In accordance with the mission of Syracuse University Libraries (SUL) and the Special Collections Research Center (SCRC), the Digital Archivist helps collect, accession, process, preserve, and provide access to born-digital materials documenting the history of Syracuse University and our global society.
Reporting to SCRC's Lead Archivist, the Digital Archivist works with SCRC and Department of Digital Stewardship (DDS) to develop and implement policies, standards, and procedures supporting the acquisition, processing, and creation of access to born-digital materials in SCRC collections. Materials may include email, web content, and born-digital files extracted from legacy physical media. Following best practices, the Digital Archivist advises and assists with the acquisition of born-digital materials, processes and describes them, and collaborates with SCRC and DDS staff to make them available for research and classroom use. The Digital Archivist works directly with the Digital Preservation Librarian, who ensures that SCRC's digital content is securely maintained and persistent, safeguarding long-term access to and authenticity of born-digital assets. The Digital Archivist also plays a key role in applying a reparative framework to the acquisition and description of born-digital materials.
Education and Experience
Required qualifications:
- ALA-accredited Master of Library and Information Science degree or related Advanced degree.
- At least two years full-time experience arranging and describing born-digital and physical materials in a special collections or archives.
Desired qualification:
- Digital Archives Specialist certification from the Society of American Archivists or equivalent education and experience.
Librarian Rank and Compensation
This position will be appointed at the Assistant Librarian, Senior Assistant Librarian, or Associate Librarian without Permanent (ranking) Status ranks based on the successful candidate's qualifications.
See the detailed rank criteria requirements here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dRpkeU9_wurWre4618fmEMmXPpKuCz7QDCWDoetlzXw/edit?usp=sharing.
Final salary will be commensurate with experience and assigned rank.
Skills and Knowledge
Best combination of:
- Knowledge of and experience with professional archival standards, best practices, and technologies for capturing, accessing, arranging, describing, preserving and transferring digital archival materials, including web archiving.
- Significant understanding of laws and ethics that inform digital archives and digitization activities in a higher ed. environment.
- Excellent oral and written communication skills, including the ability to communicate and work effectively with technical and non-technical staff, faculty, researchers, and donors.
- Experience working with colleagues in collaborative and team environments as well as working independently.
- Knowledge of applicable state and federal laws as well as common standards regarding accessibility of digital content.
- Proficiency with relevant web archiving tools (such as ArchiveIt) and the WARC format, digital preservation tools (such as Preservica), and email archiving tools (such as ePADD or RATOM).
- Proficiency with strategies for collecting and describing social media content.
- Experience using AI with tasks such as description and identification of duplicate and sensitive information.
- Proficiency with scripting languages or tools (e.g., Python, SQL, XSLT, OpenRefine, etc.) to transform, apply, or remediate metadata.
Responsibilities
Archival Processing and Management
- Arrange and describe born-digital and hybrid archival collections and create DACS-compliant EAD finding aids.
- Develop, implement, and regularly update policies and workflows for processing born-digital archival collection materials, working collaboratively with SCRC and DDS staff.
- Coordinate the transfer of digital materials from a variety of current and legacy storage media and external server locations.
- Work with SCRC and DDS staff to ensure that the department follows appropriate professional standards for descriptive, structural, and administrative metadata for born-digital materials where needed.
- Work to ensure that SCRC's born-digital content is accessible in accordance with University and donor restrictions, federal law, and copyright regulations.
- Review, identify, and potentially redact personal and other confidential information protected by federal law or University policy in born-digital files.
- Remain current with emerging technologies, standards, and best practices in digital archiving and apply this knowledge to support the long-term accessibility and discoverability of born-digital collections.
Access and Outreach
- Collaborate with SCRC and DDS staff to implement discovery and access for born-digital materials.
- Work with SCRC instruction staff and University faculty to provide access to archival born-digital materials for classroom use.
- Work with SCRC staff to advise on community archiving for student organizations and local historically underrepresented communities.
Acquisition and Collection Development
- Assist curators and University Archives staff in facilitating the acquisition and/or transfer of born-digital materials and collaborate with partners such as donors, campus offices, University Records Management, Libraries IT, and DDS as needed.
- Lead the SCRC web archiving program in close collaboration with University Archivist and curators.
- Facilitate appraisal of born-digital materials.
- Identify, collect, and assist in preserving born-digital content for special projects.
Service
- Engage in activities that contribute to the advancement of the Libraries, the university and the library profession including actively participating on a team, committee, or special project; chairing or organizing a workshop, conference or other professional event; teaching (excluding library instruction sessions or other teaching activities that are explicit job duties); professional consulting; conference discussant, publishing; conducting research that results in a publication or conference presentation.
Professional Development
- Maintain awareness of professional developments, issues, and practices through research and activities that increase one's knowledge and abilities, and that positively impact one's performance and service contributions.
Physical Requirements
Not Applicable
Tools/Equipment
Not Applicable
Application Instructions
In addition to completing an online application, please attach a resume and cover letter.