More Podcast, Less Process

Well, this is cool: More Podcast, Less Process is a new podcast that features "archivists, librarians, preservationists, technologists, and information professionals [speaking] about interesting work and projects within and involving archives, special collections, and cultural heritage." The first episode, CSI Special Collections: Digital Forensics and Archives, featured Mark Matienzo of Yale University and Donald Mennerich of the New York Public Library and debuted at the start of this month. The second, How to Preserve Change: Activist Archives and & Video Preservation, was released yesterday. In it, Grace Lile and Yvonne Ng of WITNESS discuss the challenges associated with preserving video created by human rights and other activists, producing activist video in ways that support long-term preservation, and WITNESS's impressive new publication, The Activists’ Guide to Archiving Video.
Hosted by Jefferson Bailey (Metropolitan New York Library Council) and Joshua Ranger (AudioVisual Preservation Solutions), More Podcast, Less Process is part of the Metropolitan New York Library Council's Keeping Collections project. Keeping Collections provides a wide array of "free and affordable services to any not-for-profit organization in the metropolitan New York area that collects, maintains, and provides access to archival materials." This podcast greatly extends the project's reach.

Given the mission and interests of its creators, I suspect that quite a few More Podcast, Less Process episodes will focus on the challenges of preserving and providing access to born-digital or digitized resources. I'm waiting with bated breath.

More Podcast, Less Process is available via iTunes, the Internet Archive, Soundcloud, and direct download. There's also a handy RSS feed, so you'll never have to worry about missing an episode. Consult the More Podcast, Less Process webpage for details.

Full disclosure: Keeping Collections is supported in part by the New York State Documentary Heritage Program (DHP), which is overseen by the New York State Archives (i.e., my employer). However, I'm plugging More Podcast, Less Process not because of its DHP connections but because it's a great resource.

E-records jobs: University of Texas at Austin, Marshall University, OMNITEC

Three more jobs: the University of Texas at Austin is looking for a Librarian III -Digital Curation Services, Marshall University (Huntington, WV) is searching for a Digital Preservation Librarian and Records Manager, and OMNITEC Solutions (Washington, DC) is hiring a Digital Management Asset Archivist. Details below the fold.

E-records jobs: Baruch College (deadline 21 October), Louisiana State University, University of Hawai'i at Manoa, DePaul University

I leave town for a week and the job market explodes -- which is a good thing! In the interest of keeping my posts to a manageable length, I'll post four job descriptions today and will put up the remainder tomorrow.

Baruch College, City University of New York is searching for a Digital Initiatives Librarian (application deadline 21 October 2013), Louisiana State University is looking for a University Archivist, the University of Hawai'i at Manoa seeks an Archivist,  DePaul University in Chicago is hiring a Digital Archivist. Details below the fold.

NYS Education Department's Office of Cultural Education seeks an Archives Conservation Specalist 1 (deadline 5 November)

I usually don't post non-electronic records jobs, but this one's kind of special: the New York State Education Department's Office of Cultural Education oversees the State Archives, the State Library, the State Museum, and the State Office of Educational Television and Public Broadcasting.

If you're an experienced paper conservator who likes working with amazing collections and cool colleagues and who lives or would like to live in the historic Hudson Valley, the New York State Education Department's Office of Cultural Education would to hear from you:

The State Education Department’s Office of Cultural Education (OCE) is seeking to fill an Archives Conservation Specialist (ACS) 1 position.  Under the direction of an ACS 3, the incumbent will perform conservation/preservation activities for paper-based collections in the Office of Cultural Education.   Collections encompass, but are not limited to, archival holdings, manuscripts, prints, drawings, and maps.  Abiding by the American Institute for Conservation Code of Ethics and Guidelines for Practice, duties will include, but not be limited to, the following: 

• Examine, treat, document, and house high priority paper based collections and prepare the collections for exhibition;
• Participate in collections stewardship activities and teams,  including: environmental monitoring programs, including operation of dataloggers, reporting of data, and collaboration with facilities managers and building engineers to improve conditions; emergency planning and response, including staff training, maintenance of supplies, protection of collections from hazards, immediate response to disasters, and evaluation and treatment of damaged collections; stacks and storage maintenance and housekeeping; preservation assessment of collections and recommending preventive and remedial preservation action and maintaining documentation of preservation needs and actions; planning and supervising rehousing and processing activities for selected paper based   collections; preparation of selected paper based collections for reformatting initiatives;
• Deliver presentations and demonstrations illustrating conservation principles, techniques and results;
• Provide preservation and conservation advice to government customers and the public;
• Provide advice, assistance, and training to staff as needed and participate in disaster response outreach activities;
• Participate in OCE lab management activities, including maintaining inventory of supplies, and maintenance and use of OCE equipment; an
• Supervise Historic Conservation Technician, interns, and support staff, as assigned.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: For provisional appointment, candidates must have a Master’s degree in paper conservation, OR a Bachelor’s degree and two years of experience as a conservation technician with duties including one or more of the following: assisting conservator with conservation lab treatments, such as washing, lining and deacidification; independently carrying out conservation lab treatments, such as dry cleaning, mending, or fabrication of custom storage containers; monitoring and recording environmental conditions; overseeing technical components of micrographics or imaging operations; or assisting conservator with preservation training activities.

The starting salary for this position is $41,170 (in accordance with a collective bargaining agreement, this figure is not negotiable). Within approximately seven years, annual performance increases will bring the successful candidate's salary up to a maximum of $52,552. The State of New York offers a comprehensive package of benefits.

As noted above, the deadline for applying for this position is 5 November 2013. For more information and detailed application instructions, consult the position description.

Federal government shutdown: Internet Archive needs your help

Today is the second day that all federal government facilities deemed non-essential have been closed and all federal employees whose jobs have been deemed non-essential have had to stay home. The shutdown has extended -- sometimes in ways that seem to defy common sense -- to the federal government's Web presence. In response to this situation, the tireless souls at the Internet Archive have sprung into action: they're "creating a collection of websites affected by the government shutdown."

At the present time, the only publicly accessible content on many sites is a notice indicating that the site's creator has shut down.

Other federal government entities continue to make large quantities of site content available but stress that the information may not be current, that offices are closed, and that inquiries will not receive prompt attention.

The Internet Archive wants to capture and preserve all of these shutdown notices, contingency plans, and other shutdown-related Web content, and its archivists need your help. If you run across a federal government site that features a shutdown notice or contains information about how the agency will operate during the shutdown, please consider going to the Internet Archive's Government Shutdown Seed URL Nomination Form, entering some basic information about the site and the URL of its home page, and clicking "submit."

If you would like to see whether the Internet Archive has already captured a given site or simply want to check out the collection, Internet Archive has is already making the 2013 Government Shutdown collection available to researchers.

Electronic records jobs: Winthrop Group, Michigan State University, University of California Irvine, Historic New England

Four jobs -- one on the West Coast, two on the East Coast, and one in the Upper Midwest -- calling for three very different skill sets and levels of experience.  The Winthrop Group, an archival consulting firm located in New York City, is seeking a seasoned professional to lead its Information and Archival Services Division. Michigan State University is looking for an early career archivist/records manager to serve as its University Records Manager (deadline 6 October 2013). The University of California Irvine is hiring an earlyish career professional who will serve as its Archivist for University Archives. Finally, Historic New England wants someone with IT skills and, if possible, experience working for a cultural heritage institution to become its Digital Projects Developer.  Details below the fold.

Sorry for the long silence -- and for failing to post at least two positions whose deadlines passed. Much as I enjoy my online life, sometimes the real world takes precedence. Now that things seem to be calming down a bit, you'll probably see a little more activity around here.

Electronic records job: City of Seattle, Washington (deadline 3 September 2013)

I'll publish a couple of additional notices over the weekend, but I'm posting this one -- which escaped my attention while I was in New Orleans -- because the application deadline is 3 September (i.e., next Tuesday) at 4:00 PM Pacific Daylight Time.

If you're comfortable digitizing paper- or analog-based records, relish the thought of building an electronic records management program from the ground up, and live or would like to live in the Pacific Northwest, the City of Seattle is looking for a Digital Asset Manager (follow link and do a keyword search for "digital"):

The Seattle Archives and Records Management Program (ARM) has an outstanding opportunity for an experienced Digital Asset Manager. This is a dynamic program offering a rich resource of historical information on Seattle City government to the global public. ARM is a model for local government records programs and has a national reputation for excellence. ARM is a program of the Office of the City Clerk, a division of the Legislative Department.

The Digital Asset Manager coordinates digital initiatives regarding overall management (production, capture, description, preservation, and access) of ARM’s digital content. The position’s primary functions are to develop strategies for the preservation of digital archival materials, to collaborate with the City Records Manager on development of a City-wide electronic records management solution, and to manage the development of information systems and provide high level management for automated retrieval systems.

The successful candidate must demonstrate the following abilities: communicate effectively orally and in writing; search computerized databases in an efficient, cost-effective manner and to learn new applications as appropriate; operate audio/visual and imaging equipment used in the office. The Digital Asset Manager reports to the Director, Archives and Record Management Program.


Job Responsibilities   

Digital Asset Preservation

•  Lead digital preservation program and manage and administer the Municipal Archives’ digital repository, including design of workflow, records ingestion, tracking, reporting, and running backups 
• Research and develop tools and systems for extraction and creation of metadata for archival records, including development of metadata standards, classification systems, and information architecture for internet and internal resources 
• Provide technical support for systems used in digitizing records, including audio/visual materials, photographs, and maps  

Electronic Records Management

• In collaboration with City Records Manager, develop, implement and administer electronic records management systems 
• Conduct research for applicable software systems and hardware needs, analyze system functionality, and serve as co-lead in implementation of electronic records management solutions 
• Lead technical training in use of electronic records management software, and conduct quality control of system implementations to ensure compliance with City and State standards 

Education, Experience, and Skills 

• Master's degree in Library and Information Science from an American Library Association accredited institution, History with archival education coursework, or equivalent degree
• Three years progressively responsible professional experience or demonstrated familiarity with professionally accepted library and/or archival standards of classification, indexing and cataloging, and knowledge of automated records storage and retrieval systems 
• Expert knowledge of professional records management principles and practices 
• Experience or training in thesaurus design and construction, and controlled-vocabulary indexing 
• Demonstrated ability to learn and master new and legacy systems quickly 
• Training and/or experience in issues related to preservation and management of electronic records 
•  Knowledge of indexing and metadata standards related to archival records in multiple media

Desired Qualifications and Skills

• Experience administering full-text database systems 
• Familiarity with BRS/Search, Open Text Discovery Server, or any enterprise information management system 
• Experience with programming in Perl and one or more other programming languages 
• Advanced knowledge of HTML and CSS
• Intermediate knowledge of JavaScript 
• Knowledge of professional standards for creating and maintaining a Trusted Digital Repository 
• Demonstrated skills at successful oral presentations, in training or in public settings 
• Competency in Windows Server operating system; working knowledge of networking in TCP/IP environment; working knowledge of Windows batch processing 
• Two years experience with relational database administration, systems integration, and developing and managing automated information systems

The pay range for this position is $38.31 - $40.71 per hour (i.e., $79,684.80 - $84,676,80 per year -- provided that the workweek is 40 hours), and the City of Seattle offers a comprehensive benefits package. For more details, consult the position posting (again, do a keyword search for "digital").