Digital Archivist

MISSION

The Art Institute of Chicago shares its singular collections with our city and the world. We collect, care for, and interpret works of art across time, cultures, geographies, and identities, centering the vision of artists and makers. We recognize that all art is made in a particular context, demanding continual, dynamic reconsideration in the present. We are a place of gathering; we foster the exchange of ideas and inspire an expansive, inclusive understanding of human creativity.

Please click on the links below to view our competitive, comprehensive benefits package:

• Hiring Range
• Benefits
• PTO Overview
• Job Classification: Full-Time Salaried Staff
• Grade Level: 8

ABOUT THE DEPARTMENT 

A hub for scholarship and training, the Art Institute Research Center connects museum staff, art researchers and emerging professionals to transformative resources and experiences. The Research Center’s collections provide material means for the examination and reconsideration of artworks and their unique contexts, while globally networked tools and partnerships foster the exchange of ideas across diverse platforms. A robust engagement program ensures that knowledge is shared, new voices are heard, and accessibility is centered, expanding conventional notions of who conducts research and how. The Research Center’s dedication to the care and development of these three resource areas — material, digital and human — ensures the vitality  of museum research for present and future generations.

The expansive collections of the Ryerson and Burnham Libraries are the backbone of the Research Center, and the historic Franke Reading Room is its public face. The Art Institute Archives stewards the museum’s art and architecture archives, institutional archives, imaging archives, and digital preservation efforts. Fellowships, internships, transformative grants and partnerships, trainings, and scholarly events are managed by the department of Academic Engagement and Research (AER). Together, the three branches of the Research Center — Libraries, Archives and AER — care for and connect audiences to a range of vital resources, including books, serials, special collections, auction catalogues, artists’ files, archives, extensive digital tools, and inter-generational human networks of diverse expertise.

ABOUT THE POSITION

Reporting to the Director of the Art Institute of Chicago Archives, the Digital Archivist is responsible for developing a sustainable infrastructure for collecting, organizing, describing, and preserving digital materials across the museum, and making digital materials accessible to staff and researchers; deploying that infrastructure to bring historically important digital institutional records into the AIC institutional archive; and preserving, processing, and making accessible other digital materials currently in the archival collections as well as newly acquired digital materials. *The Digital Archivist works collaboratively with fellow staff dedicated to the stewardship of the institutional archives, imaging archives and art and architecture archives to achieve departmental goals. *Facilitates access to the collections by developing and/or implementing digital tools and providing reference and research services to a diverse contingent of patrons in a service-oriented department in the Archives branch of the museum’s new Research Center. The Archivist also contributes to supporting exhibitions and to the development of programs and publications that feature the museum’s archival holdings or digital preservation efforts.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Collection management: Provides vision, focus, and leadership for digital preservation activities within the Research Center and the museum as a whole. Surveys the current digital landscape at the Art Institute, including born-digital records on current and legacy media, and digitized collections, in order to develop and implement policies, workflows, and procedures for accessioning, processing, describing, preserving, and providing access to digital records of the museum and digital assets in archival collections. Applies workflows and procedures to born-digital material acquired from the Art Institute’s internal records, legacy media in existing hybrid collections, and newly-donated accessions. 

Digital infrastructure: Advises on and helps lead evolutions in digital documentation and preservation of Art Institute resources in service of the museum’s strategic goals, internal scholarly growth, and external scholarly use and in accordance with international standards and professional best practices. Researches, shapes and implements new systems, software, digital storage technologies, and technical standards, as needed. Performs related software installation, updates, and staff training. Liaises with library and museum technical staff. Plans and manages format conversions and migrations. Develops long-term preservation and curation plans for digital content. Keeps abreast of developments in library and archives technology.

Supports the department: Trains existing staff on born-digital procedures and assists in their execution of new procedures. Contributes to devising operating procedures and workflows for cross-collection projects. Assists in the training of new professional, paraprofessional staff, interns, volunteers or fellows. Assists in managing fundamental on-site operations and other physical spaces as needed. Assists with planning and management of Research Center-led initiatives and events that engage a broader academic or professional community as appropriate. 

Liaise with AIC/SAIC constituents: Works closely with stakeholders across the museum to contribute to planning and developing a digital preservation strategy for the museum. Performs outreach to departments to promote best practices, advise on collecting guidelines, provide functional requirements, and explain new digital preservation strategies. Implements new processes and schedules, and provides instruction to staff in the retention, retrieval and lifecycle management of digital institutional records according to established digital preservation protocols. With the Director, shapes long-range strategies and goals where it concerns collection, retention, retrieval and access policies for digital records.

Facilitates access: Establishes standards for integrating born-digital material into new and existing metadata records and discovery systems. Improves accessibility through the creation and management of new digital resources—such as finding aids, webpages, and databases—and the preservation and delivery of born-digital content. Assists and directs users in navigating collections on-site and online and in the proper procedures for handling collection items. Hosts visits for individual scholars, students or classes. Responds to telephone, email, Art Institute staff and faculty, and walk-in research inquiries, facilitating appointments as needed. 

Stewardship: Under the guidance of the Director, identifies and evaluates potential born-digital acquisitions. Coordinates transfer of digital files from donors, acting as a liaison between records creators and museum stakeholders. Works directly with records creators to advise on record-keeping practices that will facilitate the eventual transfer of their archives.

Participates in Research Center and museum-wide committees and task forces, and completes other duties as assigned.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS

• Capacity with some physical labor minimally required. 

• Periods sitting at a desk and working on a computer; must be able to remain in a stationary position 60% of the time.

• Often moves about inside the office and across various museum spaces to meet with colleagues, access galleries or storage areas, move collections, and other related tasks.

• Often operates a computer and other office productivity machinery, such as a copy machine and printer.

• Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, ability to adjust focus, and the ability to sustain prolonged visual concentration.

QUALIFICATIONS 

• Master’s degree from an ALA-accredited library school or equivalent Master’s degree with formal training in archival theory and practice required. Digital Archives Specialist certificate or equivalent preferred
• Minimum of 2 years of experience with digital preservation lifecycle planning and implementation in a library, archives or museum setting required.
• Minimum 1 year experience with applying metadata standards and schema for descriptive, structural, and preservation metadata such as DACS, EAD, MARC, and PREMIS required.
• Minimum 1 year experience customizing a Trusted Digital Repository required. Current working knowledge of Preservica, Archive-It, CONTENTdm, HTML, web archiving, computer forensic tools, and Linux/command-line interfaces is highly preferred.
• Demonstrated knowledge of arranging and describing born-digital archival materials in accordance with accepted standards to ensure the long-term preservation of collections.
• Knowledge of various methods of digital preservation, including the use of file packing formats and comprehensive software programs, as well as the OAIS reference model and trusted digital repository concepts.
• Strong organizational skills, attention to detail, and experience with project management.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently as well as collaboratively.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills and ability to communicate clearly and effectively with staff at all levels of the organization.
• Demonstrated interest in art/art history, with interest in Chicago and Midwest history, art, design, architecture is preferred.

ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION

The Art Institute of Chicago is an Equal Opportunity Employer that recruits, hires and promotes qualified individuals without regard to race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin, ancestry, veteran status or citizenship. The Institute complies with federal and state disability laws and makes reasonable accommodations for applicants and employees with disabilities. If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, please contact the Department of Human Resources at apply_help@artic.edu.

UNION INFO

This position is part of a bargaining unit represented by AFSCME Council 31.