Position Title:
Digital Collections Specialist
Position Type:
Regular
Salary Range:
$25.24 - $29.01 per hour, commensurate with experience
Pay Frequency:
Hourly
HOW TO APPLY
Prospective candidates for the Digital Collections Specialist position are asked to submit the following:
Cover letter*
Detailed resume or CV
Names, addresses, emails, and telephone numbers of at least three professional references who may be contacted.

• In the cover letter, applicants should fully describe their qualifications and experience, with specific reference to each of the minimum and preferred qualifications because this is the information on which the initial review of materials will be based.

Although this position will remain open until filled, r eview of candidates' materials will begin on Monday, August 21 , and best consideration will be gained for materials submitted prior to that date.
Materials should be addressed to the Search Committee, Digital Collections Specialist, and are to be submitted online as we do not accept emailed materials. For assistance with the application process, please contact SCU Human Resources at 408-554-4392 or hrservicedesk@scu.edu .
POSITION PURPOSE
Reporting to the Head of Archives & Special Collections, the Digital Collections Specialist increases online access and discoverability of original and unique materials held by Archives & Special Collections. This position coordinates all aspects of the daily operation of the unit's digitization activities including the training and supervision of student assistants. This position also prepares materials for outsourced digitization by third-party vendors who offer specialized or mass digitization services.
Department Profile
Archives & Special Collections administers the original and unique research materials held by the University Library, including the historical records and scholarly output of Santa Clara University as well as the rare books and other research collections acquired to support the University's mission since its founding by Jesuits in 1851. Our collections focus on areas relevant to the University's role as a Jesuit, Catholic university in the heart of Silicon Valley and as the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California, with a history integrally connected to Mission Santa Clara, one of California's original missions.
The department is staffed by five full-time employees in addition to the Digital Collections Specialist: the Head of Archives & Special Collections, the Archives & Special Collections Librarian, the Archivist, the Archives Specialist, and the Institutional Repository Coordinator. A Cataloging Specialist, organizationally situated in technical services, performs rare books and other cataloging support.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Digitization (35%)
Uses scanners, digital cameras, or other digitization equipment to capture archival and special collections materials, such as documents, photographs, and rare books.
Performs basic editing (e.g., cropping or deskewing, etc.) on digital images in a variety of formats, and creates derivative images for publication on the Web or other reuse.
Conducts quality control to ensure that images are captured according to best practices and standards.
Prepares materials for outsourced digitization by third-party vendors; monitors progress on digitization projects, and ensures safe transport and return of materials.
Uses optical character recognition (OCR) software to prepare full-text transcripts or hand-keys transcripts of handwritten material.
Stores digital files on departmental networked drives for long term preservation and engages in digital preservation best practices.
Metadata (35%)
Creates original or edits existing descriptive, administrative, technical, or other metadata according to Dublin Core, DACS, and local and national standards.
Uses or contributes to the creation and maintenance of authority records for digital collections, including the selection of names or headings used in digital collections controlled vocabularies in consultation with the Archivist, Head of Cataloging, or Cataloging Specialist.
As applicable or appropriate, reuses finding aid data as metadata or other descriptive data and creates Digital Object records in ArchivesSpace to ensure seamless connections between finding aids and digital collections.
Conduct contextual or other research to inform or enhance metadata creation.
Shares digital collections with Calisphere, OCLC, or other metadata aggregators.
Digital Collections (25%)
Creates new or edits and maintains existing digital collections using CONTENTdm.
Configures server-level collection settings or the appearance, searching and browsing, navigation, or other public user interface features to support access and use.
Adapts existing content or research and creates new content to provide context on digital collections landing pages.
Ensures that custom metadata fields are correctly mapped to Dublin Core fields and that controlled vocabulary fields are accurate and correctly used.
Copy edits and approves metadata and digital files uploaded by students or others.
Confers with the Archivist and Archives Specialist to collaboratively establish criteria used to select materials for digitization.
Other duties as assigned. (5%)
C. PROVIDES WORK DIRECTION
Trains, schedules, supervises, and evaluates students, interns, or volunteers in designated areas of responsibility.
Receives training or work direction from colleagues within or external to the unit in addition to the Head of Archives & Special Collections.
D. GENERAL GUIDELINES
Recommends initiatives and implements changes to improve quality and services. Identifies, determines, and resolves causes of problems; develops, presents, and implements recommendations for improvement of established processes and practices. Maintains contact with internal and external customers and solicits feedback for improved services. Maximizes productivity through use of appropriate tools, planned training, and performance initiatives. Researches and develops resources that create timely and efficient workflow. Prepares progress reports; informs supervisor of project status; and deviation from goals. Ensures completeness, accuracy and timeliness of all operational functions. Prepares and submits reports as requested and required. Develops and implements guidelines to support the functions of the department.
E. QUALIFICATIONS
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The items below are representative of the knowledge, skills, abilities, education, and experience required or preferred. This position requires the ability to effectively establish and maintain cooperative working relationships within a diverse multicultural environment.
Required
Bachelor's degree.
Excellent attention to detail for complex, sometimes repetitive, detail-oriented work.
Strong analytical, research, project-management, and oral and written communication skills.
Ability to manage projects and to participate in multiple concurrent projects in a given timeframe, monitor project workflow, provide regular reports or updates as necessary, and meet project deadlines.
Ability to be self-motivated and work creatively, collaboratively, and effectively both independently and as a team member or leader.
One year experience working with image scanners or digital cameras, processing digital files using software, creating descriptive data or other metadata, and making images and descriptive data available on the Web, preferably in an academic library.
Preferred
Experience in a library or archives setting, such as paid or volunteer work with archival or rare materials, or equivalent coursework in archival theory and practice.
Experience creating and managing digital collections, including digital image creation, metadata creation, and publishing digital collections to the Web using software platforms such as CONTENTdm, Omeka, or similar tools.
Experience maintaining archival digital surrogates and/or managing born-digital material, including migration of obsolete formats to modern equivalents.
Experience creatively re-using collection level metadata to streamline item-level description (for example, using finding data as part of item-level metadata fields).
General Knowledge
Familiarity with national digitization standards and best practices, such as Federal Agencies Digitization Guidelines Initiative (FADGI).
Familiarity with metadata standards and schema for descriptive, structural, and preservation metadata, such as MARC, Dublin Core, DACS, EAD, PREMIS, METS, or MODS.
Familiarity with the principles of the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH) and its implications for sharing digital collections with local, regional, national, and/or international metadata aggregators and discovery platforms.
Skills
Experience creating digital surrogates of a wide variety of archival and special collections materials using scanners and/or digital cameras.
Experience building digital collections using software platforms such as CONTENTdm, Omeka, or similar tools.
Excellent interpersonal skills, including presentation, written, and oral communication skills, and ability to work collaboratively across organizational boundaries in a diverse environment.
Excellent computer skills, including knowledge of a wide range of computer storage media, file systems, software, and file formats.
Abilities
Ability to explain and promote digital products and services to people with varied levels of technical knowledge.
Ability to learn and deploy new technologies associated with digital collections, digital scholarship, and digital pedagogy.
Ability to troubleshoot technical issues with scanners, digital cameras, and computer equipment.
Ability to supervise or lead interns, student employees, and temporary employees in daily tasks.
Ability to solve problems creatively and collaboratively.
Education: Bachelor's degree.
Years of Experience
Required: One year experience working with image scanners or digital cameras, processing digital files using software, creating descriptive data or other metadata, and making images and descriptive data available on the Web, preferably in an academic library. This can include cumulative time spent in paid internships working with archival or rare materials.
F. PHYSICAL DEMANDS
The physical demands described below are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, as amended, the California Fair Employment & Housing Act, and all other applicable laws, SCU provides reasonable accommodations for qualified persons with disabilities. A qualified individual is a person who meets skill, experience, education, or other requirements of the position, and who can perform the essential functions of the position with or without reasonable accommodation.
Considerable time is spent at a desk using a computer terminal.
May be required to travel to other buildings on the campus.
May be required to attend conference and training sessions within Bay Area or in- or out-of-state locations.
May be required to occasionally travel to outside customers, vendors or suppliers.
G. WORK ENVIRONMENT
The work environment characteristics described below are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job.
Typical office environment.
Scanning lab environment.
Offices with frequent interruptions.
COVID-19 Statement
The health and safety of the university community is a top priority. All Santa Clara University students, and employees are required to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or request a medical or religious exemption. Please visit our COVID-19 webpage for additional information.
EEO Statement
Equal Opportunity/Notice of Nondiscrimination
Santa Clara University is an equal opportunity/equal access/affirmative action employer fully committed to achieving a diverse workforce and complies with all Federal and California State laws, regulations, and executive orders regarding non-discrimination and affirmative action. Applications from members of historically underrepresented groups are especially encouraged. For a complete copy of Santa Clara University's equal opportunity and nondiscrimination policies, see https://www.scu.edu/title-ix/policies-reports/
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972
Santa Clara University does not discriminate in its employment practices or in its educational programs or activities on the basis of sex/gender, and prohibits retaliation against any person opposing discrimination or participating in any discrimination investigation or complaint process internally or externally. The Title IX Coordinator and Section 504 and ADA Coordinator is Aaron Zisser, Director of Equal Opportunity and Title IX, 408-551-3043, azisser@scu.edu , www.scu.edu/title-ix . Inquiries can also be made to the Assistant Secretary of Education within the Office for Civil Rights (OCR).
Clery Notice of Availability
Santa Clara University annually collects information about campus crimes and other reportable incidents in accordance with the federal Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act. To view the Santa Clara University report, please go to the Campus Safety Services website . To request a paper copy please call Campus Safety at (408) 554-4441. The report includes the type of crime, venue, and number of occurrences.
Americans with Disabilities Act
Santa Clara University affirms its' commitment to employ qualified individuals with disabilities within the workplace and to comply with the Americans with Disability Act. All applicants desiring an accommodation should contact the Department of Human Resources , and 408-554-5750 and request to speak to Indu Ahluwalia by phone at 408-554-5750 or by email at iahluwalia@scu.edu .
To view the full job posting and apply for this position, go to https://wd1.myworkdaysite.com/en-US/recruiting/scu/scu/job/Santa-Clara-CA/Digital-Collections-Specialist_R3825
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