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University Archivist

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Position description

Rank and Salary Scale
Assistant Librarian – Associate Librarian - Librarian - Potential Career
( $60,843 - $81,730 )
Organizational Unit
Library - Content and Discovery Division

Position Overview
The University of California Riverside seeks a dynamic, innovative and service-oriented University Archivist who shares our excitement for community-engaged collection building and who is an advocate of the utilization of primary source materials to document the diverse voices of students and faculty past and present.

In order to assure a more complete record of the University of California Riverside, the successful candidate will understand and lead the effort to fill in gaps in the institutional records as they now exist, critically seek and collect evidence of individuals and groups who are underrepresented in the archive, document the University’s role and place in the larger social and cultural milieu of the Inland Empire, and will serve as a collaborative agent in assisting faculty, staff, and researchers to make informed decisions regarding the preservation, reuse, and sharing of the content created by them in the course of their academic pursuits and careers at the University and beyond.

Located an hour’s drive to the east of Los Angeles, an hour west of Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley, an hour east of ocean beaches, ninety minutes north of San Diego, and an hour south of mountain ski resorts, UCR is located in an area of dramatic landscapes and rich cultural traditions. The University is a dynamic, aggressively-developing land grant research institution dedicated to preparing its diverse student body to be successful competitors in the world marketplace of ideas. UCR boasts the first new School of Medicine to open on the West Coast in 43 years; a new School of Public Policy; and the Bourns College of Engineering, ranked 10th in the world according to an international ranking organization.
UCR is a world-class research university with an exceptionally diverse undergraduate student body. Its mission is explicitly linked to providing routes to educational success for underrepresented and first-generation college students.

The UCR Library is a critical partner in preparing UCR’s students to be globally competitive while simultaneously preparing them for careers in the Inland Empire and beyond. The mission of the UCR Library is no less than to bring the world’s information resources to the UCR community and to ensure that UCR students, faculty, and staff have the skills to fully exploit those resources to change the world for the better.

The UCR Library is a team of intensely collaborative, forward-thinking colleagues dedicated to providing excellent services to our students, faculty, and community members in a rapidly evolving information environment. The successful candidate will be technologically sophisticated; committed to problem-solving in local, regional, national, and international arenas; able to develop innovative solutions to complex problems; and a dynamic and effective leader.

The UCR Library is comprised of three facilities housing more than 3,800,000 volumes, 940,000 electronic books, 97,000 print and electronic journals, and 2,300,000 microforms. The Library provides services to more than 22,000 students and nearly 2,000 faculty and other academics in an institutional environment planning for and experiencing extensive growth. The successful candidate will join an enthusiastic staff of 131 FTE librarians, support personnel (including student FTE) in building a research library of excellence within a dynamic and diverse university ranked among the top 50 in the nation. The UCR Library is a member of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL). Among the unique collections of the UCR Library is the Eaton Collection of Science Fiction and Fantasy, the Water Resources Collections & Archives, the Rupert Costo Library of the American Indian, the Paul Chou Collection of Chinese history and culture, the George Brown Papers, the Tomás Rivera Papers, and the Inland Empire Memories Initiative. Information about the UCR Libraries is available at http://library.ucr.edu.

The UCR Library is an integral part of the University of California library system. With collections totaling 30 million volumes, UC’s more than 100 libraries are surpassed in size on the American continent only by the Library of Congress collection. In addition, UC’s California Digital Library (CDL) provides the core of the University's digital collections. CDL also assists UC to share resources and holdings more effectively, and provides leadership in applying technology to the development of library collections and services. Organizationally situated within the UC Office of the President, the CDL operates in close collaboration with all UC campuses and their libraries.

UC professional librarians are academic appointees and are represented by an exclusive bargaining unit: The University Council-American Federation of Teachers (UC-AFT). This position is in the bargaining unit.

Responsibilities:
Reporting to the Director of Distinctive Collections, the University Archivist is responsible for providing leadership in the selection, transfer, description and preservation of official University Records of enduring value.

● Creates collaborative alliances across the campus between the University Archives and University administrative units, colleges, schools, and academic departments to facilitate routine transfer of records to the University Archives as appropriate;

● Serves as the University’s Records Manager maintaining current best practice knowledge in order to provide consultation and advice on records retention practices;

● Serves as the UCR representative to The University Records Management Committee (RMC), Office of the President (UCOP);

● Serves as the primary advocate and representative of the University Archives to the University community and to external organizations and individuals;

● Processes existing and incoming archival materials using best practices and current national standards, describing collections, and creating finding aids and related records in ArchivesSpace, the department’s archival management system, as appropriate;

● Uploads completed finding aids to online public access catalogs including consortial online databases, such as the Online Archive of California, in coordination with the Metadata & Technical services staff;

● Integrates digital collections with finding aids and related records, as appropriate, in coordination with Digitization Services and/or Digital Initiatives staff;

● In collaboration with the Special Collections Curatorial and Public Services staff, provides advanced level reference service to assist researchers, students, faculty, staff and the community in identifying and using Special Collections and other library materials as indicated or requested;

● Raises public awareness of newly processed collections through social media, web-based platforms, and other outlets as appropriate;

● Collaborates with the Digitization Services Steering Committee, collections’ managers and curators to identify Departmental holdings that are candidates for digitization;

● Collaborates with other Special Collections and library staff to promote and develop archival and primary source literacy among students utilizing appropriate Guidelines and standards;

● Assists in developing resources to support the objectives of classes that focus on University Archives and implement effective ways to evaluate and assess engagement and learning outcomes;

● Collaborates with library and other campus resources to curate University-history centered exhibitions and to prepare University-history focused content for multiple outlets including social media and websites;

● In collaboration with UC Riverside faculty, staff and researchers, provides the necessary information, tools and services to assist them in making informed decisions regarding the preservation, reuse, archiving and sharing of the content created in the course of their teaching/learning, research and other scholarly activities while employed by UC Riverside;

● Participates in general administrative duties, library-wide activities, committees, special projects and library programs; represents the UCR Library on various University of California standing committees and ad-hoc groups.

Minimum Qualifications:
● Master’s degree from an ALA-accredited Library & Information Science program with a concentration in archives, OR equivalent professional degree in Archival Studies, OR accredited graduate degree (Master’s or Ph.D) with a specialization in archival management, OR an equivalent combination of education and experience;

● 3 or more years professional experience processing archival materials, including digital objects;

● Familiarity with preservation or conservation standards and their challenges for a variety of content types (e.g. born or reformatted digital objects as images, sound, moving recordings, data, etc. and print or other hard copy);

● Familiarity with legal and ethical issues associated with archiving digital and print materials;

● Demonstrated ability to successfully engage stakeholders in building collections;

● Fosters a respectful, cooperative, professional and courteous work environment, maintain confidentiality and employ tact and diplomacy;

● Demonstrated experience in arranging, describing and preserving complex manuscript and/or archival collections;

● Demonstrated knowledge of and experience with Encoded Archival Description (EAD) and Machine-Readable Cataloging (MARC) formats;

● Knowledge and understanding of library-based descriptive standards including Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS) and Resource Description and Access (RDA);

● Strong organizational skills and the ability to manage and prioritize multiple tasks and projects, working cooperatively with others or independently;

● Ability to perform accurate, detailed work;

● Ability to communicate effectively both verbally and in writing;

● Knowledge of current and emerging trends, issues, workflows, and best practices associated with digital content acquisitions and curation, especially within a Special Collections or Archives environment;

● Excellent project management skills;

● Career history that demonstrates the ability to meet the University of California criteria for advancement and promotion;

● Demonstrates strong interpersonal, customer service, and facilitation skills;

● Effective written and oral communication;

● Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to work successfully in an intensely collaborative environment with a broad range of people from culturally diverse backgrounds including healthcare providers, colleagues, administrators, students, faculty, donors, and alumni.

Preferred Qualifications:
● Experience using ArchivesSpace, Aeon, Alma and/or other content management and library collections systems;

● Demonstrated experience designing and executing a records retention schedule;

● Experience processing archival materials, including digital objects in a university or other institution of higher learning setting;

● Demonstrated experience providing reference services;

● Knowledge of at least one language other than English.

● Academic degree in a related field and/or advanced coursework at the post-graduate level;

● UCR is a world-class research university with an exceptionally diverse undergraduate student body. Its mission is explicitly linked to providing routes to educational success for underrepresented and first-generation college students. A commitment to this mission is a preferred qualification.

Physical, mental and environmental demands
● Ability to lift materials weighing up to 30 lbs., shelve/retrieve materials from shelves at ground level up to six feet in height and perform light maintenance tasks.

● Ability to bend, stoop, and push loaded book trucks weighing up to approximately 250 lbs.

● Ability to travel to various campus locations.

● Ability to bend to adjust or work with office and library equipment.

● Dust and other allergens from books and archives may be encountered.

● Interruptions and meeting with a variety of people will be required on a regular basis.

UCR librarians are members of the Librarians Association of the University of California (LAUC). Research, publication, and/or service to the University and profession are expected for continuing advancement.

Salary and Benefits:
Salary commensurate with qualifications and experience within a range of $60,843 - $81,730:

Appointment at rank of Assistant Librarian to Librarian - Potential Career depending upon qualifications and experience. Advancement through the librarian ranks at the University of California is through a series of structured, merit-based evaluations, occurring every two to three years, each of which includes substantial peer review. Excellent retirement system, health, and vacation benefits.

Application: Submit resume, names and contact information of at least three references, and a letter of interest addressing qualifications and experience related to the primary duties of the position through APRecruit (https://aprecruit.ucr.edu/JPF01033). The search will remain open until the position is filled; for best consideration application should be received by December 21, 2018.

The University of California is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Application Requirements

Document requirements
  • Curriculum Vitae - Your most recently updated C.V.

  • Cover Letter

  • Statement of Research (Optional)

  • Statement of Teaching (Optional)

  • Statement of Contributions to Diversity - Statement addressing past and/or potential contributions to diversity through teaching, research, professional activity, and/or service.

  • Misc / Additional (Optional)

Reference requirements
  • 3-5 required (contact information only)

Job location

Riverside, CA