Archivist

Job Summary:

The Schlesinger Library ethically collects and stewards archival, published, and digital materials documenting the histories of women and gender-diverse people in the United States. We make these collections accessible to scholars, students, educators, and the public through our reading room, classroom, gallery, and online platforms, advancing our commitment to building a more inclusive historical record. Our collections span equal rights and social justice, women’s health and reproductive lives, gender and sexuality, Radcliffe College, culinary history, and family papers. The Technical Services department plays a central role in the Library’s mission by enabling the discovery, use and management of archival, published, and born-digital collections through accessioning, processing, arrangement and description, metadata creation, and collection management.

We seek an Archivist who is passionate about archival processing and its crucial role in fostering discovery and accessibility; who is committed to equitable representation and inclusive description; and who brings an interest in and facility with both analog and born-digital materials. Reporting to the Lead Processing Archivist, they will work as part of an inclusive team, participating in and contributing to the evolution of a program of thoughtful, flexible, user-centered archival and born-digital processing. The Archivist processes diverse archival collections, arranging and describing materials according to national standards and best practices; highlighting materials for researchers; and providing widespread public access to collections. This is an opportunity for a critical thinker to join an experienced team of archivists and catalogers who are working collectively to evaluate and improve our practices while reaffirming our existing strengths.

Job-Specific Responsibilities:

• Appraises, arranges, describes, preserves, and catalogs archival collections in both analog and digital formats. This includes evaluating their research value, creating a processing plan, and ensuring projects are completed in a timely fashion.

• Determines appropriate levels of arrangement and description, using a range of innovative and user-centered approaches to ensure flexible and efficient processing.

• Creates DACS-compliant archival descriptions, including catalog records and finding aids, following national standards and Schlesinger Library procedures, and applying best practices for inclusive and reparative description.

• May undertake additional activities such as photograph cataloging, web archiving, metadata remediation for digitization, outreach and instruction, and exhibit work.

• Covers regular shifts at the Schlesinger Library reference desk.

• May supervise student assistants and interns, including hiring, training, planning and assigning work, assessing performance, addressing performance issues, and resolving problems.

• Monitors current developments, trends, and best practices in the archival profession.

• Fosters collaborative relationships within the department, Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe, and across Harvard Library as appropriate. May represent the department in various collaborative projects and programs within the greater Harvard Library system and beyond.

Working Conditions:

Work conditions involve a climate-controlled, indoor environment with specific temperature and humidity levels to preserve materials. The archivist may encounter dust and mold, necessitating the use of personal protective equipment like masks and gloves. Limited natural light is typical in the workspace, and frequent use of computers and other digital tools is required.

Physical Requirements:

The demands described below are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations will be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. 

• The physical demands of this position include lifting and carrying boxes up to 40 pounds, managing cartloads of material weighing up to 240 pounds, frequent standing, walking, climbing ladders, and bending to retrieve or reshelve collections.

• Frequent standing, walking, climbing ladders, and bending to retrieve or reshelve collections.

• Manual dexterity is required to handle delicate archival materials carefully.

• Prolonged periods of examining documents under magnification and repetitive data entry tasks are also common.