Project Director

University of Arkansas•Little Rock, AR

24d

About The Position

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock is a metropolitan research university that provides an accessible, quality education through flexible learning and unparalleled internship opportunities. At UA Little Rock, we prepare our more than 8,900 students to be innovators and responsible leaders in their fields. Committed to its metropolitan research university mission, UA Little Rock is a driving force in Little Rock's thriving cultural community and a major component of the city and state's growing profile as a regional leader in research, technology transfer, economic development, and job creation. The Arkansas Digital Newspaper Project (ADNP) Director is responsible for collecting metadata and supplying it to a digitization vendor, coordinating work and shipments of the Sequioa National Research Center and Arkansas State Archives staff, collaborating institutions, vendors, and Library of Congress to implement quality review of digital assets. This position also assists with project record keeping related to Arkansas Digital Newspaper Project (ADNP) at the Arkansas State Archives. Funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, this temporary full-time position will end in December 2027. The position is governed by agency/institution policy and state and federal laws.

Requirements

The formal education equivalent to a bachelor's degree in History, English, or a related field; plus two years of archival or library experience.
Occasional travel for training
Ability to lift 40 lbs. with or without accommodations
Valid Arkansas driver’s license
A pre-employment criminal background check is required
Position is subject to drug screening
Knowledge of classification and archival requirements of historical documents and objects
Knowledge of applicable technical standards and best practices in digitization and metadata creation (non-MARC and MARC)
Knowledge of archival and library best practices
Strong organizational, data entry, and problem solving skills
Ability to work independently and collaboratively
Ability to sort, organize, analyze, and search archival collection and inventories
Ability to prepare and present oral and written information and reports

Nice To Haves

Preference will be given to those who possess demonstrated project management experience, digitization projects experience, quality control experience, understanding of metadata creation and MARC cataloging, and knowledge of OCR output optimization
Experience with grant management and writing
Excellent organizational skills and knowledge of Arkansas history
Knowledge of newspapers or serials, and ability to assess complex relationships between titles preferred
Knowledge of U.S. history and Native American history preferred
Knowledge of html and/or xml
Experience working with Microsoft Excel and Access

Responsibilities

Manage day-to-day operations of the Arkansas Digital Newspaper Project (ADNP) to digitize over 100,000 pages of historic newspapers for the Library of Congress Chronicling America site
Oversight and review of metadata collection following established guidelines
Implement and complete a detailed quality review of digital assets and metadata
Collect and review metadata following established guidelines
Track and manage project transactions and shipments of microfilm masters and digital assets between the Arkansas State Archives, collaborating institutions, vendors, and the Library of Congress
Implement workflows for data management and review
Work closely with the project team, including other ASA staff members, vendors, and collaborating institutions
Assist with record keeping and report preparation
Research and write the history of newspapers selected for this grant
Scan original historic material on large format scanner
Performs other related responsibilities as required or assigned