Collections Management Archivist

The Wyner Family Jewish Heritage Center (JHC) at New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) is a destination for collecting, preserving, and illuminating the histories of Jewish families and institutions in New England and beyond. It is an archive and educational center engaging scholars, genealogists, and the general public in the study and understanding of American Jewish history and heritage. The JHC holds more than 2 million documents in its collections focused on New England Jewish individuals, families, and organizations, and has a digital archive of nearly 700,000 searchable documents.

Reporting to the Executive Director, the Collections Management Archivist oversees and provides physical and intellectual management of the JHC’s archival collections; manages the ArchivesSpace repository; communicates with collection donors; and works with JHC staff to set collection policies and procedures. The Collections Management Archivist is also responsible for updating collection processing and digitization priorities for the archive, and processes collections as needed. This is an exciting opportunity to have an impact on the use and focus of the JHC’s collections and to be key member of the JHC team.

Duties and Responsibilities

Collections Management

• Prioritizes workflows and develops processing plans for archival collections.
• Manages the JHC ArchivesSpace repository, including creating and updating new finding aids, and interfacing with vendor.
• Manages and updates, as needed, policies and procedures such as collection policy, processing procedures, and access policies, in agreement with the Executive Director.
• In partnership with the Executive Director, identifies and cultivates relationships with prospective individual and institutional collection donors.
• Evaluates new archival collections and recommends areas of collection growth and expansion.
• Accessions incoming collections and writes Deeds of Gift.
• Manages off-site transfer of collections and relationship with storage vendor.
• Maintains legacy collections database in Access.

Collections Processing

• Maintains physical and intellectual control of and access to archival collection resources through processing and documentation.
• Inventories, researches, arranges, describes, rehouses, and labels physical archival materials.
• Catalogs collections using OCLC Connexion and Sierra.

Digital Archives and Reference

• Manages and coordinates digitization projects, with primary focus on the HIAS digitization project.
• Develops procedures for, and manages, born digital materials in collections.
• Provides reference services to on-site researchers, and remote reference via email and phone.

Management and Tracking

• Hires and supervises processing and digital archives interns.
• Tracks and reports quarterly on collections accessioned, processed, and digitized.
• Reports on monthly volunteer stats to NEHGS volunteer coordinator.
• Co-manages archival supply budget with Special Collections staff.

Other

• Gives occasional online and in-person presentations about archival processes or content for NEHGS educational events; collaborates with other JHC and NEHGS staff on projects as required.
• Attends/staffs JHC and NEHGS events as needed.
• Contributes data and archives content, as needed, for communications, proposals, and budgets.
• Attends weekly JHC staff meetings and other NEHGS meetings as required.
• Other duties as assigned.

Education Level

Master’s in Library Science with a focus on archival management.

Skills and Qualifications

• ALA-accredited Master’s degree in Library and Information Science with a concentration in archives.
• 3-5 years of archival work with demonstrated increasing responsibilities.
• Excellent project management skills.
• Proficient with metadata standards and schema, particularly DACS and Dublin Core.
• Computing and technical skills (Microsoft Office 365, scanning software, photo editing software, Cloud-based storage, XML, HTML).
• Experience processing analog, analog-to-digital, or born-digital collections.
• Experience with online collection management resources, such as ArchivesSpace and CONTENTdm.
• Ability to plan and supervise the work of others.
• Excellent communication and writing skills.
• Comfort and ability to manage several projects simultaneously.
• Ability to work both independently and as part of a team.
• Interest in Jewish history and/or family and community history a plus.

Salary

$53,000-$ 59,000

How to Apply

Please send resume and a compelling cover letter to, Michelle Major, Director of Human Resources mmajor@nehgs.org. No phone calls please.