Employment Opportunity with University of Illinois

Archivist for Faculty Papers

Assistant Professor, Associate Professor or Professor, University Library

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Position Available:  Position available immediately after closing. This is a 100%, twelve-month, tenure-system appointment.

Duties and Responsibilities:  Working under the direction of the Archivist for Music and Fine Arts, the Associate Archivist for Faculty Papers is responsible for strategic leadership to acquire, preserve and steward the professional and personal archives of University of Illinois faculty (i.e., “faculty papers”) initially those in the College of Fine and Applied Arts.  Major responsibilities include: 

·         Developing a collection development strategy and choosing areas in which to focus collecting in consultation with teaching faculty and appropriate experts in the Archives and Library, (e.g. subject and functional specialists and Research Data Services staff);

·         Conducting collections development research concerning faculty communication and documentation patterns to better understand, document, and preserve evidence of faculty activities and the information and data produced from those activities;

·         Developing and administering policies relating to faculty papers acquisitions including intellectual property rights and access restrictions via deeds of gift;

·         Soliciting of and negotiating with faculty donors;

·         Making strategic decisions regarding descriptive practices and access tools to facilitate discovery and use of faculty papers;

·         Creating processing plans for new acquisitions that balance resources with collection and user needs;

·         Providing research, instruction, and reference service related to these new collections to support their use for scholarship, teaching, and service; and

·         Undertaking university and public engagement to bring attention to and facilitate use of newly acquired faculty papers.  

·         Articulating, pursuing and, over time, refining an aggressive agenda in research, scholarly publication, and professional and public service activities in areas appropriate for academic librarianship at the University of Illinois.

·         Contributing to the national and international reputation of the University Library through professional research, service and collaboration with appropriate colleagues and organizations.

Environment:  The University of Illinois Library at Urbana-Champaign is one of the preeminent research libraries in the world. With more than 13 million volumes and significant digital resources, it ranks second in size among academic research libraries in the United States and first among public university libraries in the world. As the intellectual heart of the campus, the Library is committed to maintaining the strongest possible collections and services and engaging in research and development activities in pursuit of the University’s mission of teaching, scholarship, and public service. The Library currently employs approximately 90 faculty and 300 academic professionals, staff, and graduate assistants. For more detailed information, please visit <http://www.library.illinois.edu/>.  The Library consists of multiple departmental libraries located across campus, as well as an array of central public, technical, and administrative service units. The Library also encompasses a variety of virtual service points and “embedded librarian” programs.

The University of Illinois’ Sousa Archives and Center for American Music, as an archives and music museum of the University Archives, provides services to undergraduates, graduate students, faculty, visiting scholars, and the general public. In addition it produces exhibitions and diverse public engagement programs for the local community and its public schools.  The Sousa Archives is one of the nation’s most vibrant centers for documenting the American music scene.  In addition to holding over 70 percent of John Philip Sousa’s original music manuscripts, it also documents the creative output of the School of Music, the world of electronic music, the local pop music scene, and musicians of all genres around the country and world. It also holds an extensive collection of historical instruments and audio players, from wax cylinders to electronic music instruments.

The University Archives' permanent staff includes seven archivists, one academic professional, one library specialist, graduate assistants, and hourly student assistants. Its holdings include official records of the university, papers of prominent faculty and alumni, and associated manuscript collections including the Student Life and Culture Archives. The Archives also holds records, papers, photographs, audiovisual materials, and related historical collections of professional and public service associations, such as the American Library Association and the Advertising Council. For over five decades, the professional staff has been recognized as national and international leaders and innovators in archival practice. They are highly productive and able to cope with growing collections and expanding groups of research users.

Qualifications: Required:

·         MLS from an ALA accredited library school with a concentration in archival theory and practice, or an equivalent degree

·         Working knowledge of the accepted standards of the archives profession

·         Minimum of one year of experience working in an academic  or governmental  archives  or special collections repository

·         Supervisory experience

·         Strong written and oral communication skills

·         Ability to meet research and publication requirements for promotion and tenure

·         Ability to read music

Preferred:

·         A second degree in history or one of the Fine and Applied Arts disciplines

·         Minimum of one year of experience working with either Archon or Archivist Toolkit

·         Minimum of one year of experience developing collection development strategies and administering policies associated with intellectual property rights and access restrictions

·         Knowledge and experience applying current encoded archival descriptive practices to the arrangement and description of archival collections and digital image libraries

·         Knowledge and experience providing research, instruction, and reference service in archives and special collections

·         Knowledge and experience curating exhibitions and implementing public engagement programs

·         Knowledge and experience in music score reading and transposition

·         Familiarity with  processes, methods, and procedures for stewardship of born-digital content

Salary and Rank:  Salary commensurate with credentials and experience. Librarians have faculty rank, and must demonstrate excellence in librarianship, research, and university/professional/community service in order to meet university standards for tenure and promotion. For more information, see <http://www.library.illinois.edu/committee/promo/pta.html>.

Terms of Appointment: Twelve-month appointment; 24 annual vacation days; 11 annual paid holidays; 12 annual sick-leave days (cumulative), plus an additional 13 sick-leave days (non-cumulative) available, if needed, each year; health insurance requiring a small co-payment is provided to employee (with the option to purchase coverage for spouse and dependents); required participation in State Universities Retirement System (SURS) (8% of annual salary is withheld and is refundable upon termination), with several options for participation in additional retirement plans; newly-hired employees are covered by the Medicare portion of Social Security and are subject to its deduction.

Campus and Community: The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a comprehensive and major public land-grant university (Doctoral/Research University-Extensive) that is ranked among the best in the world. Chartered in 1867, it provides undergraduate and graduate education in more than 150 fields of study, conducts theoretical and applied research, and provides public service to the state and the nation. It employs 3,000 faculty members who serve 31,000 undergraduates and 12,000 graduate and professional students; approximately 25% of faculty receives campus-wide recognition each year for excellence in teaching. More information about the campus is available at www.illinois.edu.

The University is located in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana, which have a combined population of 100,000 and are situated about 140 miles south of Chicago, 120 miles west of Indianapolis, and 170 northeast of St. Louis. The University and its surrounding communities offer a cultural and recreational environment ideally suited to the work of a major research institution. For more information about the community, visit: <http://illinois.edu/about/community/community.html> or <http://www.ccchamber.org/>.

To Apply:  To ensure full consideration, please complete your candidate profile at https://jobs.illinois.edu and upload a letter of interest, resume, and contact information including email addresses for three professional references. Applications not submitted through this website will not be considered. For questions, please call: 217-333-8169.

Deadline:  In order to ensure full consideration, applications and nominations must be received by March 18, 2014.

Illinois is an Affirmative Action /Equal Opportunity Employer and welcomes individuals with diverse backgrounds, experiences, and ideas who embrace and value diversity and inclusivity.

www.inclusiveillinois.illinois.edu