6 Month Limited Term Archivist, City of Calgary Archives, Calgary, AB

Location: Calgary, AB
Compensation: $42.09/ hr

The City of Calgary Archives was created in 1981 to safeguard and make available Calgary's municipal government records and city information. Everyone is welcome to research the records held at the archives.

Description and Duties    

The Archivist position exists to fulfill the legislated functions related to archives as per the FOIP Act and City of Calgary bylaws. The position will identify, acquire, preserve, and make accessible material in the form of civic and private records (physical and digital) which document the structure, functions, activities and history of the Corporation of The City of Calgary and its predecessors. Primary duties include:

• Appraise all records created by the Corporation, once the business need has passed, to identify records of permanent archival value and approve the destruction of records that have met their retention period, and which have no archival value.
• Collaborate with Records Management and Law to implement FOIP legislation and records management legal obligations.
• Engage with Councillors and other arms-length organizations with links to City operations to acquire private records for the Archives that will diversify and provide additional context and value to City records.
• Gain informational control of archival records through the collection of metadata and by indexing and the arrangement and description of records according to national and professional archival standards.
• Establish and maintain consistent descriptive practices to optimize search and retrieval with the Archives¿ descriptive databases.
• Conduct training sessions and coach new archivists on current archival policies and procedures and the maintenance of the archival management software.
• Train and provide project direction to the Information Management Technician (daily), TESAs and summer students (yearly for 4 to 6 months) in archival principles, data entry standards and the Archives¿ management software.
• Consult with the researcher to assess research scope and requirements and facilitate search and identification of relevant records.
• Coach new archivists on the scope and location of records that may or may not be described in the archival management database or the records management database.
• Either provide relevant materials to researchers virtually or schedule an onsite visit to consult records.
• Provide access to material in accordance with legislated requirements and educate onsite researchers on the care and handling of archival materials.
• Provide permission to publish materials in accordance with copyright legislation or help redirect users to copyright holders (when known).
• Promote the research use of records holdings and the history of the Corporation to all City employees and the public through outreach activities.
• Develop and make presentations for the purpose of educating City employees and management by interpreting records disposition policies and current archival standards and practices.
• Monitor environmental standards in work and records storage areas to ensure that temperature and humidity remain stable to ensure optimum conditions for records preservation.
• Decide on and implement conservation treatments of records when required.
• Advise City employees on issues of records preservation.
• Develop and annually review disaster recovery guidelines for Archives to provide procedures to re-establish records holdings in case of disasters or emergencies.

Qualifications    

A Degree PLUS additional training as follows:

• A Masters in Archival Science/History/Library or Information Management plus at least 1 year of experience in the heritage sector (Archives, Library, Museum) OR
• A Certificate in Archival Studies (College program or professional association training (eg. Archives Institute by the Archives Society of Alberta) plus at least 3 years of experience in the heritage sector (Archives, Library, Museum).
• A working knowledge of archival practices of appraisal, accessioning, arrangement, description, and reference work is required.
• Experience working with ArchivEra, OpenText Content Server or other records management software and databases will be considered an asset.
• Experience with electronic records disposition, accessioning, digital preservation and provision of access is an asset.
• You have excellent organizational skills and a strong attention to detail accompanied by demonstrated customer focus and strong interpersonal skills with the ability to work with, and communicate effectively, with various levels of both staff and elected officials.

How to Apply    

Please apply via the City of Calgary Careers website.
Application Webpage
Application Deadline: May 17, 2024
Job poster