Student Special Collections Assistant, Kevin Erwin Environmental Ecology Collection

Florida Gulf Coast University; Lexington (MA); On-site; USD 17,000 - 25,000; Part time

Job summary

Florida Gulf Coast University seeks a Student Special Collections Assistant to arrange and digitize the Kevin Erwin Environmental Ecology Collection, preserving ecological history and enabling online access for scholars worldwide. You will develop descriptive metadata, finding aids, and inventories to support research and teaching usage.

The role requires active enrollment at FGCU and involves collaborating with the collection creator to ensure accurate contextual descriptions while advancing

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or current enrollment in environmental studies or related field.
• Enrolled FGCU student at time of hire and throughout appointment.
• Experience with archival processing and digitization is preferred.
• Familiarity with metadata creation and scanning workflows is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Arrange, organize, process, and digitize archival materials using professional standards.
• Research materials to create descriptive metadata, finding aids, inventories.
• Consult with collection creator to capture contextual information.
• Support public access initiatives, including research requests.
• Maintain documentation of processing workflows and progress.

Skills

Research skills

Metadata creation

Digitization equipment experience

Attention to detail

Education

Bachelor’s degree OR pursuing bachelor’s degree in environmental studies, environmental ecology, ecological history, or related field

Currently enrolled student at Florida Gulf Coast University

Tools

Scanning software

Professional archival standards (e.g., DACS)

Job description

Job Summary

The Student Special Collections Assistant supports the arrangement, description, preservation, and digitization of the Kevin Erwin Environmental Ecology Collection. This large, high-impact collection includes ecological surveys, permits, planning documents, maps, photographs, correspondence, field data, and other materials that document the environmental history of Southwest Florida and the development of FGCU. The Student Special Collections Assistant will help make these materials accessible to students, faculty, staff, visiting researchers, and the global scientific community by preparing them for long-term preservation and online access. The position will collaborate directly with ecosystem ecology, Kevin Erwin, to verify and enhance contextual information while this opportunity remains available.

Job Description

Primary Responsibilities:

• Arrange, organize, process, and digitize archival materials using professional archival standards (e.g., DACS) and methods.
• Research the materials to create descriptive metadata, finding aids, and item-level inventories for online and physical access that highlight the scientific purposes and importance of the materials.
• Consult with the collection creator to capture contextual information and ensure accurate description of the materials already in the collection and potential acquisitions to the collection.
• Support public access initiatives, including reproduction requests, research requests, and instructional use.
• Maintain documentation of processing workflows and project progress.

Other Responsibilities:

• Other job-related duties as assigned.

Additional Job Description

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree OR pursuing bachelor’s degree in environmental studies, environmental ecology, ecological history, or related field.
• Currently enrolled student at Florida Gulf Coast University at time of hire and throughout the appointment.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Enrolled in a graduate degree program for environmental studies, environmental ecology, ecological history, or a related field.
• Coursework or experience working with ecological or historical materials.
• Experience with digitization equipment, scanning software, or metadata creation.
• Experience working with large research collections or scientific data.