Head of Archival Processing

Department:          Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library

Salary:                    Commensurate with qualifications and experience

Position Availability:       Immediately

Interested candidates should review the applications requirements and apply online at http://apply.interfolio.com/121896.

Position Summary

Reporting to the Associate Director of the Rose Library, the Head of Archival Processing is a key managerial position within the Rose Library and provides leadership and expertise in developing and sustaining a holistic program for accessioning, arranging, describing, cataloging, and preserving the library’s manuscript and archival collections. The Head of Archival Processing directly oversees the accessioning, arrangement, and description of analog manuscript and archival material, including the direct supervision of 3 FTE as well as project and student employees. The incumbent fosters a user-centered, access, and data-driven approach to collection management with the goal of protecting collections while prioritizing access.  Incumbent will lead the Rose Library’s reparative description program and may conduct collection audits and analyses to identify collections that require redescription or additional processing to surface collection material documenting historically under documented individuals or communities. The Head of Archival Processing leads the planning, development, implementation, promotion, and assessment of the services provided for collections, and will develop and maintain an integrated and coordinated arrangement and description program utilizing streamlined workflows and integrated collection management tools, in line with library priorities.  As a manager and unit head in the Rose Library, the Head of Archival Processing plays a critical role in fostering a culture of trust and empowerment and in advancing the library’s core principles of diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility. In this highly collaborative position, the incumbent works with staff throughout the Rose Library and the Emory Libraries to solve problems and pursue creative and innovative solutions to maximize impact of library resources and leverage resources available in an academic setting to realize the goals of the library, including grant-funding opportunities. The Head of Archival Processing will supervise and mentor graduate and undergraduate student employees as well as interns, ensuring that students and interns can meaningfully engage in the work of the library. The incumbent also participates in various administrative duties such as submitting activity reports, contributing to the development of action plans for the unit and undertaking assessment activities.  Finally, the Head of Archival Processing is expected to contribute to the library and professional community through committee service, conference presentations, and/or scholarship.

Emory Libraries requires that our employees recognize diversity, equity, and inclusion as essential core values to achieving our mission to enrich the quality of life in an inclusive work environment through competency training, reassurance of personal growth, restorative communication practices, and embrace our diverse identities of patrons within the Emory community.

Essential Responsibilities & Duties

Management of Archival Processing Program

1. Responsible for planning, development, implementation, management, promotion, and assessment of services provided for collections, including accessioning, processing, cataloging, preservation, rights review, and management of archival and manuscript materials in all analog formats.
2. Oversees the work of teams/staff responsible for manuscript and University Archives processing and accessioning.
3. Develops, implements, and monitors team plans, setting production and service goals.  Compiles statistics and develops narrative and statistical reports on unit activities and programs.
4. Actively and responsively prioritizes work of self and direct reports in a manner that balances various community and stakeholder needs and supports the overall mission and vision of the Library.
5. Contributes to the development of standards, policies, and procedures for all collection processing programs and projects.
6. Works closely with the Head of Digital Archives to develop integrated processes and workflows for arranging and describing born digital material and collaboratively managing hybrid collections.
7. Works closely with the Rose Library Collection Development team and other colleagues to set processing, and accessioning priorities.
8. Works collaboratively with various areas across the libraries, including Access and Resource Services (cataloging, digitization, metadata, conservation) to ensure that Rose metadata, collection management, and rights assessment practices align with library policies and best practices, as well as with standards and best practices for preservation, discovery and access.
9. Develops appropriate metrics to evaluate work and service levels. Develops and implements standards for measuring costs and timelines related to processing, cataloging, digitization, and digital projects, which can be used for project management and planning.
10. Reviews work products such as finding aids, catalog records, and other metadata and descriptive outputs to ensure high quality and adherence to standards.
11. Oversees workflows relating to the acquisition, production and management of analog and digital material and implements process improvement as needed.
12. Coordinates with colleagues to develop and integrate policies and workflows for accessioning, arrangement, description, and preservation.
13. Consults with the relevant Collections Services and University Archives staff to prioritize the transfer of manuscript material to the conservation unit for treatment.
14. Works with Library Facilities and Security to maintain and enhance the physical space and security of the stacks and staff work areas, including the staff offices, receiving and processing areas, and collections stacks.
15. Works with library preservation and digital curation units to ensure that Rose collections receive proper care and treatment.

Managerial Responsibilities

1. Serves as the unit head for the arrangement and description team, with programmatic responsibility for functional areas and direct supervision of librarians and/or staff (3 FTE librarians, and periodic supervision of FTE project librarians.)
2. Works with direct reports to coordinate recruitment, hiring, orientation, training, supervision, and evaluation of staff and student employees. Coaches, mentors, and counsels both direct and indirect reports to develop staff in a positive and proactive manner ensuring individuals have opportunity to develop broad knowledge of library operations and services as well specialized skills.  Works with Libraries HR staff to develop specific training for staff based on need and participates in succession planning and management initiatives as appropriate.
3. Contributes to creating a strong team environment and culture of trust and empowerment.
4. Enacts and promotes the values of diversity, equity and inclusion as a manager in the Rose Library.
5. Establishes collegial and effective relationships across the libraries to facilitate services and support.
6. Works closely with Rose Library Leadership Team and other library staff in areas of assigned responsibility and participates in library-wide and university-wide initiatives as appropriate.
7. Encourages and seeks opportunities to attract graduate, undergraduate and intern participation in a team-based approach to Archival Processing and management.
8. Responsible for developing and maintaining up-to-date librarian position responsibilities statements and library staff job descriptions for staff within department.  Reviews requests for new positions and reclassifications and submits to Assistant Director and Director of the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library for consideration.  Works with HR staff to facilitate reclassifications.
9. Conducts annual performance evaluations for direct reports and oversees annual process within the department/unit ensuring that annual evaluations are conducted in a timely manner and submitted on time in accordance with campus and library policy.
10. Establishes and maintains communication with department/unit staff to facilitate the work of the library and ensure library staff is informed of library activities and initiatives.

Project Development, Planning, and Management

1. Sets priorities and manages resources for processing, accessioning, and planning conservation treatments for collection material in consultation with curators, librarians, and other staff.
2. Manages processing projects, determining project teams, scope, parameters, timelines, and deliverables.  Oversees work of project teams and monitors progress to ensure outcomes.
3. Develop or utilize workflows, tools, systems, and policies that simplify workflows and streamline arrangement and description workflows.
4. Consults with Rose and EUL colleagues on grant and internally sponsored projects for processing, cataloging, preserving, and digitizing Rose collection material, or any other projects that involve Rose collections or digital assets.
5. Develops grant proposals and serves as principal investigator as needed.  Oversees and evaluates all grants for technical services projects and consults with Rose and EUL colleagues on special collections technical services elements of grant proposals and digital projects.
6. Leverages relationships with library departmental liaisons to recruit graduate and undergraduate students to contribute to collection processing and description.

Reference and Security

1. Provides reference assistance in person and by phone to Emory students and faculty, visiting scholars, and the public as needed and assigned, including 4-6 regular reference desk and reading room shifts.
2. Occasionally answers written reference questions relating to collections of which the incumbent has special knowledge.
3. Oversees reading room security by monitoring use of materials in the reading room, as well as working with researchers to explain the rules of care and handling for manuscript material.
4. Provides occasional oversight for service providers working in secure, non-public areas of Rose.

Administrative Duties

1. Contributes to regular written reports, including quarterly and annual processing reports and the Arrangement and Description unit’s general report.
2. Contributes to the planning, development, and documentation of the Arrangement and Description unit’s policies and procedures manual.
3. Makes recommendations on personnel selection and staffing requirements.
4. Contributes to unit and division-wide action plans

Professional Responsibilities

1. Participates in appropriate professional and scholarly associations and organizations including maintaining membership and/or accreditation; attending meetings, conferences, workshops; and serving in appointed or elected positions.
2. Maintains up-to-date professional knowledge and skills in areas related to primary job assignment as well as maintains general knowledge of current trends in higher education, academic libraries, and information and educational technology.
3. Provides reference assistance to Emory students and faculty, visiting scholars, and the public as needed and assigned.
4. Adheres to guidelines outlined in the Handbook Governing the Librarian series for Faculty-Equivalent Librarians to ensure appointment, appointment renewal and promotion-in-rank
5. Participates in library and campus committees as appropriate for service purposes.
6. Presents on work-related topics and research at professional and scholarly conferences, symposia, and workshops. Publishes on work-related topics and research in professional and scholarly publications.
7. Cultivates knowledge and expertise relevant to digital archives, humanities research, digital asset management, and digital preservation for the purpose of providing knowledgeable consultations and leadership on matters of digital curation, project management, and born-digital archives.

Required Qualifications

• ALA-accredited master’s degree in Library and Information Science OR equivalent education and relevant library experience.
• Five or more years of professional experience in an academic or research library, special collections repository, or other relevant setting.
• Experience with and/or knowledge of the professional standards and practices related to accessioning, processing, cataloging, and preserving special collections material, including rare books, archives and manuscripts, photographs, audiovisual materials, and born-digital materials.
• Extensive experience processing manuscript and archival holdings and digital library and digital preservation experience.
• Knowledge of the following descriptive standards: DACS, EAD, EAC-CPF, AACR2, RDA, MARC, DCRM, MODS, LCNAF, LCSH, and other thesauri.
• Familiarity with digital archives, including planning and policy making around acquiring, imaging, preservation, and discovery.
• Demonstrated experience articulating vision and goals and managing multiple projects and staff members to accomplish the work of a unit.
• Ability to analyze local environment and realize opportunities for process improvement or the implementation of new tools and technologies.
• Demonstrated leadership ability, analytical skills, creative and innovative problem-solving skills, and a strong commitment to service excellence.
• Experience and demonstrated skill in supervision, including hiring, orienting, training and development, organizing workloads, delegating responsibility, providing guidance and direction, monitoring and evaluating performance, coaching and counseling, and taking disciplinary action as necessary.   Ability to be proactive, flexible, and collaborative as a supervisor in order to accomplish departmental, library, and institutional goals.
• Ability to build and sustain effective interpersonal relationships with library staff, faculty and students, off campus faculty and administrators, campus administrators, etc.
• Evidence of analytical, organizational, communication, project, and time management skills and demonstrated ability to set priorities, meet deadlines, and complete tasks and projects on time and within budget and in accordance with task/project parameters.
• Working knowledge of software and systems that support services to patrons including Integrated Library Systems and other management software used in academic or research library settings.
• Demonstrated proficiency and capabilities with personal computers and software, the Web, and library-relevant information technology applications.  Working knowledge of standard computer office applications such as Microsoft Outlook, Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint or other productivity software.
• Commitment to fostering a diverse educational environment and workplace and an ability to work effectively with a diverse faculty and student population.
• Capacity to thrive in an ambiguous, future-oriented environment of a major research institution and to respond effectively to changing needs and priorities.
• Demonstrated ability to juggle competing priorities, negotiate, and compromise.
• Demonstrated knowledge of current trends and issues in academic libraries, higher education, and relevant subject disciplines.
• Evidence of active participation, involvement, and leadership in local, state, regional, national, or international professional or scholarly associations.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working with ALMA, ArchivesSpace, and Aeon.
• Demonstrated experience in project management.
• Familiarity with workflow and metric assessment.
• Knowledge of U.S. copyright law.
• Experience providing and managing library services with evidence of progressively increasing scope of responsibility in a large academic or research institution library and evidence of successful record of leadership and ability to foster an organization-wide perspective that ensures effective stewardship of available resources.

Application Procedures

Interested candidates should review the applications requirements and apply online at http://apply.interfolio.com/121896.

Applications may be submitted as Word or PDF attachments and must include:

1)     Current curriculum vita detailing education and relevant experience;

2)     Cover letter of application describing qualifications and experience; and

3)     Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are a central focus of our work at Emory Libraries and across campus and an important responsibility of the Head of Archives Processing,  a key leadership position that manages and leads a diverse, service-oriented team. In a separate statement please reflect upon your experience in furthering social justice and equity so far in your career and share how you would advance and foster these principles at Emory University Libraries as a colleague and as a manager.

4)     On a separate document list the names and relationships, email addresses, and telephone numbers of 3 professional references including a current or previous supervisor.

Review of applications will begin the week of April 7, 2023.  Review of applications will continue until position is successfully filled. Emory is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer that welcomes and encourages diversity and seeks applications and nominations from women, minorities, people with disabilities and veterans.

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