back as the 16th century. As the Arches expert user in the department, the candidate will lead in the development, documentation and execution of workflows and practices for metadata creation, curation, mapping, and ingestion into Arches. The candidate will also apply knowledge of international semantic data standards and computational methods for linked data analysis, manipulation, and enrichment that support data interoperability and reuse. Additionally, this position provides an opportunity to shape continued efforts across the GRI to create and leverage metadata to enhance integrated discovery and access to collections and related digital content as well as to play a critical role in the larger LOD and Arches community at Getty.

Major Job Responsibilities

• Works with a team to research, create, and curate metadata of advanced complexity to support art provenance and humanities research
• Leverages expertise to develop new workflows and facilitate the team's adoption of new technologies and skills
• Applies advanced knowledge of established semantic data standards and best practices
• Facilitates and/or completes data cleaning and transformations, as well as data analysis and reporting using tools such as OpenRefine and SPARQL
• Ensures the technical requirements for metadata crosswalks, mapping, and semantic data integration into Arches
• Creates, maintains, and/or contributes to scripting processes for automating departmental workflows or tasks (e.g. using Python), related to both Arches and legacy workflows and systems
  Initiates and/or participates in the testing and analysis of proposed new technologies, Arches functionalities, procedures, projects, and external data contributions
• Contributes to documentation of standards and procedures; produces data-driven analysis and reports
• In conjunction with the Arches Product Manager in Getty Digital, tests and requests updates to Arches related to data models and system configurations; communicates new development requirements, and collaborates with other GRI units using the platform
• Works in partnership with the Arches Product Manager in Getty Digital and the Research Engagement and Outreach Specialist in the GRI to develop links between the Arches community and the GPI
• Collaborates within and outside the department to identify cross-functional and/or cross-entity partnerships to facilitate metadata reuse and enrichment
• Contributes to departmental outreach activities by researching, writing, presenting, and publishing about work activities and data collections

Qualifications

• Master's degree in library and information science, digital humanities, cultural heritage field, or related discipline
• 2+ years related professional experience, preferably in an art-related or cultural heritage organization
• Preferred familiarity with technical documentation of linked data models, systems, and data management workflows; familiarity with the Arches platform or graph databases is a plus
• Technical expertise in computational methods and demonstrated experience with tools for data analysis and data management workflows.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Ability to thrive in and contribute to team-based and collaborative environments
• An interest in the intersections of art history, digital technologies, and data-driven research practices
• Knowledge of metadata standards, tools, frameworks, and best practices
• Technical expertise in working with large bodies of complex data and fundamentals of data interoperability; familiarity with CSV, XML, JSON, OpenRefine, Python, Git, and Github; readiness to develop expertise with these tools and lead in their adoption within the team
• Experience with techniques for metadata creation and reconciliation highly desirable; familiarity with technical report writing
• Basic understanding of linked data and the semantic web; will require developing expertise with CIDOC-CRM and Linked.Art, JSON-LD and SPARQL
• Will require developing expertise in working in Arches, which is used and maintained by a robust international community of users
• Knowledge of new developments in the linked data community
• Excellent written and oral communication skills
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills
• Ability to conceptualize work within broader GRI goals and objectives
• Demonstrated ability to interact with a wide variety of audiences, both specialized and general