Collections Digitization Archivist

Key Skills

Bash scripting, Digital Innovation, Effective communication skills, English Proficiency, Kanban, Microsoft Office suites, Microsoft-Excel, Python Programming, XML-JSON

Job Description

Reporting to the Digital Services Manager and sitting within HILA’s Description department, the Collections Digitization Archivist will play a key role in fulfilling digitization requests and projects in coordination with internal/external stakeholders. The material being digitized comprises library and archival collections in a mix of formats, languages, and content types, primarily from the 20th and 21st centuries. 

The Collections Digitization Archivist will assist in planning, coordinating, and troubleshooting digitization tasks and projects, liaising with colleagues in Description, Preservation, Engagement, and Digital Imaging. They will also prepare, enhance, and ingest files for online access and digital preservation.

Candidates should demonstrate experience in a broad range of digitization tasks, knowledge of archival principles and practices, and familiarity with project management tools and methods. To succeed in this role, candidates should have effective interpersonal and communication skills, an appreciation of diverse historical perspectives, and the ability to adapt to change in a highly collaborative environment.

CORE DUTIES: 

• Perform project management oversight of small projects and multiple tasks within a larger project in a dynamic production setting.
• Coordinate with internal and external stakeholders to maintain the flow of collection materials throughout the digitization workflows and project lifecycles, from design to completion.
• Monitor production progress on a weekly basis, communicate project status and metrics, and maintain overall project documentation as required.
• Independently analyze problems and recommend solutions, displaying a high degree of initiative, originality, and judgment.
• Under consultative and/or self-initiated direction, prepare digitized and born-digital objects for ingestion into digital repositories using standard and specialized software.
• Contribute to the organization, description, and dissemination of digital assets.
• Assess the quality of OCR, speech-to-text, and other machine-learning text recognition output (either created internally or received from vendors), correct errors, research alternate solutions, and provide input on policy decisions about which objects receive data enhancement treatments.
• Troubleshoot software errors and liaise with support staff.
• Perform quality control checks on digitized materials and contribute to quality control policies.
• Work with the project team to communicate project outputs through blog posts, social media, and internal communication channels.
• Provide reference support, technical guidance, and training.
• May assist with reading room operations, staff the reference desk, and enforce reading room rules and security.
• Collaborate with Library & Archives staff and the larger Stanford community on education and outreach activities to promote the use of the collections.
• May supervise other support staff and student assistants.

The job duties listed are typical examples of work performed by positions in this job classification and are not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, tasks, and responsibilities. Specific duties and responsibilities may vary depending on department or program needs without changing the general nature and scope of the job or level of responsibility. Employees may also perform other duties as assigned.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS:

Education & Experience: 

Advanced Degree in Library Science or a relevant academic discipline with demonstrated understanding of academic libraries and two or more years of relevant experience in a library, archives or museum, or a combination of education and relevant experience.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Excellent interpersonal skills, mature judgment, and diplomacy required to interact effectively with and provide customer service to a broad audience.
• Ability to work independently and effectively in a collaborative, fast-paced environment; ability to adapt to change, analyze and assess evolving needs, and take initiative to seek creative solutions.
• Excellent attention to detail and demonstrated ability to employ quality assurance measures to minimize errors.
• Ability to develop and maintain knowledge of the content and organization of the collections in the repository, including their archival, bibliographic, historical, cultural, and institutional aspects.
• Understanding of care, preservation, and handling of rare and archival materials.
• Demonstrated awareness of issues, standards, trends, and current best practices in digitization, digital access, and digital engagement.
• Familiarity with or willingness to learn project management tools, practices, and methods, including Agile and waterfall principles; techniques such as Gantt charts, product backlogs, and Kanban; and tools such as Microsoft Office, Google Workspace, Trello, Smartsheet, and Airtable.
• Knowledge of intellectual property rights, patron and donor privacy, and other legal issues, especially as they apply to primary source materials in various formats.

Desired/Preferred Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Familiarity with digital imaging and/or AV digitization quality standards and their implementation in production environments.
• Demonstrated experience cataloging, converting, migrating, and bulk uploading digital assets, including still images, sound recordings, moving images, and born-digital material. Broad knowledge of digital repository functions, services, and requirements.
• Demonstrated experience with data migration, ingestion, curation, and mapping. In particular, demonstrated experience running quarantine check, checksum, and format validation using tools such as Droid, BagIt, and BitCurator.
• Knowledge of metadata schemas including Dublin Core and MARC and metadata encodings including EAD and METS.
• Experience creating, editing, and executing scripted data transformations in XML and JSON, command-line tools, and basic Python and bash scripting preferred.
• Reading knowledge of a language other than English, particularly one of the following: Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Arabic, Persian, German.

Certifications and Licenses:

• None

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS*:

• Constantly perform desk-based computer tasks.
• Frequently sitting.
• Visual acuity including color vision.
• Work with books and in places that may be dusty.
• Frequently twist/bend/stoop/squat, grasp lightly/fine manipulation, grasp forcefully, use a telephone, sort/file paperwork or parts, lift/carry/push/pull objects that weigh up to 10 pounds.
• Occasionally stand/walk, reach/work above shoulders, writing by hand, kneel/crawl, climb (ladders, scaffolds, or other).
• Must be able to push and maneuver a fully-loaded cart weighing up to 650 pounds that requires an initial push force up to 50 pounds. Ability to lift 40 pound boxes or bundles.

Consistent with its obligations under the law, the University will provide reasonable accommodation to any employee with a disability who requires accommodation to perform the essential functions of the job.

WORKING CONDITIONS:

• May work in confined spaces and at heights 4–10 feet; be exposed to dust and mold;
• May require some evening and weekend work across multiple time zones in support of the project.
• Opportunities for a hybrid work schedule negotiable.

The expected pay range for this position is $73,000-$92,000 per annum. Stanford University provides pay ranges representing its good faith estimate of what the university reasonably expects to pay for a position. The pay offered to a selected candidate will be determined based on factors such as (but not limited to) the scope and responsibilities of the position, the qualifications of the selected candidate, departmental budget availability, internal equity, geographic location, and external market pay for comparable jobs.

WORK STANDARDS:

• Interpersonal Skills: Demonstrates the ability to work well with Stanford colleagues and clients as well as with external organizations.
• Promote Culture of Safety: Demonstrates commitment to personal responsibility and value for safety; communicates safety concerns; uses and promotes safe behaviors based on training and lessons learned.
• Subject to and expected to comply with all applicable University policies and procedures, including but not limited to the personnel policies and other policies found in the University's Administrative Guide, http://adminguide.stanford.edu.

The Hoover Institution Library & Archives (HILA) at Stanford University is hiring a Collections Digitization Archivist. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to implement and refine processes for preserving and publishing a wide range of digital content, including images, audio, video, and born-digital material. We are looking for candidates who thrive in a collaborative work environment and are enthusiastic about implementing technology to improve discovery of archives and libraries content. This is a hybrid role based in Stanford, CA with a minimum of two days/week on campus, subject to operational need.

A cover letter and resume are required for full consideration.

About Stanford University’s Hoover Institution: The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace is a public policy research center devoted to the advanced study of economics, politics, history, and political economy—both domestic and foreign—as well as international affairs. 

Founded in 1919 by Herbert Hoover before he became the thirty-first president of the United States, the Institution began as a repository of historical material gathered at the end of World War I. The library and archives have grown to be among the largest private repositories of documents on twentieth-century political and economic history. Over time the Institution expanded its mission from collecting archival material to conducting advanced research on contemporary history and economics and applying this scholarship to current public policy challenges. 

With its eminent scholars and world-renowned library and archives, the Hoover Institution seeks to improve the human condition by advancing ideas that promote economic opportunity and prosperity while securing and safeguarding peace for America and all humanity.

The Hoover Institution at Stanford University is an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.