Project Archivist, Benoit Mandelbrot Papers

Description

Under the direction of the Head, Technical Services--Manuscripts, the Mandelbrot Project Archivist working independently is responsible for determining the organization and creating intellectual access to over 300 linear feet of manuscript material. They are responsible for appraising the collection and recommending access and delivery based on privacy and preservation issues and copyright law. The collection includes a wide array of materials and formats and includes audio-visual material, posters, small and large scale computer printouts, correspondence, administrative papers, questionnaires, various states of manuscript drafts, printed articles, artifacts, and born digital material.

MANAGE: The Mandelbrot Project Archivist is responsible for the appraisal, arrangement and description (cataloging) of all formats of material in the collection - through a variety of programs, as well as publication and dissemination. Materials range from paper-based (writings, correspondence, articles, oversize computer printouts, posters, and artwork) to audio, video, computer media, still images, and three-dimensional artifacts.

• They must be able to plan and manage the variety of work between the project team members based on a survey completed during the packing of the collection.
• They will hire and train processing assistant and direct the work in arrangement and descriptive practice as well as is the use of new tools for capturing born-digital files from obsolete computer media and integrate their work.
• They will appraise the materials, determine preservation and conservation issues, determine best practice for resolving issues, and collaborate with the Conservation Dept. and the Digital Production Group as needed.
• They will analyze copyright and privacy policies and issues and recommend delivery specifications for digital versions in the collection and will collaborate on the creation of the APO with DLSS.
• They collaborate on the reformatting of at risk materials and plan the processing and physical workflows for preparing audio, video, and slides for digitization; and, recommend appropriate transmission of metadata for DPG for ingesting along with the digital objects.
• They are responsible for ensuring that links are imported into the finding aid description.
• They will manage their time in order to complete organization, preservation and description of 300 feet within one year.
• They will keep statistics regarding various rates for processing different formats and incorporate them into the departmental statistics.

PROCESS: They are responsible for surveying the collection, analyzing the contents for format and subject areas, and determining the overall organizational structure of the collection.

• They will implement the processing plan for the team in a variety of concurrent workflows dealing with arrangement and description of papers, posters, artwork, artifacts, etc.; the digitization of the slide collection; the capture of born-digital files, and, the preservation reformatting of audio and video elements.
• They will recommend the appropriate level of preservation efforts for the collection and oversee that these are carried out consistently throughout the process.

CATALOG/CREATION of METADATA: They are responsible for determining the level of description appropriate to different parts of the collection, the method or best tool for the task, and overseeing the creation of metadata for all formats of the collection.

• They will catalog the collection in Archivists’ Toolkit to create the finding aid description.
• They will collaborate with DLSS and the digital archivist to analyze metadata created in various programs for re-use in digitization projects as well as the export and ingest of metadata into the SDR
• As time permits, they will review, analyze, and catalog born-digital files in new programs such as: Forensic Toolkit (FTK), MUSE, PhotoMechanic or other emerging tools.

REPORT, ETC.: They are responsible for the publication of all descriptive metadata including the overall online finding aid with external links to any digital objects, supplying the digital group with re-purposed metadata display in SUL’s web environment, and for born-digital, video or audio delivered via Special Collections’ reading room media cart.

• They will contribute to the growing documentation regarding the capture and processing of born-digital material at SUL: review the current online manual for processing born-digital materials (Born-Digital Program’s Google Site) and revise as needed based on testing and implantation on the Mandelbrot collection.
• They will determine other methods of disseminating news about the project - write articles and submit paper proposals on processing hybrid collections, etc.
• They will report regularly to the Head of Technical Services for Manuscripts and the cognizant curator of the collection

RESOURCE: They will serve as a resource to the department regarding new procedures and processes developed while processing born-digital materials and while developing new techniques for processing and preparing materials for digitization concurrently.

• They will test new programs (FTK, MUSE, PhotoMechanic, etc.) for the creation of metadata for special formats within the collection – such as digitized or born-digital materials, submit recommendations, and collaborate on creation of new procedures and documentation.

Required/Qualifications:

• Undergraduate degree and an MLS from an ALA-accredited program, with a concentration in archival studies
• Theoretical and practical knowledge of current descriptive practices and principles as defined in AACR2, DACS, LC authorities (NAF, SAF)
• Ability to learn rapidly, test and implement new descriptive procedures and tools related to appraisal and description of manuscript material in all formats – including digital
• Demonstrated ability to learn, analyze, and utilize existing and emerging metadata and descriptive standards such as Dublin Core, EAD, MODS, and related ontologies and folksonomies as required for the project and repurposing of metadata for other uses
• Proven ability to analyze and recommend best practice guidelines for transforming description between metadata schemas
• Experience writing documentation for new methodologies and practice as they emerge in processing born-digital materials
• At least 3-5 years of experience working in archives or special collections
• Demonstrated work as lead archivist and project manager for complex or hybrid collections
• Experience of arranging and cataloging archives to recognized standards
• Demonstrated experience using Archivists Toolkit for writing collection description, bulk ingest of DAOs, and reuse of exported metadata for associated digitization projects
• Demonstrated experience with programs for appraising, viewing and describing born-digital content including forensic software (FTK), and others such as PhotoMechanic, etc.
• High level of proficiency using PC-based (MS Office, FileMaker, etc.) and online applications (creation of metadata or documentation, online collaboration, meetings, etc.)
• Flexibility and adaptability; ability to think creatively
• Excellent analytic and problem solving skills
• Demonstrated effective oral and written communication skills
• Ability to work independently, as team leader for the project and collaboratively within a rapidly changing environment on a variety of concurrent workflows
• Demonstrated ability to complete projects on-time and on-budget
• Commitment to professional development and service
• Must be able to lift 40 pounds