Digital Archivist

Description

The Bartholomew County Public Library (BCPL) seeks to expand professional staff capacity from one to two full-time archivists with the hire of the first Digital Archivist. The ideal candidate will be someone eager and unafraid to experiment with tools and workflows in the service of building a nascent digital preservation program. They will be determined and confident in leading new initiatives: a technologically adept, self-directed, creative and curious problem-solver. The candidate should be passionate and knowledgeable about archival methods and standards, as well as tools and systems. The largest and primary collection within the archives of BCPL is the Columbus Indiana Architectural Archives (CIAA). Other collections include institutional records and visual materials from a local newspaper. While CIAA’s roots began with the initial collection of architectural records 55 years ago, the archives only recently benefitted from the guidance of a professional archivist and came under the purview of the Bartholomew County Public Library in 2018. The Digital Archivist will work in tandem with the Archivist to bring the overall archives program to the next stage of maturity.

Purpose

Reporting to the Archivist, the Digital Archivist is responsible for strategic management of all digital archival collections, including digital surrogates resulting from digitization of analog originals, as well as born-digital acquisitions. Initially the focus will be improving management of extant holdings through identification and implementation of the infrastructure and standards-based workflows required for accessioning, description, preservation, and access. Following the formal establishment of the digital collections program, the Digital Archivist will oversee collection development through born-digital collection acquisition and processing, and/or digitization of selected analog materials, as well as overall long-term collection management. The Digital Archivist will support the Archivist in reference and outreach on an as-needed basis.