Assistant or Associate Professor - Digital Archivist

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In your cover letter, please be sure to directly address all minimum required qualifications. We are open to a broad range of ways and contexts in which candidates might demonstrate how they meet these qualifications. For example, while candidates might document their demonstrated commitment, experience, and knowledge through work activities—including in positions outside of libraries—they might also speak to coursework, community service, participation in cultural or other organizations, and involvement with student groups, among other possibilities. Cover letters must also include a description from the applicant that speaks to how their commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion could be integrated into this position.

Working Title: Assistant or Associate Professor - Digital Archivist

Department: University Libraries-0905

Requisition Number: F_240131

Posting Open Date: 09/10/2024

Application Review Date: 10/11/2024

Posting Close Date: Open Until Filled

The University Libraries at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) seeks a Digital Archivist to lead the Archives & Special Collections department’s program for the capture, long-term stewardship, and use of born digital archival records. The Digital Archivist will steward born digital records, proactively develop born digital collections across formats in collaboration with other archivists, create workflows and guidelines for public access to born digital materials, and develop pathways for all staff and faculty in the department to contribute to accessioning, processing, and/or providing access to born digital materials.

We are looking for applicants with knowledge of digital archives concepts and practices and an ability to engage with them effectively and critically. We welcome applicants at the beginning of their library careers who are willing to learn and grow on the job. We are prepared to provide the support, time, and mentoring necessary for such growth.

The Digital Archivist will work collaboratively with and with support from colleagues across the University Libraries, especially with members of the Archives & Special Collections department, the Digital Stewardship Librarian, the Systems Librarian, metadata librarians, research data librarians, and members of Digital Strategies to help design and sustain digital stewardship policies and workflows, with a special focus on record groups covered by the collection development policy of Archives & Special Collections. Additionally, the Digital Archivist will participate in campus and consortial networks, such as the University of Nebraska Consortium of Libraries (UNCL) and the Big Ten Academic Alliance (BTAA), to support related initiatives.

Archives & Special Collections is currently working towards deepening our engagement with community organizations in Lincoln and greater Nebraska. Working on-site with colleagues in Love Library, the Digital Archivist will take a leadership role in developing community-centered, non-custodial partnerships with our partners interested in preserving their own digital archives.

The Digital Archivist joins the UNL Libraries at a time of change and renewal. We are currently in the midst of an ambitious faculty hiring plan; the Digital Archivist will join a cohort of new faculty members who have recently joined the Libraries. Reporting to the Chair of Archives & Special Collections, the Digital Archivist will actively participate in the organizational transformation of the UNL Libraries as we work to build a more equitable, accessible, and sustainable information ecosystem.

The University Libraries creates and fosters inclusive environments for teaching, learning, scholarship, creative expression, and civic engagement. The ability to find, access, evaluate, utilize, and create reliable information resources is central to higher education, the public good, and achieving equity and justice. Libraries faculty are empowered to provide an array of library services, collections, and spaces to meet the diverse needs of students, faculty, and researchers. The Libraries is committed to providing financial and other support for faculty professional development and travel. The Digital Archivist will undertake their efforts with attention to how social and structural biases and inequalities are manifest in the development and accessibility of archival records.

Responsibilities:

• Appraise, accession, capture, process, preserve, migrate, and provide access to new acquisitions and backlog collections of born digital records consisting of lasting legal, historical, evidential, research, or administrative value.
• Establish workflows to manage born digital records across a broad range of formats throughout their life cycles. Collaborate on implementation of these workflows with stakeholders across the University Libraries.
• Identify appropriate tools, standards, and systems to facilitate digital archiving and preservation and develop expertise in these domains.
• Identify appropriate tools, establish local best practices, and implement workflows to preserve, redact, and provide access to born digital records containing protected or confidential information.
• Lead, coordinate, and supervise Archives & Special Collections’ web archiving initiatives using appropriate tools, such as Archive-It.
• Participate in donor stewardship activities to support born digital materials.
• Participate collaboratively in incorporating born digital records into existing and new workflows for providing access in the reading room, outreach activities, and instruction.
• Actively engage in anti-racist work to advance inclusive excellence and redress systemic inequities.
• Contribute to the knowledge base of the profession through research, publication, and professional engagement in line with a tenured faculty appointment.
• Participate in library, university, and professional service activities.

Librarians in the University Libraries have faculty status; the successful candidate will be hired at the rank of Assistant or Associate Professor (tenure/tenure-leading). Salary will start at $62,500.

• Master’s degree in library and/or information science from an ALA-accredited institution (or international equivalent) or terminal degree in another discipline and relevant experience. The degree must be in hand before the position start date.
• Training and/or experience demonstrating knowledge of archival theory and practice, including relevant metadata and digital preservation standards.
• Training and/or experience demonstrating knowledge of tools and systems for acquiring, preserving, and providing access to born digital materials.
• Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively with a diverse range of constituents and support for a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
• Demonstrated aptitude to engage in publication and professional service to meet University tenure and promotion requirements.

• Two or more years of relevant professional experience.
• Hands-on experience with relevant digital preservation tools and systems.
• Experience with or interest in working with community groups.
• Experience with project management, collaboration, and leadership.

Work Location: Lincoln, NE

As an EO/AA employer, the University of Nebraska considers qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, ethnicity, national origin, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, disability, age, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, and/or political affiliation. See