Davis - University of California - University Archivist

https://recruit.ucdavis.edu/JPF04930

Salary

Rank and salary: Assistant Librarian, Salary Point 1, $58,365 to Associate Library, Salary Point 13, $89,392 (Appointment rank and salary based on qualifications and experience.)

Close Date

Sunday, Jun 26, 2022 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)

Overview of Position

The University of California, Davis seeks a dynamic and collaborative person for the position of University Archivist. This role heads the library’s strategic initiatives concerning the management of faculty and institutionally created content in a research university environment.

The University Archivist provides vision, leadership, advocacy, and interpretation for the campus archives and other institutional assets, which are increasingly born-digital and heterogeneous in nature. The incumbent will serve as a catalyst and coordinator for a dynamic group of activities and individuals dedicated to connecting these collections to faculty, graduate and undergraduate students, and an international community of scholars, experts, and enthusiasts. The University Archivist develops and implements a strategy that reflects an expansive concept of institutional assets, incorporating new and evolving technologies that expand the library’s ability to support research, instruction, clinical care, and public service. The University Archivist capitalizes on the expertise of many by collaborating with campus units to help the university demonstrate and document its impact regionally, nationally, and internationally.

This role also acts as the lead for digital storytelling in Archives and Special Collections, coordinating efforts to promote awareness and use of distinctive collections for all audiences. Digital storytelling serves to demonstrate the global impact of UC Davis research, teaching, and patient care to a broad public. Working in collaboration with the library’s Online Strategy group, the University Archivist will develop priorities for the creation and curation of online content by colleagues across the library organization. Example projects include inviting user engagement with digital collections, collaborating on interactive websites or digital applications, and facilitating computational approaches to digital assets and collections.

The University Archivist is active in collection development and management, research services, outreach (including exhibits), fundraising and grant writing, and supervision of relevant project and student staff. The role works closely with the Digital Assets Specialist in the appraisal, ingest, management, and preservation of digital assets, and takes the lead in the library’s website archiving program. In addition, the University Archivist serves as the library’s representative to campus, university, and national organizations regarding archives-focused initiatives, especially for digital formats. In collaboration with other members of the Archives and Special Collections department, the University Archivist may occasionally serve as the contact for visiting classes and researchers and will contribute to more general departmental outreach to the campus community.

Stronger candidates will possess deep knowledge of the legal (including intellectual property) and ethical considerations around archiving and preserving both analog and digital formats; an entrepreneurial approach to emerging and/or bespoke formats of institutional content; enthusiasm for working with donors, faculty, and students; proclivity for adopting new technologies and methods that will improve access to and use of distinctive collections; and a collaborative and collegial outlook and spirit.

This position is in the Librarian Series and, as such, is an academic appointee. Librarians at the University of California are represented by an exclusive bargaining agent, University Council – American Federation of Teachers (UC-AFT). In addition to professional competence and quality of service within the library in the primary job, advancement in the librarian series requires professional involvement and contributions outside of the library, and/or university and community service, and/or scholarly activities.

Position Responsibilities

Under the general direction of the Head of Archives and Special Collections, the incumbent will be responsible for:

University Archives and other institutional assets:

• Establish and implement a vision, strategy, and goals for programs around UC Davis created or commissioned works.
• Lead and/or participate in multiple cross-library initiatives to build and sustain programmatic efforts around distinctive collections.
• Manage budgets for collection development and programmatic efforts around appropriate distinctive collections.
• Use data and assessment techniques to support evidence-based changes to services and programs to improve the user experience.
• Maintain cooperative relationships with campus and UC records management and Campus Counsel to comply with the campus, UC, and national requirements for university archives.
• Work collaboratively with relevant UC Davis officials (e.g., Compliance Council) to ensure that UC Davis created or commissioned content placed in university archives complies with legal requirements and appropriate use permissions.
• Collection development, appraisal, and management:
• Provide leadership around collection development and collection management for UC Davis created or commissioned works.
• Cultivate existing and potential relationships with faculty, researchers, institutes, and other campus entities that have or may have assets appropriate to be transferred to the library’s custody.
• Explore new areas for collection development as we take an expansive view of institutional assets and the role of the library.
• Develop collection policies and conduct ongoing analyses of collection strengths
• Acquire collections in alignment with collecting goals for more inclusive collecting and the library’s strategic plan.
• Assist colleagues with the processing of acquisitions by assessing collections, establishing priorities for processing and/or digitization, and, as needed, providing input on catalog records, finding aids, and metadata needed for digital collections.
• Identify items in need of conservation treatment and work with colleagues to develop, review, and approve treatment plans.
• Development:
• Participate in development efforts to enhance collections, services, and outreach by cultivating existing and prospective donors, as well as ideating and preparing funding proposals in coordination with the Senior Director of Development.
• May conduct or coordinate oral histories with donors.
• Outreach and digital storytelling:
• Lead and coordinate all departmental efforts in digital storytelling for distinctive collections, including content creation for digital storytelling of University Archives and Institutional Assets
• Interpret and promote the library’s distinctive collections to both campus and community audiences through physical and digital exhibits, social media, public events, tours, scholarly publications, and other activities for a wide set of audiences.
• Build and sustain relationships with students, faculty, and campus partners.
• Participate in digital scholarship and/or data science projects both within the library and elsewhere on campus.
• Collaborate with faculty to design and host classes that allow students to learn directly from primary source holdings and to incorporate distinctive collections into the curriculum.
• Departmental contributions:
• Assist colleagues with the processing of acquisitions by assessing collections, establishing priorities, and, as needed, providing input on catalog records, finding aids, and metadata needed for digital collections
• Contributes to supporting the day-to-day operations, including staffing the reading room and providing research services via phone, email, and in person on a variety of topics
• Contributes to department-level planning and the formulation of new policies and procedures
• Advance the goals of the library’s forthcoming strategic plan, including a renewed focus on inclusion and equity.
• Represent the library through participation in campus, local, regional, and national cooperative, outreach, and professional activities.
• Keep abreast of developments in archives and special collections standards and trends, applying new rules, interpretations, and techniques as appropriate.
• Participate in professional development activities as appropriate to meet both personal needs as well as departmental goals and objectives.
• Other duties and responsibilities as assigned.
• As an academic appointee, engage actively in pertinent ongoing research, scholarship, or creative activity and/or teaching.
• Required Qualifications for the Position
• Masters in Library or Information Science from an ALA-accredited institution OR a graduate degree appropriate to working in archives or special collections OR at least three years of professional experience in an appropriate industry or field
• Demonstrated experience working with archives and institutional assets (including archival materials and digital objects or data sets)
• Demonstrated experience related to user-focused design of collections and services
• Demonstrated understanding of the uses of technology to enhance the reach and impact of archives and special collections
• Strong service orientation and interest in anticipating and supporting information users’ values and needs
• Knowledge of and commitment to addressing diversity, equity, and inclusion issues, in collection building, instruction, and throughout library activities
• Evidence of ability to work collaboratively with library colleagues and partners within the library and across the campus
• Evidence of flexibility and initiative when working within a fast-paced and rapidly changing setting.
• Evidence of effective use of analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills
• Demonstrated commitment to professional development
• Ability to meet the University of California criteria for advancement and promotion within the Librarian Series

Preferred Qualifications for the Position

• Significant experience managing digital archives and donations thereof, including digital objects, web archives, and/or email
• Demonstrated knowledge of digital preservation including digital forensics, digital preservation lifecycles, and providing access to born digital collections
• Five or more years’ experience in a distinctive collections environment
• Experience in an academic or research library
• Experience in donor relations and growing philanthropic support
• Experience with public programming and exhibits
• General knowledge of cataloging, archival processing, digitization, and conservation methodologies and standards used in rare book and manuscript libraries
• Experience teaching with primary sources and working with students in teaching settings
• Knowledge of best practices for security, storage, handling, description, and service for distinctive collections
• An ability to master over time the wide range of materials represented in the collection
• Knowledge of intellectual property and scholarly communication issues and trends related to libraries, archives, or special collections
• Ability to manage programs and complete projects that require collaboration with a wide variety of colleagues
• Ability to provide careful and ethical stewardship for existing gifts and awards
• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• Excellent organizational, time, and project management skills
• Experience supervising student employees and/or interns
• Record of accomplishment in research, scholarship, or creative activity and/or teaching consonant with an academic appointment