upcoming grant deadline: 05/15/2024

upcoming grant deadline: 05/15/2024

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William Way LGBT Community Center seeks a part-time Archivist

The Archives contain about 30 discrete collections; the largest collection documents the 30-year history of the Center itself, through board minutes, personal correspondence, brochures, posters, newsletters, and photos. The Archives also consist of periodicals (magazines, newspapers, and journals from the 1950s through the present), audio-visual materials (tapes, CDs, and DVDs of local radio talk shows, TV series, erotica, and interviews), a book collection (including 50 years of LGBT travel guides, rare books documenting LGBT history and culture, and pulp novels from the 1950s-70s), and an ephemera collection (t-shirts, hats, newspaper clippings, awards, scrapbooks, pins, catalogs, organizational files, letters, pamphlets, playbills, matchbooks, posters, and photographs). Each collection is a unique addition to the knowledge and understanding of LGBT life in the Philadelphia area.

Responsibilities of this position include:

  • Researching and developing written policies and procedures governing the management and care of the archival collections. Such documents may include Collections Development Policy, Collections Management Policy, Access & Use Policy, Processing Guidelines, and Digital Preservation Plan. 
  • Researching, assisting in the selection of, and implementing archival software tools for the management and display of finding aids, as well as possibly digitized or born-digital collections material. 
  • Arranging and describing personal papers and institutional/organizational records, including born-digital and other electronic materials, in accordance with contemporary professional standards, vocabularies, and practices (e.g. DACS, AAT) as well as established local guidelines for processing. 
  • Rehousing collection materials and addressing preservation concerns as needed. 
  • Developing online access to archival collections. 
  • Assisting Curator with acquisitions, archival appraisal, and accessioning material for the collection. 
  • Assisting Curator with internal and external researcher reference requests. 
  • Engaging in professional activities both internally at the William Way Center and externally in the broader professional landscape (DVAG, MARAC, SAA, etc.)

Required qualifications: 

  • Master's degree from a library, information science, or public history program with a concentration in archival management. 
  • Knowledge of archival theory, practice, and standards including organization, description, and preservation strategies. 
  • Practical knowledge of archival policies and procedures. 
  • Some experience with archival processing (arranging, describing, and cataloging). 
  • Experience with or coursework in established and emerging standards and tools for digital media, born-digital files in archival collections, and digital preservation. 
  • Willingness and ability to research and apply new technologies. 
  • High capacity for creative problem-solving. 
  • Ability to work flexibly, collaboratively, and independently (as the Center’s sole professional Archivist, this is a “lone arranger” position). 
  • Capacity to communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.

Preferred qualifications: 

  • Familiarity with LGBT history. 
  • Familiarity with community organization practices, both in general and in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Review of applications will begin immediately. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled. Please send cover letter, resume, and up to three examples of previous archival work (sample finding aid, sample archival catalog record, online archival collection exhibition, etc.) to cthompson@waygay.org.

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