Digital Archivist - Library Associate 2 (time-limited)

time-limited•Gainesville, FL

4d•Onsite

About The Position

The UF Libraries welcomes library science or computer science professionals interested in gaining experience in an academic library setting to join the dynamic Department of Special and Area Studies Collections as Digital Archivist. This unique opportunity offers the training necessary to become a rising leader in the growing area of digital archives work. The Digital Archivist completes born-digital transfer, digital processing, and other collection service activities to maintain and ensure preservation of and access to digital materials in the Department of Special and Area Studies Collections (SASC). SASC is home to special and rare print materials, maps, archives, and manuscripts, as well as interdisciplinary collections pertaining to geographical, national, or cultural regions. In collaboration with Head of Collection Services, the Digital Archivist is responsible for establishing and maintaining strategy, policies, procedures, and best practices for long-term access and preservation of digital content and collections. The Digital Archivist collaborates closely with collection managers and other SASC personnel, as well as the Libraries’ technology, metadata, preservation, and digital personnel, on SASC digital archiving needs and support. The Digital Archivist will oversee and support the transfer and ingest of born-digital files and oversee the creation of finding aids to ensure preservation and access. In addition, the Digital Archivist will act as the resource person for SASC regarding best practices for managing donated digital materials and metadata management for digital objects to enable search and discovery of collections online and in-person. The Digital Archivist will also oversee the processing of collections of digital and/or hybrid format types as well as the arrangement, preservation, and creation of comprehensive descriptions for those collections. Priority collections include political papers, the papers of prominent Floridians, University of Florida records, the papers of former UF Presidents, and materials pertaining to Latin America and the Caribbean. This is a time-limited position that will last 2 years from the start of employment. The position may be extended, pending funding availability.

Requirements

High School diploma or equivalent and seven years of library, or relevant experience; or an Associate’s degree and five years of relevant experience; or a Bachelor’s degree and three years of relevant experience; or a Master’s degree and one year of relevant experience; or any equivalent combination of experience, training and/or education.
Valid driver's license.

Nice To Haves

ALA-accredited Master’s degree in library, information, and/or archival science with coursework focused on Digital Archives OR computer science or similar technology degree.
Experience implementing digital tools, methods, and approaches used in digital preservation and curation.
Knowledge of or interest in becoming proficient in archival functions of appraisal, arrangement and description, and the additional procedures that ensure the authenticity, integrity, and security of born-digital content.
Experience with or interest in gaining experience with software and metadata schemes, such as BitCurator, Archive-It, Archivematica, ArchivesSpace, BulkExtractor, CheckSum Tools, Bagger, TeraCopy, DROID, ePADD, Preservica, EAD, DACS, and the OAIS reference model.
Experience with or demonstrated interest in gaining experience with systems and methodologies for born-digital transfer and digital processing.
Familiarity with web archiving applications and methodologies for the acquisition of web content, including social media.
Experience with command-line interfaces, computer programming/scripting languages, relational databases, and web applications, including their APIs.
Ability to train and supervise student employees.
Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively with a variety of stakeholders both internal and external to SASC.
Demonstrated ability, willingness, and desire to learn new things and take initiative in a rapidly changing academic and technological environment.
Demonstrated ability to work independently on multiple projects and priorities.

Responsibilities

Transfer, Ingest, and Processing: In collaboration with the Head of Collection Services, consults with collection managers on the ingest and transfer of born-digital collections including physical and non-physical media, as well as the acquisition, arrangement, and description of born-digital archives.
Creates finding aids in ArchivesSpace.
Advises on record conversion, including recommendations for file formats, file naming and storage, and digitization requirements among other best practices.
Works to manage and reduce digital processing backlog.
Digital Archives Management: Manages specialized hardware and software on SASC’s digital processing workstations that transfer content from various physical storage media to the digital processing workflow.
Creates and/or updates policies and procedures for born-digital transfer, processing, preservation, format migrations, and access, including the use and management of ArchivesSpace, BitCurator, and University of Florida Digital Collections (UFDC).
Collaborates with SASC colleagues to use archival theory and computational thinking to brainstorm and experiment with creative approaches to appraising, managing, and preserving born-digital archives, particularly at scale.
Web and Social Media Archiving: Collaborates with the Head of Collection Services and collection managers on setting vision and direction for accessing SASC web archives.
Builds upon current policies and procedures for web archiving, preservation, and access, including the use and management of Archive-It.
Creates procedures for capturing and maintaining archives of social media accounts, including but not limited to those from X (Twitter) and YouTube.
Other Duties as Assigned: Participates in special projects and performs other duties as assigned.
Serves on relevant departmental and library committees or working groups and undertakes professional development appropriate for position.