Research Archivist

Colby College; Waterville (ME); On-site; USD 66,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

Colby College Libraries seeks a Research Archivist, a faculty librarian position within Special Collections & Archives. The role oversees processing and care of manuscript collections, provides specialized research services to Colby and external scholars, and supports the Archives Education program.

The Research Archivist engages in reference leadership, digitization collaboration, and supervision of student workers to promote scholarly engagement and access to Colby’s historical materials.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in library science is required.
• Minimum of two years of experience in special collections/archives including archival research and manuscript processing.
• Experience with library systems and archival management software, preferably ArchivesSpace and JSTOR.

Responsibilities

• Lead archival reference services and provide research support for campus and community users.
• Coordinate archival research appointments and manage the department’s research spaces.
• Collaborate with SC&A faculty to enhance accessibility and discoverability of collections.
• Manage physical manuscript processing workflows and ArchivesSpace.
• Create workflows and guidelines for processing manuscripts.
• Collaborate on digitization projects to promote outreach and scholarly engagement.
• Supervise and train student workers in archival processing.
• Assist with planning department visits and events.
• Prepare departmental statistics for reports and maintain procedures.

Skills

Research skills

Attention to detail

Communication skills

Team collaboration

Professional development

Organizational skills

Education

Master’s degree in library science

Tools

ArchivesSpace

JSTOR

Integrated Library Systems (ILS)

Job description

Department: Special Collections & Archives, Colby College Libraries

Pay Rate Type: Salary

Employee Type: Full-Time Faculty

Reports to: Associate Director and Head of Special Collections & Archives

The Research Archivist is a faculty librarian position within the Special Collections & Archives department of the Colby Libraries. This position oversees the processing and care of our manuscript collections, provides specialized research services to Colby and external scholars, and supports the Archives Education program.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Serves as lead for archival reference services and inquiries, developing collection expertise and offering research support, contextual information, and patron assistance for campus and community users.
• Coordinates archival research appointments, ensuring high-quality patron services. Manages the department’s research spaces.
• Works in collaboration with the other SC&A faculty to make collections more accessible and discoverable.
• Manage physical manuscript collections processing and workflows.
• Manages the department’s ArchivesSpace instance.
• Creates and documents workflows and guidelines for processing physical manuscript collections.
• Collaborates with the Digital Archives Librarian and Collections Coordinator to identify collections and materials for potential digitization projects that will promote outreach and support instruction and scholarly engagement.
• Supervise and instruct student workers in archival processing best practices.
• Assists with the planning and staffing of department group visits and events.
• Helps to create/collect departmental statistics for administrative reports.
• Maintains documentation and communication of procedures to ensure work consistency and quality.
• Participates on library committees and/or working groups and completes other assignments as needed.
• Assists the Archives Education Librarian with the Archives Education Program as needed.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Master’s degree in library science (required)
• Minimum of two years of experience in special collections and/or archives, including direct experience performing archival research and processing manuscript collections (required)
• Experience with library systems, particularly integrated library systems catalogs, and archival collections management software, preferably ArchivesSpace and JSTOR (required)
• Demonstrated knowledge of archival metadata standards such as DACS, EAD, Dublin Core, AAT, LCGFT (required)
• Familiarity with fundamental principles of research
• Must be customer-service oriented with excellent interpersonal, communication, and organizational skills
• Strong written and verbal communication skills in professional settings
• Experience with detail-oriented tasks with attention to detail, accuracy, and best practices concerning confidentiality
• Ability to establish priorities when working both independently and as a member of a collaborative team
• Demonstrated ability to complete detailed work with minimal supervision and a high degree of accuracy
• Must be flexible, curious and committed to ongoing professional development

The salary for this position is $73,000. Review of applications will begin immediately.

Colby is a private, coeducational liberal arts college that admits students and makes personnel decisions on the basis of the individual’s qualifications to contribute to Colby’s educational objectives and institutional needs. The principle of not discriminating on the basis of race, color, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, religion, caste, national or ethnic origin, marital status, genetic information, political beliefs, veteran or military status, parental status, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, physical or mental disability unrelated to the job or course of study requirements is consistent with the mission of a liberal arts college and the law.