Job Description

This is a 2-year specified term position.

The University of Iowa Libraries Special Collections and Archives seeks to hire an organized and detail-oriented archivist to serve in a 2-year term appointment as the James Leach Congressional Papers Project Archivist. In addition to numerous other roles throughout his life, Leach was a member of the US House of Representatives from 1977-2007 and served as the Chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities from 2009-2013. The papers represent the duration of his career.

Under the supervision of the Processing Coordinator Archivist, the project archivist will survey, arrange, describe, and preserve the James Leach congressional papers in accordance with local policies and procedures and broader congressional paper standards. The project archivist will work independently and collaboratively to make judgments and recommendations about content appraisal and access.

Specific duties and responsibilities include:

• Survey record groups and determine the level of descriptive detail necessary to facilitate discovery and access.
• Identify materials in need of conservation treatment, transfer, return, or alternative disposition.
• Determine appropriate restrictions based on legal agreements, copyright law, privacy law, university policy, preservation assessments, or related concerns, in consultation with Processing Coordinator Archivist and/or Archives Technical Services Lead.
• Apply relevant policies and processing procedures.
• Create, update, and publish finding aids using ArchivesSpace.
• Work independently and make judgments and recommendations about content appraisal and access, and report to the immediate supervisor on critical decisions.
• Collaborate with colleagues in Special Collections and Archives, Conservation and Collections Care, Collection Fulfillment, Cataloging-Metadata-Digitization, and other departments as needed.
• Collaborate with colleagues and with the broader congressional archivist community seeking to process, preserve and provide access to their congressional records.
• Contribute to the profession through service, research, publishing, and/or teaching and to the university community through participation in relevant library and university committees.
• Additional job duties as assigned based on individual knowledge, skills, and abilities.

Required Qualifications

• The candidate must hold a library science graduate degree from an ALA-accredited program or equivalent international degree; or in archival studies; or in a related field (such as US history) with a focus on archival studies.
• Experience with and demonstrated knowledge of standards and best practices for describing archival materials, including DACS and EAD.
• Understanding of extensible processing practices and demonstrated ability to apply processing levels and use minimal processing techniques.
• Demonstrated ability to work in a team environment where consultation, flexibility, collaboration, and cooperation are essential.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience arranging and describing large archival collections.
• Experience working with ArchivesSpace or similar collection management systems.

Application Details:

In order to be eligible for interview, applicants must upload the following and mark them as "relevant files" when you upload the documents:

1. Cover letter that clearly addresses how you meet each of the required and any desired qualifications of this position. To ensure strongest consideration, applicants are encouraged to review all required qualifications and state directly how they meet each of them.
2. Current resume

This job ad will be posted through March 23, 2025, and may be removed from posting and filled any time after that date. Please contact [email protected] if you have any questions about the position.

The hiring salary range for this Specialist Librarian position is $55,000 - $68,000.

Successful candidates will be required to self-disclose any conviction history and will be subject to a criminal background check and credential/education verification. Up to 5 professional references will be requested at a later step in the recruitment process.

This position is eligible for on-campus and/or hybrid remote work within Iowa, with the majority of work time being on campus, and will require a work arrangement form to be completed upon the start of your employment. Per policy, work arrangements will be reviewed annually, and must comply with the remote work program and related policies and employee travel policy when working at a remote location .

The University of Iowa is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply and will receive consideration for employment free from discrimination on the basis of race, creed, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, pregnancy (including childbirth and related conditions), disability, genetic information, status as a U.S. veteran, service in the U.S. military, sexual orientation, gender identity, or associational preferences.

About University of Iowa

With over 31,000 students, the University of Iowa is one of the nation's top public research universities, a member of the Big Ten conference and the Association of American Universities. The University of Iowa is composed of eleven colleges and is known around the world for its balanced commitment to the arts, sciences, and humanities. It is home to one of the nation's largest academic medical centers and the pioneering Iowa Writers' Workshop. The University of Iowa promotes work/life integration and is located in the casual yet cosmopolitan environment of Iowa City, widely recognized as one of the country's most livable communities.

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Job Tags

Casual work, Local area, Immediate start, Remote work,

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