Recruitment Role Profile Form
Job Title: Archivist (Collections) (Job share)
School/Department: Libraries and Research and Learning Resources (LRLR)
Salary: £28,695 - £37,394 per annum, pro rata, depending on skills and experience. Salary progression beyond this scale is subject to performance
Job Family and Level: Administrative, Professional & Managerial Level 4
Contract Status: Permanent
Hours of Work: 18 hours per week (job share) including regular evening cover until 6.00pm
Location: Kings Meadow Campus
Reporting to: Senior Archivist (Collections)
Purpose of the New Role:
To provide professional support to the Collections Team to process the acquisition, cataloguing and promotion of archives and manuscripts and the development of online research resources. The post will also support the delivery of public services in the reading room and the teaching and exhibition programme and provide content for the web.
Main Responsibilities / % time per year1. / To support the acquisition, cataloguing and preservation of archives and manuscript collections according to national standards
· Liaise and negotiate with potential and existing donors and depositors of collections
· Survey and appraise collections
· Assist with the processing of new accessions including born digital records
· Catalogue archive collections and upgrade catalogues according to agreed priorities
· Assist with the management and development of CALM
· Develop and supervise placement opportunities for students and volunteers
· Supervise the work of non-professional staff as required / 40%
2. / To have day to day responsibility for the Archive store
· Ensure that collections are properly housed, preserved and locations recorded and space managed appropriately / 5%
3. / To participate in public duty and enquiry rotas and give specialist advise to users of archives / 30%
4. / To contribute to the teaching and exhibition programme / 10%
5. / To provide new content for web pages and develop online research resources / 10%
6. / To actively keep up to date and pursue a programme of personal development, including the development of specialist skills where required / 5%
7. / Any other duties appropriate to the level and role
Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications & Experience
Essential / DesirableQualifications/ Education / · Education to degree level
· Postgraduate archive qualification / · Registered membership of Archives and Records Association or commitment to work towards
Skills/Training / · Excellent time and organisational management skills
· Excellent IT skills
· Excellent oral, written and interpersonal communication skills
· An ability to work to deadlines and to prioritise and schedule workloads and respond to unforeseen issues and changing circumstances
· Excellent palaeography skills
· Knowledge of national and international archive standards
· Commitment to high quality customer service
· Presentation skills / · Knowledge and awareness of recent developments in higher education
· Competence in working with documents in modern European languages and Latin
Experience / · Excellent knowledge of archives, and manuscripts
· Experience of cataloguing a range of archives
· Experience of archive management systems.
· Experience of digitisation and the application of technologies in the management and promotion of archives and special collections and the development of innovative solutions
· Experience of preparing and delivering training
· Ability to work on own initiative
· Experience of working in a team environment with colleagues from different professional backgrounds and sharing expertise / · Experience of CALM, Primo, Aleph, Digitool and Portfolio
· Experience of Project Management
· Experience of the supervision of staff and volunteers
· Understanding of the information requirements and information-seeking behaviour of students, researchers and the general public
Statutory/Legal / · Knowledge of UK Copyright, Data Protection and Freedom of Information legislation
· Working knowledge of health and safety legislation
Decision Making
i) taken independently by the role holder
· Prioritisation of own workload· Surveying, appraisal, arrangement and cataloguing of archives
· Routine acquisitions
· Answering enquiries
· Creation of material for presentations and teaching
· Creation of web content
ii) taken in collaboration with others
· Delegation of work to other staff within Manuscripts and Special Collections in collaboration with appropriate line managers· Structure of complex arrangement of collections with line manager
· Conservation needs of documents in collaboration with Conservator
· Relations with the media including the negotiation of fees with Keeper
iii) referred to the appropriate line manager ( please name) by the role holder
· Approval to attend external meetings and courses referred to Keeper· Concern about risk to the security or safety of the collections referred to line manager
· Activities involving long-term planning or significant commitment to working with external agencies or partners referred to Keeper
· Serious complaints from staff, students or members of the public referred to Keeper
Libraries, Research and Learning Resources (LRLR): an overview of the Department
The University of Nottingham Libraries, Research and Learning Resources (LRLR) Department provides library, learning technology, and manuscripts, archives and special collections services to University students, staff and visitors. As a Professional Service Department, LRLR is the focal point for virtual and physical knowledge creation and dissemination; it is the information manager for the University covering published collections, research outputs and e-learning objects.
The Department has approximately 180 FTE staff distributed around the University’s campuses in the UK, and grouped into six sections: Learning Technology, Manuscripts and Special Collections, Research and Learning Services, Customer Services, Collections Management, and Strategy and Planning. The LRLR annual operational budget is around £11 million.
We currently provide resources and services to 40,000 students and staff in the UK. These include: over one million books and journals in eight libraries; 100,000 electronic books; and four million manuscripts including special collections of national importance. In addition, services are provided for about 10,000 students and staff at our campuses in Asia.
Our services range from state-of-the-art learning facilities to frontline library and lending services, support of the University’s print and electronic library resources and the provision of learning technologies, including:
· frontline lending and enquiry services across eight libraries
· managing a variety of study spaces
· information skills teaching
· managing and promoting printed/electronic information resources for research, learning and teaching
· delivering eLearning services and development of new technologies
· acquiring/managing digital and print library collections, including Manuscripts and Special Collections
· hosting the Centre for Research Communications (CRC)
Context – The University of Nottingham
The next era of University development has been initiated. Recent activity has focused on developing the University’s new ‘Strategy 2020’, outlining our vision and strategic ambitions, building on previous achievements and recognising that the higher education environment is evolving rapidly and the pace of change will only accelerate. We now need to focus on consolidating and enhancing our position as a world-leading University and direct resources to:
· Strengthening and enriching our core activities of Education and Research
· Focusing on enhancing quality
· Addressing the changing expectations of our students
· Targeting investment in research strengths
· Continuing to differentiate from our competitors on the student experience and our approach to internationalisation
Excellence in Education and Student Life is at our core. As part of our ambition to strengthen and enrich education, we have embarked on a number of ambitious programmes under the ‘umbrella’ of the Transforming Teaching Programme. A key component and critical to this success is the need to redefine the services that we provide to staff and students through libraries and online facilities. The Transformation of Libraries, Research and Learning Resources (LRLR) Programme has therefore been established, as an exciting, high profile and complex programme, to deliver the changes which will be paramount to this overall success.
LRLR transformation programme
The LRLR transformation is an exciting and challenging programme of work to address issues and opportunities to improve students’ experience of the library, and academics’ experience as both teachers and researchers. The programme (comprising of over 20 projects) aims to put students and academics at the heart of everything we do in libraries. Our working practices, our culture and the way we engage with University stakeholders in Faculties and Schools will change so that we: reflect teaching and research priorities and academic workflows in the services offered; deliver interactive, connected and innovative environments (physical and online) in support of teaching and learning and research; and provide consistently excellent services aligned to University strategy.
As part of the LRLR transformation an organisation restructure has been implemented, the Department now comprises the following six sections:
· Learning Technology (led by Andy Beggan);
· Manuscripts and Special Collections (led by Mark Dorrington);
· Research and Learning Services (led by Sue Ackerman);
· Customer Services (led by Sue Storey);
· Collections Management (led by Chris Middleton);
· Strategy and Planning (led by Valerie Housley).