Job Vacancy: Digital Archivist (Part-time)

JOB DESCRIPTION

Ashkal Alwan is seeking an innovative and dedicated Digital Archivist to help develop and maintain a sustainable infrastructure for born-digital as well as digitized materials – including appraisal, transfer, processing, metadata entry, as well as collaborating with staff of Ashkal Alwan’s library to test and implement search, discovery and access solutions.

 

CORE DUTIES

- Participate in a large scale research and development project related to digital content;

- Determine and implement required processes and workflows, including appraisal, transfer, discovery, access, and preservation for digital material;

- Process digital collections from a growing backlog;


- Analyze metadata across all digital collections in order to harmonize conflicts and inconsistencies and make them function effectively in a unified discovery environment;
 

- Defining specific processes and functionality required to enable integration between the digital repository, and archival software;


- Contribution to the definition and documentation of the digital process;


- Execute the assessment, processing, arrangement and description of digital archives, including material in Ashkal Alwan’s backlog and newly acquired materials;


- Work on developing and documenting local policies, best practices, and common standards for metadata populating;
 

- Maintain close working relationships with technical staff in relation to the development of front end, data models, and the administration of content; and


- Collaborate with colleagues and with the broader digital archivist community.


QUALIFICATIONS

- A minimum of 3 years of relevant experience in working with archives in the region;


- Experience with relevant aspects of archival operations including understanding of contemporary archival practices, trends and emerging technologies;


- Knowledge of contemporary art practices in Lebanon and the region, with a special focus on film, performance and lecture performance;


- Ability to identify challenges and opportunities, engage others in their resolution and recommend appropriate courses of action;


- Appreciation for and demonstrated understanding of the purpose and structure of archival-related discovery, metadata and access environments;


- Demonstrated knowledge of metadata content, structure, and preservation standards including MARC, EAD, DACS, MODS, etc.


- Knowledge of standards for technical, preservation, structural, packaging, and transfer metadata schemes;


- Knowledge of copyright and data protection issues;


- Workflow analysis and development or testing of IT systems;


- Excellent analytical and problem solving skills combined with attention to detail for complex detail-oriented work;


- Excellent oral and written communication skills;


- Ability to work independently and as a team member, in a highly demanding environment; and


- Excellent organisational and multitasking skills 




ABOUT ASHKAL ALWAN’S AUDIOVISUAL ARCHIVE

Over the years Ashkal Alwan has been accumulating a large and diverse audiovisual archive containing magnetic and digital tapes, DVDs, and digital files. This material is largely comprised of films and performances, recordings of previous editions of Home Works Forum, HWP lectures, and numerous seminars and talks; an invaluable resource for any scholar or researcher with an interest in the history of contemporary art practices in the region. The audiovisual archive consists of over 2,000 digital files, over 150 VHS/mini-DV tapes, and Terabytes of digital recordings, images, and manuscripts. All material is currently accessible through Ashkal Alwan’s inhouse network, with parts of it being released online since February 2019.  



TO APPLY


Send your resume and a cover letter to info@ashkalalwan.org