Senior Archivist

Barnard College; United States; Hybrid; USD 78,000 - 86,000; Full time

Job summary

Barnard College seeks a Senior Archivist to report to the Director of Archives and Special Collections in the Barnard Library. The role processes and describes archival collections, serves as the first contact for reference, and guides student staff in archival work.

It combines in-person duties with some remote work as needed, within a collaborative team focused on accessibility and scholarship. The ideal candidate will have 5–7 years of archival experience, a MLS, and demonstrated skill with

Qualifications

• 5–7 years of archival experience, including instruction, reference, programming, and outreach.
• Master’s degree in library and information science or equivalent.
• Experience teaching archival workshops in academia.
• Experience supervising student staff.
• Experience collaborating across campus and outreach activities.

Responsibilities

• Provide in-person and remote reference and research support.
• Coordinate reading room activities for researchers and classes.
• Support imaging and digitization projects on demand.
• Deliver introductory primary source instruction sessions.
• Publish finding aids in ArchivesSpace and digitized materials in Archipelago.
• Contribute archival statistics and reporting.

Skills

ArchivesSpace

Archipelago

Islandora

Archive-It

DACS

EAD

MARC

Rights management

Reference support

Communication

Education

Master’s degree in library and information science

Tools

ArchivesSpace

Archipelago

Islandora

Archive-It

Job description

Job: Senior Archivist Reporting to the Director of Archives and Special Collections within the Barnard Library, the Senior Archivist processes, or facilitates the processing of archival collections, serves as the first point of contact for reference services, and coordinates activities in the Barnard Archives and Special Collections reading room. Working in a team environment, the Senior Archivist provides guidance to undergraduate and graduate student staff engaged in archival work. This position is primarily in-person, with flexibility for remote work as needed.

Essential Duties

Reference & Instruction Support

• Provides in-person and remote reference and research support to a diverse range of students, scholars, and visitors.
• Coordinates activities in the reading room, including researcher and classroom visits.
• Supports imaging services, including on-demand and project-based digitization.
• With the Director, provides introductory primary source instruction sessions that orient students and faculty to the Archives and to archival research in general.
• Contributes to compiling statistics about archival collections and their use.

Processing & Description

• Arranges and describes archival records in all formats in accordance with established archival theory and standards.
• Publishes and edits finding aids in Barnard’s archival discovery platform (ArchivesSpace).
• Catalogs and publishes digitized historical materials in Barnard’s Digital Collections platform (Archipelago).

Accessioning & Records Transfer

• Periodically appraises and accessions institutional records, in accordance with existing records retention and disposition schedules, and in collaboration with the Office of General Counsel (OGC), the President’s Office, BCIT, Office of Institutional Effectiveness (OIE), and other stakeholders.
• With the Director, educates campus partners on identifying and saving institutional records of enduring historical value for transfer to the Archives as needed.
• With the Director, assists in accessioning manuscripts and personal papers from sources external to the college.

Skills, Qualifications & Requirements

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

• Expertise in archival accessioning, processing, and description practices, and experience with managing complex processing projects or programs.
• Experience with archival management software such as ArchivesSpace; digital collections software such as Archipelago or Islandora; web archiving software such as Archive-It; and other archival platforms.
• Experience with library and archival descriptive and content standards, including DACS, EAD, MARC, LCSH, and LCNA.
• Experience with processing digital materials, and digital preservation.
• Experience performing archival reference and ability to work with a diverse range of students and other scholars.
• Knowledge of rights administration and management issues for archival collections.
• Flexibility and demonstrated ability to work collaboratively.
• Demonstrated enthusiasm and strategies for making archives collections more broadly accessible.
• Demonstrated critical analysis of archives or the archives profession.
• Evidence of effective oral, written, and interpersonal communication skills.

Required Qualifications

• Master’s degree in library and information science or equivalent program.
• 5-7 years of experience with archival or related work, including experience with instruction, reference, programming, and/or outreach.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working in a university, college, cultural heritage institution, non-profit, or comparable setting.
• Experience teaching archival workshops in an academic environment.
• Experience supervising student staff.

Salary Range: $78,000 - $86,000 The salary of the finalist selected for this role will be set based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to departmental budgets, qualifications, experience, education, licenses, specialty, and training. The above hiring range represents the College's good faith and reasonable estimate of the range of possible compensation at the time of posting.

Company: Barnard College

Time Type: Full time

Barnard is an intellectually stimulating, diverse college community of approximately 800 full- and part-time faculty and staff dedicated to providing an extraordinary educational environment for our 2,600 students.