Library Associate, Manuscript Processor

70% - Manuscripts Processing:
This position primarily handles more complex and/or larger archival and manuscript collections. Collections may require specialized technical expertise, including processing foreign language materials, an ability to read older forms of English, or working with special formats such as born-digital materials. Key responsibilities include:

• Surveys, arranges, and rehouses original primary source materials as assigned by supervisor. This work ranges from minimally processing collections through detailed and complex processing of archival and manuscript collections, following national best practices and locally developed procedures specific to KSRL’s levels of processing. 
• Describes collections using national and local best practices, including Describing Archives: A Contents Standard (DACS) and relevant metadata standards, in the collections management tool, ArchivesSpace, to generate online, publicly available finding aids.
• Conducts research online as well as within collection materials and other readily available resources to write biographical and historical notes and other contextual information for finding aids.
• Creates finding aids for undescribed or under-described legacy collections in an online environment.
• Consults with conservation and curatorial staff as appropriate.
• Suggests subject headings and identifies relevant agents to be associated with finding aids and catalog records.
• Creates agent records in ArchivesSpace following national and local metadata standards.

15% - Special Projects:
Assists with one or more special projects within the Department. Special projects may be long-term or short-term depending on departmental and library priorities at any given time. Also included here are activities that occur on an infrequent basis. This position currently works on the following projects:

• Creates finding aids for undescribed or under-described large legacy collections requiring extensive organization and research to process.
• Cleans up standard and complex legacy metadata/EAD finding aids to facilitate better access to manuscript collections housed at KSRL.
• Serves as a resource to other processors particularly when Archives & Manuscripts Coordinator is not available.
• Participates in departmental and cross-unit projects to clean-up and enhance the metadata of digitized collections.

10% - Project Management:
This work requires in-depth knowledge of local and national standards, exceptional organizational skills, and the ability to improve and/or re-engineer practices from previous projects to streamline workflows for optimal efficiency.

• Monitors and adjusts workflows for complex collection processing projects. 
• Frequently resolves and/or proposes solutions to archival processing problems.
• Keeps supervisor and team members informed of progress for each project.
• Maintains internal documentation about processing and preservation decisions to collection materials.

5% - Teamwork and Professional Development:

• Attends and participates in Libraries, Department and Unit meetings along with other team building activities. Engages in ongoing professional development related to the position and commits to positive, solution-oriented problem solving.