Digital Programs Librarian

Reporting to the N.E.H. Chief Technical Services Librarian, the Digital Programs Librarian plays a critical role in preserving, providing access to and promoting the Boston Athenæum’s collections by overseeing all facets of image production, including the post-capture processing of digital surrogates; ingestion into the Athenaeum’s digital asset management system (DAM), CONTENTdm; and adding appropriate metadata. The position also maintains the integrity of the Athenaeum’s DAM; adheres to file naming protocols; and maintains the organization of the digital surrogate drives and files. Additionally, the position is responsible for fulfilling rights and reproduction requests for images for internal and external patrons.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Work the Chief Technical Services Librarian, Curators, Library, and Conservation staff in identifying collection material for digitization
• Responsible for safely gathering materials selected for digitization; ensuring their security while in the imaging lab; and safely re-shelving items, after digitization in a timely fashion
• Work with the Chief Technical Services Librarian to coordinate workflows, prioritizing projects, setting method of digitizations, determining timetables and accessing available metadata
• Consult with Conservation when necessary to assess the suitability of materials for digitization
• Operate digital imaging equipment to produce high-resolution images, making post-capture decisions as to composition, cropping, color correction, and alignment in accordance with digitization best practices
• Perform post-capture production of digital surrogates and ingest them into the Library’s digital asset management system CONTENTdm
• Ensure the integrity of CONTENTdm by maintaining the directory access searches
• Digitizes collection material to fulfill specialized internal, departmental projects (e.g. exhibitions, promotional material, social media, lectures, etc.)
• Ingest digital surrogates and accompanying, quality metadata into external platforms such as the Internet Archive and Digital Commonwealth
• Create documentation for new departmental procedures and keep existing documentation up-to-date
• Fulfills requests for rights and reproduction of images of items from the Athenæum collections
• Serve as a supervisor in the Special Collections Reading Room once a week
• Work with the Athenaeum archivist in developing policies related to institutional electronic records
• Train, supervise, and monitor Technical Services interns when necessary
• Keep up with current industry standards, best practices, and policies in digitization
• Give tours of the Imaging Studio, as needed

QUALIFICATIONS & REQUIREMENTS

• Master of Library and Information Science degree from an ALA-accredited institution or equivalent training and experience required
• At least three years of professional experience in the production and management of digital surrogates of cultural heritage materials required
• Knowledge of CONTENTdm digital asset management system required
• Demonstrated ability in operating and maintaining a range of capture and imaging technology, camera, scanner hardware, and lighting techniques required
• Knowledge of digital image editing software such as Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom, and Bridge required
• Knowledge of metadata practices and standards such as Dublin Core required
• Knowledge of current trends and best practices in digitization (e.g. FADGI, IIIF) required
• Experience handling rare and fragile art objects and paper-based materials, required
• Ability to carry out detailed procedures with accuracy under minimal supervision; to plan and prioritize job responsibilities and tasks required
• Effective organizational and  communication skills, including the ability to present complex concepts and ideas clearly in written or oral form required
• Capacity to work collegially with other staff members and to interact respectfully with patrons required
• Commitment to fostering a workplace culture of diversity and inclusion required
• Experience ingesting digital surrogates into external platforms such as Internet Archive and Digital Commonwealth preferred
• Coding capabilities preferred
• Supervisory experience preferred
• Knowledge of rights management and copyright issues related to digital surrogates preferred

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