University Archivist, Library of the University of California, (Davis, CA)
Posted July 11, 2023
Overview of Position
The University of California, Davis seeks a dynamic and collaborative person for the position of University Archivist. This role heads the library’s strategic initiatives concerning the management of faculty and institutionally created content in a research university environment.
The University Archivist provides vision, leadership, advocacy, and interpretation for the campus archives and other institutional assets, which are increasingly born-digital and heterogeneous in nature. The incumbent will serve as a catalyst and coordinator for a dynamic group of activities and individuals dedicated to connecting these collections to faculty, graduate and undergraduate students, and an international community of scholars, experts, and enthusiasts. The University Archivist develops and implements a strategy that reflects an expansive concept of institutional assets, incorporating new and evolving technologies that expand the library’s ability to support research, instruction, clinical care, and public service. The University Archivist capitalizes on the expertise of many by collaborating with campus units to help the university demonstrate and document its impact regionally, nationally, and internationally.
This role also acts as the lead for digital storytelling in Archives and Special Collections, coordinating efforts to promote awareness and use of distinctive collections for all audiences. Digital storytelling serves to demonstrate the global impact of UC Davis research, teaching, and patient care to a broad public. Working in collaboration with the library’s Online Strategy group, the University Archivist will develop priorities for the creation and curation of online content by colleagues across the library organization. Example projects include inviting user engagement with digital collections, collaborating on interactive websites or digital applications, and facilitating computational approaches to digital assets and collections.
The University Archivist is active in collection development and management, research services, outreach (including exhibits), fundraising and grant writing, and supervision of relevant project and student staff. The role works closely with the Digital Assets Specialist in the appraisal, ingest, management, and preservation of digital assets, and takes the lead in the library’s website archiving program. In addition, the University Archivist serves as the library’s representative to campus, university, and national organizations regarding archives-focused initiatives, especially for digital formats. In collaboration with other members of the Archives and Special Collections department, the University Archivist may occasionally serve as the contact for visiting classes and researchers and will contribute to more general departmental outreach to the campus community.
Stronger candidates will possess deep knowledge of the legal (including intellectual property) and ethical considerations around archiving and preserving both analog and digital formats; an entrepreneurial approach to emerging and/or bespoke formats of institutional content; enthusiasm for working with donors, faculty, and students; proclivity for adopting new technologies and methods that will improve access to and use of distinctive collections; and a collaborative and collegial outlook and spirit.
This position is in the Librarian Series and, as such, is an academic appointee. Librarians at the University of California are represented by an exclusive bargaining agent, University Council – American Federation of Teachers (UC-AFT). In addition to professional competence and quality of service within the library in the primary job, advancement in the librarian series requires professional involvement and contributions outside of the library, and/or university and community service, and/or scholarly activities.
How to Apply
For more information and to apply, go to the following link: https://recruit.ucdavis.edu/JPF05837