The Archives of the Episcopal Church, U.S.A.
Vacancy Announcement
Position Title: Archivist for Records Administration and Information Management
Department: The Archives of the Episcopal Church, Austin, TX
Reports To: Director/Canonical Archivist
Date: November 7, 2003
GENERAL PURPOSE OF POSITION
This position provides critical program assistance to the Canonical Archivist in areas of collaborative leadership, interoffice coordination, and enterprise-wide communication in carrying out the mission, goals, and canonical responsibilities of the National Church Archives. The incumbent is the representative and advocate of the Church Archives in the corporate administration of the Episcopal Church Center (ECC) and the larger field encompassed by the General Convention. The position supports the Archives’ partnership with local Church bodies, affiliated agencies, and Church members. The Archivist’s goal is to coordinate access to authentic organizational records while ensuring their security and their intellectual and physical integrity.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Archivist for Records Administration and Information Management implements a life cycle program of archives and records management for The General Convention and the Church’s central corporate offices, utilizing both traditional record keeping formats and emerging communications technology. The incumbent performs a variety of professional duties in the areas of information resource management, records systems analysis and archival appraisal strategies, paper and electronic records administration, Website development and electronic access, and support of Church employees as information users. The position works with the ECC staff at a variety of levels to advise on information capture and retrieval, and to secure, preserve, and make accessible the vital and permanent records of the organization. The Archivist reports regularly to the Director on matters of administrative and program interest and communicates persuasively to the curatorial staff of the Archives and the organization as a whole on the benefits of records and information management systems.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES include the following. Other duties may be assigned.
Administration
Recommend to the Archivist improvements in policy and procedure; communicate regularly on work in progress; report on current and potential records management issues; and carry out daily communication on matters of programmatic interest and general management.
Maintain relationships of confidence and cooperation with and between the Archives’ staff in Austin and employees of the Episcopal Church Center; educate Church employees and volunteers about the purpose and goals of the Church Archives.
Engage in ongoing efforts to articulate a corporate standard for the management of electronic records that have enduring institutional value, including identification of archival records and record keeping systems, participation in setting functional requirements for automated systems, security and access for current and legacy systems, records authentication, management of metadata, and audit controls.
Assist the Archives’ research services and copyrights and permissions office by working with the General Convention Office and other departments to secure valuable and timely information on the Episcopal Church's statements and resources, including related publications of the Anglican Communion.
Manage all Records Center operations and implement systems for a vital records protection for key operational records and data.
Records and Archives Management
Protect the integrity of organizational record keeping and communication including legal responsibilities and ethical interests in areas of privileged communication, the confidentiality of internal communication, privacy rights, copyright, and access policy.
Apply or develop standards for managing records in all formats, including disposition policies, metadata creation and preservation, inventory management, authority records and thesauri, and audit controls (e.g., manuals, forms, quality inspection routines, functional specifications, etc.) for General Convention documentation and other corporate records as required.
Analyze documentation and record-keeping systems in order to describe, evaluate, and appraise records and record keeping processes and make recommendations for their improvement and efficiency.
Work with staff to prepare and implement retention policies by developing specific records schedules and general corporate schedules and other guidelines that are compliant with legal, fiscal, administrative, and professional standards as well as best practices.
Work with curatorial staff to describe the scope, function, and content of records for purposes of maintaining authority tables for archival description, controlled indexing vocabulary, classification schema, and other inventory management tools.
Maintain internal records management documentation, and provide audit controls to ensure accuracy, security, and back-up duplication of inventory data.
Information Management
Assist the curatorial staff in the delivery of online archival information and digital records by utilizing Internet technology and standard encoding practices; assist in content management for the Archives’ website, especially for publication of records that are contextual, authentic, and trustworthy archival documents.
Advocate solutions to employees’ information needs by identifying ways to improve the flow, sense, and usefulness of records in all formats, with emphasis on efficiency in data gathering, recording processes,access and retrieval, and computer-user interaction. Assist ECC employees in electronic records creation; file, directory, and data organization; naming conventions and document formatting, metadata controls, as well as traditional records management for paper records and non-textual media formats.
Carry out research and reference services for Church offices and coordinate collection management activities with Austin-based archivists who have primary responsibility for these areas of work.
SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES (If applicable): Archivist should have supervisory experience.
QUALIFICATIONS. To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required for this position and not necessarily the skills you bring to the position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
Qualifications for the position include a master’s degree in archives, or a library and information science degree with a specialization in archival studies (or relevant professional certification), or related information fields; minimum of three years of solid work experience in archives or information management.
The Archivist works collaboratively with the Archives’ staff; however, the incumbent works with a minimum of direct supervision. The position calls for an individual with a high degree of self-confidence and personal integrity. As a representative of the Director, the Archivist must have acute judgment and diplomatic skills, and a commitment to open communication with colleagues. Strong interpersonal skills and an ability to accommodate wide diversity in the workplace is essential.
Thorough knowledge of the records life-cycle and archives management, familiarity with the issues of electronic records creation and disposition, experience with electronic communications systems, and a work history in a team-managed environment are required. Familiarity with on-line search and retrieval, professional descriptive standards, and documentation management is necessary.
Knowledge and appreciation of faith traditions and non-profit environments are preferred.
The position calls for strong oral, written, computer, and presentation skills; familiarity with Internet publishing is desirable with knowledge of standard markup language as well as XML, Dublin Core standards, evolving RIM standards, and issues surrounding digitization for archival access and preservation.
Reasoning abilities include simultaneous conceptualization and planning of several tasks, ability to project outcomes using different implementation strategies, ability to classify and create abstract types, ability to apply creative and innovative thinking to problem situations.
PHYSICAL DEMANDS: The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
Some travel required, especially to the Research Office in Austin, attendance at General Convention every three years; ability to lift cartons up to 50 lbs.
WORK ENVIRONMENT: The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
The Archivist for Records Administration and Information Management is stationed in New York City at the Episcopal Church Center, 815 Second Ave., and must be able to travel to the Austin Research Office approximately three times per year.