Project Manager, Voices from the Great Hall Digital Access Project
(January 21, 2019)

Hours: Full Time

Description:

SUPERVISOR: Steven Hillyer, Project Director; Director, The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture Archive

SCHEDULE: Full-time grant-funded, temporary contracted position from January, 2019 – July, 2020

PROJECT: This project will bring to light numerous recordings of historically significant events, lectures, and cultural programs that have taken place on the stage of Cooper Union’s Great Hall, a destination for free speech, civic engagement, and a witness to the flow of American history and ideas since it opened in 1858. The project goals are to rehouse and survey the collection of over 3,200 reel-to-reel tapes, approximately 2,000 audio cassettes, approximately 100 audio-video tapes, and 50 vinyl recordings dating back to the 1930s; digitize and electronically preserve the recordings; digitize and catalog related photographs, ephemera, and text documents; establish an online database for the archive of newly digitized materials; and further disseminate the content through a Voices from the Great Hall podcast series.

RESPONSIBILITIES: The Project Manager, working under the guidance of the Project Director, will be responsible for day-to-day project management and implementation as follows:

Standards: review, with the Director, Processing Archivist, and project consultants, existing project standards, protocols, workflows, and quality control measures for archival processing and digitization; based on their feedback, finalize standards and compile them into a comprehensive project manual.

Reporting: prepare progress reports tracking the project’s schedule, deliverables, and budget, for weekly meetings with the Director and project staff; compile quarterly assessments (including mid-term and final assessments) for review by the Director; draft all project reports as required by funders.

Processing: Coordinate project workflow with Processing Archivist, who will conduct archival processing of audio media and audiovisual material.

Cataloging: oversee and conduct item-level cataloging of the collection’s reel-to-reel tapes, audio cassettes, audio-video, and vinyl recordings; coordinate item-level cataloging of photographs, ephemera, and text documents housed in Cooper Union’s Library with library staff.

Digitization: oversee and conduct on-site creation of master digital files and access derivates for photographic and text material; coordinate off-site digitization of audio and audio-video media and large format images; ensure the proper creation of technical and preservation metadata using JHOVE, Archivematica and other appropriate tools.

Research: conduct research, with Director and Processing Archivist, on copyright and intellectual property matters related to all recordings, photographs, and project ephemera.

Platform Customization: coordinate user-interface customization of the project’s CollectiveAccess platform with the Director and platform consultants (Whirl-i-Gig).

Migration: coordinate migration of descriptive data and access derivative files into the project’s CollectiveAccess platform.

Discovery Tools: author a folder-level finding aid and a collection-level MARC21 record using ArchivesSpace; submit discovery tools to relevant bibliographic utilities.

QUALIFICATIONS:

Required – a Masters in Library Science (MLS) or equivalent degree; prior experience digitizing archival collections, including audio and audiovisual materials, for web-based public access; experience with item-level cataloging and metadata (descriptive, technical, preservation) creation; experience authoring discovery tools (MARC records and EAD finding aids); a high level of interpersonal skills and professionalism in dealing with faculty, students, staff, and the general public; proficiency with basic computer skills (Microsoft Office, Adobe Creative Suite, FileMaker Pro).

Preferred – familiarity with ArchivesSpace, Archivematica, JHOVE, and other appropriate archival software; familiarity with an academic environment; prior experience with, knowledge of, or a strong interest in American and New York history, politics, social movements, and cultural events.

This is a non-union position.

The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Submit resume and cover letter to:

Human Resources

30 Cooper Square, 7th Floor

New York, NY 10003

Or email to: hr@cooper.edu