Collection Development and Records Management Services Assistant, Harvard University Archives, Cambridge, MA

Posted August 13, 2022

Description:

The Collection Development and Records Management Services Assistant will support the appraisal and acquisition of diverse archival and manuscript collections in all formats documenting the individuals, offices, and organizations that make up the Harvard community. These include the personal and professional archives of Harvard faculty, senior administrators, and select Harvard alumni and students; institutional records; and records of Harvard affiliated organizations and other historical materials documenting the social, cultural, intellectual, spiritual, and creative life of Harvard. Reporting to the Senior Collection Development Curator/Archivist, the CDRMS Assistant will perform a range of acquisition, appraisal, administrative, and record-keeping functions related to collection development and collection building at the University Archives.

Duties and responsibilities:

• Assists in the physical preparation of collections of various origin for donation/transfer to the Archives, including packing collections in offices and departments across the Harvard campus.
• Assists in preparing collections for accessioning by appraising contents, verifying and/or creating preliminary inventories, re-housing collections and noting preservation concerns, identifying restricted materials, and drafting appraisal memos and accession paperwork.
• Enters new accessions into HUA’s various collection management systems, including ArchivesSpace.
• As assigned, support routine records management offsite storage activities such as placing orders for retrievals and refiles.

About the Harvard University Archives 

The Harvard University Archives is the oldest and one of the largest institutional academic archives in the United States.  The University Archives supports Harvard’s mission of education and research by striving to gather, preserve, and provide access to an accurate, authentic, diverse, and inclusive record documenting the Harvard community, and to promote the highest standards of stewardship and management for Harvard’s current institutional records. Records Management Services, which is integrated into the mission and organization of the University Archives, provides guidance, instruction, and tools to university staff, faculty, and administrators for managing and stewarding the records they create as part of the Harvard community.  From 17th century letters and scientific observations to 21st century web sites and research data, the University Archives’ collections cover nearly every discipline taught and studied at Harvard, as well as comprising a compilation of historical information about New England, the United States, and many other areas of the world. Collections are used by scholars of American social, intellectual, and academic history; by historians of Harvard; by artists and filmmakers; by university departments studying their own histories; by students learning the methodology of historical research; and by the general public for a wide variety of personal research and study.   

For more information, please visit our website at https://library.harvard.edu/libraries/harvard-university-archives 

Harvard requires COVID vaccination for all Harvard community members who will have any on-campus presence.  Individuals may claim exemption from the vaccine requirement for medical or religious reasons.  More information regarding the University’s COVID vaccination requirement and other policies may be found at the University’s COVID-19 Information webpage.

We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, gender identity, sexual orientation, pregnancy and pregnancy-related conditions or any other characteristic protected by law.

Qualifications

• Excellent interpersonal, oral, and written communication skills; strong attention to detail.
• Ability to work both independently and collaboratively.  
• Demonstrated discretion in handling confidential information and research skills.
• Familiarity with Microsoft Word, Excel, and Access required; familiarity with archival collection management software (such as ArchivesSpace) preferred.
• Familiarity with archival and bibliographic arrangement and description preferred.
• Experience with or interest in college and university archives preferred.
• Must be able to regularly lift 40 lb. records storage boxes.

Full/Part Time

Part Time

Salary Range

$18.00 – $20.00  /  hour

How to Apply:

To apply,  please submit cover letter and resume to Juliana Kuipers, Interim Associate University Archivist for Collection Development and Records Management Services, [email protected].