Processing Archivist

Title: Processing Archivist

Employee Classification: Library Production Manager

Campus: University of North Texas

Division: UNT-Provost

SubDivision-Department: UNT-University Library

Department: UNT-University Library-Gen-141000

Job Location: Denton

Salary: Depending on qualifications with a minimum of $39,600.00.

FTE: 1.000000

Retirement Eligibility: TRS Eligible

About Us - Values Overview

Department Summary

As the most-used service on campus and an essential component of education and research at the University of North Texas, the Libraries offer access to more than 6 million items (print and digital) along with expert personnel to assist patrons in achieving their academic and scholarly goals. We provide innovative programs and support to enhance the relationship between teaching and learning at the University of North Texas.

The Special Collections department collects and preserves rare and unique research materials for use by students, scholars, and the public. The department consists of five highly collaborative units; Digital Collections, Preservation, Processing/Description, Public Services/ Outreach, and University Archives. Special Collections offers unique experiences to students and faculty to engage with primary sources, rare books, arts, and artifacts. Faculty in a variety of disciplines including arts, humanities, and sciences schedule class visits to Special Collections each semester. Faculty also take advantage of coursework development grants to integrate Special Collections into curriculum, and research fellowships to further scholarly pursuits. As one of the largest contributing partners to The Portal to Texas History, Special Collections leads initiatives each year to digitize archival collections and preserve born digital archival content.

Position Overview

The University of North Texas is seeking a Processing Archivist for a unique opportunity to process and create descriptive tools to facilitate preservation and access to archival materials held by The UNT Special Collections department. The Processing Archivist will work primarily at the Research Collections Library, located a short distance from the UNT Denton campus. Under the supervision of the Archival Processing Coordinator, the Processing Archivist will perform work on a variety of collections, including archives, manuscripts, photography and other types of unique materials.

Responsibilities:
Implements activities of the Archival Processing Unit, including project planning, archival processing, archival description and preservation of collections
Supervise archival projects: Acting as project manager direct the work of project teams, survey collection to discern context, size and scope of project. Determine level of processing needed based on anticipated use of collection. Assign preservation, digitization, born digital and other areas of work as needed. Determine series and sub-series. Write processing plan.
Archival processing: Determine arrangement of collection based upon provenance, original order and needs of collection. Re-arrange materials as necessary. Re-house materials according to archival standards and perform basic preservation duties.
Arrange and describe unique collections of archival material. For physical materials, rehouse materials in archival boxes and folders, separate oversize materials and apply intellectual order to materials to facilitate research use of archives. For digital materials, assign file identifiers, create file derivatives and apply descriptive metadata. Create finding aids collections utilizing professional standards for description (DACS) and encoding (EAD).
Research and writing. Conduct historical research necessary to understand the context in which a collection was created, or to fill-in information necessary for the public to understand the historical significance of collection. Write biographical histories and administrative histories to describe collections
Participate as a leader and instructor for graduate students taking part in the Summer Archives Institute
Collaborate with staff and librarians at UNT
Create metadata for digital archival materials as required
Supervise student assistants as required

Minimum Qualifications

Bachelor's degree and three years of progressively responsible full-time library experience; or any equivalent combination of education, training, and experience.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

Expert knowledge of library principles and policies, and extensive knowledge of specialized area functions and workflows. Strong supervisory and leadership skills. Evidence in working effectively with students, faculty, staff, and the community. Verified ability to utilize multiple computer applications toward increased productivity in a rapidly changing environment. Excellent written and oral communication skills. Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships. Demonstrated critical thinking and independent decisionmaking skills.

Preferred Qualifications

Master’s degree
One or more years of experience in archival processing and the application of basic processing strategies for large 20th century collections
Experience performing records management duties and/or creating records management schedules
Experience appraising and processing electronic records
Demonstrated success in bringing archival projects to completion
Proficiency with data content and structure standards relevant to the archival control of collection materials (EAD, MARC, LCSH)
Experience with digitization and metadata creation
Familiarity with basic preservation and conservation standards
Certification from the Academy of Certified Archivists
Experience using Archon or Archives Space

We want to emphasize that the preferred qualifications are not required and that we are committed to helping our future colleague develop these preferred skills.

Required License/Registration/Certifications

Job Duties

• Makes sure materials are processed appropriately in a timely manner. 
• Organizational skill level is of a high, consistent standard. 
• Create plans or outlines for processing through inventory work and research done on the collection. Follows plans approved by supervisor and recommends adjustments as necessary while tackling projects. 
• Researches the collection during processing, gathering detailed or general information along with dates for adding material into the finding aid. 
• Works cooperatively as a team member within the Special Collections Department. 
• Writes finding aid narrative (i.e. scope and contents, biography, organizational history) for each collection assigned.
• Participate in other project related duties. Participate in other tasks related to the project as required. 

Physical Requirements

Communicating with others to exchange information.

Environmental Hazards

No adverse environmental conditions expected.

Work Schedule

Monday-Friday 8 am – 5 pm

Driving University Vehicle

No

Security Sensitive

This is a Security Sensitive Position.

Special Instructions

Applicants must submit a minimum of two professional references as part of their application. If needed, additional references can be added after the application has been submitted. Applicants must submit a resume, a cover letter and a list of three professional references with their online application.

Benefits

For information regarding our Benefits, click here.

EEO Statement

The University of North Texas System is firmly committed to equal opportunity and does not permit –and takes actions to prevent – discrimination, harassment (including sexual violence, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking), and retaliation on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, disability, genetic information, or veteran status in its application, employment practices, and facilities; nor permits race, color, national origin, religion, age, disability, veteran status, or sex discrimination and harassment in its admissions processes, and educational programs and activities. UNT System Administration promptly investigates complaints of discrimination, harassment, and related retaliation and takes remedial action when appropriate. System Administration also takes actions to prevent retaliation against individuals who oppose any form of harassment or discriminatory practice, file a charge or report, or testify, assist, or participate in a related investigation or proceeding.