Archivist | San Antonio, TX

JOB DESCRIPTION: ARCHIVIST

Position Type: Full time exempt, 40 hours a week

Location: San Antonio, TX, it may be possible to work some hours from home, but this position requires in-person availability

Salary Range: $50,000-60,000

Benefits: Eligible – See below for additional detail

Terms: This is a Mellon funded-position for a 2-year term. A pathway to permanency will be sought during this time.

Reports to: Executive Director

The Archivist will provide leadership, vision, and direction in overseeing the MACRI’s small physical collection of archival materials, as well as lead MACRI’s efforts to establish an online archive portal. The Archivist will collect and make publicly available (via the portal) primary resources related to Mexican American civil rights history. MACRI will prioritize post-custodial collections from both established archives and personal family collections, and will serve a primary audience of K-12 teachers and students. The Archivist must be able to cultivate and develop relationships with established archives and families with relevant collections. This position may occasionally require travel and work on evenings and weekends.

Duties & Responsibilities

• Partners with a consultant to implement the technical infrastructure for a collaborative online archive with a public portal.

• Continues the management of the online archive, facilitates partner contributions to the online archive, and regularly publishes content to the public portal.

• Designs and manages digital collections by selecting the metadata schema, descriptive practices, and controlled vocabularies; and exercising quality control of the software, equipment, and catalog records. Implements policies and procedures for managing MACRI’s archive with long-term preservation and access as the focus; to include: digital file ingest, storage, preservation, organization, description, and access.

• Oversees the preservation and management of born-digital and digitized collection assets.

• Supports collection access by determining the appropriate intellectual organization and digital storage structure for the collection, analyzing the intellectual content of the source material, and conducting historical research for the preparation of collection and item descriptions.

• Helps to preserve the physical archival material by determining the need for document cleaning, repair, deacidification, re-humidification, or isolation.

• Provides access to archival collections by compiling finding aids, creating collection and itemlevel records descriptions, and maintaining collection storage space allocation.

• Travels on an as-needed basis to the Visitor Center, offsite storage, and community events.

• Initiates and perpetuates collection development activities by maintaining donor contacts, conducting field surveys, evaluating potential collections, and acquiring/accessioning collections which meet MACRI’s collection development policies.

• Work with online archive partners to identify appropriate material for the portal

• Promotes awareness and use of the collections with presentations, talks, and/or interviews to the media, library groups, historical societies, and elementary through college classes.

• Collaborates with the Executive Director to incorporate archival holdings into MACRI’s exhibits.

• Contributes to MACRI’s success by performing other duties as assigned.

• Collaborate with Development Manager on grants to support the archival work.

• Manage budgets for archival activities.

• Serve as backup spokesperson for the organization.

• Represent the MACRI Archives at associated conferences and national meetings.

Qualifications

• MLIS Degree with a concentration in Archives or a similar equivalency. 2-3 years of experience may be used in lieu of an advanced degree. Familiarity with processing archival collections, including experience in creating descriptive data, digitization, and care of both physical and born-digital materials.

• Awareness of Collections Management Systems (CMS), Digital Asset Management Systems (DAMS), or Digital Preservation Systems; and an interest in database use.

• Knowledge of standards, best practices, and principles in digital collections management, digital file preservation, asset management, and descriptive data work, as well as the ability and desire to continue cultivating expertise in these areas.

• Ability to assist with teaching staff and contractors engaged in digitization, descriptive, and digital file management tasks when necessary.

• A demonstrated ability to learn new technical skills.

• Interest in performing community outreach, cultivating relationships, and collaborating with outside partners.

• Comfortable with interpersonal dynamics, and verbal and written communication. Preferred Qualifications

• Two years of experience in processing archival collections, including experience in creating descriptive data, digitization, and care of both physical and born-digital materials.

• Society of American Archivists Digital Archives Specialist (DAS) Certification.

• Experience in community outreach activities.

• Demonstrated ability to collaborate with outside partners.

• Strong interpersonal skills, including the ability to develop and maintain cooperative, professional relationships with archive staff and colleagues at other repositories.

• Ability to speak, read, and/or write in Spanish a plus.

Benefits

• Work From Home Flexibility

• Healthcare: Medical, Dental, and Vision (up to $600 in coverage per month)

• Life Insurance

• Retirement: Simple IRA with 3% Employer Match

• Paid Vacation

• Paid Holidays 

How to Apply

Please send the following to: info@somosmacri.org

• Resume

• Cover Letter

• A link or attachment of position-related work you’ve completed as part of course work, internship, or past employment. There’s no need to create new work.

Interviews will be scheduled on a rolling basis. The position will remain open until a candidate is selected. About MACRI Launched in 2019, the Mexican American Civil Rights Institute (MACRI) is an emerging national museum and archive dedicated to preserving and disseminating Mexican American civil rights history. Based in San Antonio, Texas, we have an ambitious plan to shine a national spotlight on San Antonio as a national destination to learn about Mexican American civil rights history, including not only our rich local history as the birthplace of many significant Mexican American civil rights organizations and leaders, but also the larger national story of Mexican American civil rights endeavors across the Southwest, the Pacific Northwest, the Midwest, the New South, and beyond. We plan to grow MACRI into a national center housing significant historical archives and collections, preserving the legacy of Mexican American civil rights endeavors for generations to come, and offering an unparalleled opportunity for the public to learn about this vital history.