Head of Processing and Collection Management, Special Collections
The Boston University Libraries seek a Head of Processing and Collection Management to lead the strategic stewardship of the university's diverse and valuable special collections. Reporting to the Associate University Librarian for Special Collections, this pivotal role oversees the comprehensive management, processing, and accessibility of distinctive materials housed across various departments, including the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center, University Archives, Nursing Archives, and Rare Books collections. The position will develop and implement innovative approaches to collection management that balance preservation needs with user access, ensuring that these unique resources are effectively curated, described, and made available to support the university's research, teaching, and learning missions.
Working collaboratively with library leadership and cross-departmental teams, this role drives the adoption of best practices in archival processing and digital preservation. The Head of Processing and Collection Management champions a user-centered, access-driven approach while fostering an inclusive and forward-thinking environment that addresses the evolving landscape of special collections in academic libraries. This position plays a crucial role in enhancing the discoverability and utilization of Boston University's rich historical and cultural holdings for both the university community and external researchers.
The Head of Processing and Collection Management will:
- Collection management: Lead collections planning, addressing growth rates, storage, and appraisal needs to ensure sustainable stewardship. Establish collections management priorities. Oversees the born digital collection, and in collaboration with library colleagues, ensures stability and preservation of electronic records and born digital archives. Allocate processing resources and develop metrics for evaluating work and service levels. Maintain and monitor the physical space and security of collections. Assess preservation needs and work with library administration to outsource projects to specialists. Monitor environments for long-term preservation of both physical and digital collections.
- Processing, arrangement, and description: Oversee services for collections, including accessioning, processing, cataloging, and preservation of rare materials. Establish processing standards in partnership with relevant stakeholders to promote intellectual control and digital access, adopting inclusive descriptive practice. Develop and deliver finding aids and metadata to ensure accessibility and usability of records.
- Program administration: Lead the Special Collections processing program, overseeing collection management, processing, arrangement, description, accessioning, and digitization preparation services. Manage, coach, and develop a team comprising two archivists and one support staff member, field study interns, and student workers to deliver processing and collection management services. Plan, develop, implement, manage, promote, and assess processing services adopting a user-centered, access-driven approach in all archival processes. Advance a streamlined approach to collections management that aligns best practice with institutional constraints, to ensure that teams are supported in their work and are not overextended. Manage archival supply purchasing.
- Collaboration and professional practice: Collaborate in the broader professional academic library community. Pursue professional development and skills training to meet emerging and ongoing needs from the university community. Actively participate in relevant professional communities, including subject and functionally focused organizations. Participate in working groups, committees, and other service opportunities as a representative of library research services. Collaborate on intramural events with departments or programs.
Required Skills
- Master's degree in library or archival studies.
- 5-7 years of experience of increasing levels of responsibility in an archival or special collections setting.
- Strong commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, with the ability to implement these principles in all aspects of processing and collection management.
- Knowledge of national data content and structure standards related to archival control of collection materials (e.g., DACS, EAD, MARC, LCSH, AAT)
- Knowledge of ethics, privacy, confidentiality, copyright, and related policies as they apply to management of special collections.
- Knowledge of current developments, trends, and emerging technologies in archives and special collections, including Computational Archival Science.
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