Digital Preservation Archivist - Libraries

West Virginia University•West Virginia, WV

1d•$61,000 - $71,000

About The Position

The Digital Preservation Archivist leads the West Virginia and Regional History Center’s program for managing, preserving, and providing access to born-digital materials for researchers and students. The role plans for and manages born-digital objects throughout their lifecycle, supports long-term preservation and use, consults on acquisitions, accessions, and processing, and leads a web archiving program. The position develops and maintains digital preservation workflows, policies, and procedures; manages preservation metadata, repository ingest, discovery, access, and security; and collaborates with archivists, library departments, Systems staff, and other stakeholders on systems and services for born-digital special collections. It also addresses donor and legal restrictions and sensitive information, trains and reviews the work of staff and student workers, and provides specialized reference, instruction, and research consultation related to digital archives. The position reports to and is supervised by the Head of Collections Management and Processing of the West Virginia and Regional History Center. It may supervise staff, graduate assistants, student workers, or interns. Salary range is $61,000–$71,000 plus fringe, depending on starting rank.

Requirements

Master’s degree from an ALA-accredited program in library and information sciences, or equivalent.
At least one year of experience working with digital materials in archives or libraries.
Experience in digital archives management and preservation practices, technologies, and tools.
Experience with digital project management.
Working knowledge of standards related to digital records, digital objects, and metadata, and knowledge of digital content formats and standards.
Knowledge of national standards and best practices for archival description, including DACS and EAD, authority control, and other data content and structure standards relevant to archival control.
High degree of technical facility, openness to investigating emerging technologies, and demonstrated ability to learn new technical skills through research and self-study.
Demonstrated ability to take initiative and meet goals.
Excellent communication and collaboration skills.
Cultural competency and interest in participating in discussions and initiatives reflecting the WVRHC’s commitment to expanding and supporting a diverse historical record.

Responsibilities

Lead digital preservation strategy for the WVRHC and manage acquisition, accessioning, processing, preservation, and lifecycle management of born-digital archival materials.
Conduct and consult on acquisition, accessioning, and processing of born-digital materials.
Develop, implement, document, and maintain workflows, policies, and procedures for appraisal, accessioning, processing, reformatting, preservation, repository ingest, discovery, access, security, and long-term stewardship.
Create and maintain preservation metadata and apply appropriate metadata schemas and standards in coordination with the Digitization Archivist and other library stakeholders.
Review born-digital collections for donor and legal restrictions and sensitive information, including personally identifiable information, and set appropriate access levels.
Develop and manage the Libraries’ web archiving program, identifying and capturing web content that complements and enhances WVRHC collecting areas.
Collaborate with the WVRHC, Libraries’ Systems Department, Knowledge Access and Resource Management, and other stakeholders to develop, configure, implement, and update systems, applications, and workflows for born-digital special collections.
Coordinate repository ingest and preservation activities and troubleshoot technical issues with appropriate Library departments and Systems staff.
Coordinate with the Head of Processing to ensure digital content is represented in ArchivesSpace as needed.
Recommend and implement metadata schemas, descriptive standards, and approaches to reparative description for born-digital materials.
Participate in continuous improvement of born-digital acquisition strategies, policies, and procedures, including consultation with donors and other stakeholders.
Train and direct staff, students, and interns working with born-digital archives, and review their work for quality, accuracy, consistency, and adherence to established standards and procedures.
Provide specialized digital archives information services, including limited instruction, reference, and research consultation for students, faculty, and community researchers.
Maintain and report accurate statistics, documentation, and project records related to born-digital collections and processing.
Serve and actively contribute to relevant Library, University, regional, and/or national committees, task forces, and working groups.
Engage in professional development and/or research related to the assignment or the needs of the Libraries and University.