Special Collections and Archives Assistant Newcastle upon Tyne, England
Job description
Salary: £21,197 with progression to £22,662 per annum
Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits . We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.
Closing Date: 09 March 2023
The Role
Working within the University Library service, you will support the work of Special Collections with a particular focus on the effective delivery of services for the wide range of researchers accessing our archives and rare books. This includes answering remote enquiries, invigilating our reading room and administrating timetables, and responding to requests through retrieving and reshelving material in our closed access stores.
You will also contribute to our wide and varied range of activities that underpin access, including promotion, listing, preservation, and teaching activities.
This post is part time, for 18.5 hours a week.
Informal enquiries may be made to Ian Johnson: [email protected]
Key Accountabilities
Assist the Special Collections Librarian and Library Archivists in curating, cataloguing and making available for use, material held in the Library’s Special Collections and Archive Stores
Sort, number and list Special Collections and Archival material, as directed by the Special Collections Librarian or Library Archivists
Respond to e-mail, telephone, written and face to face enquiries about Special Collections in accordance with the Library’s standards
Supervise the Special Collections Reading Room, as and when required
Contribute to an annual exhibition programme to promote Special Collections
Assist in the routine management of Special Collections Stores, including environmental monitoring and reporting
Contribute to the production of Special Collections Guides, in print and online format
Collate and report statistical data pertaining to the use of Special Collections and Archives
Retrieve and reshelve material as required
Support the teaching activities of the Special Collections Librarian and Library Archivists
Organise the Special Collections Reading Room timetable, as and when required
The Person (Essential)
Knowledge, Skills and Experience
Working knowledge of Special Collections and Archives, ideally with some knowledge of the holdings of Newcastle University Library
Knowledge of an academic library environment
Awareness of the use of IT in library services – experience of using a library management system
Good verbal and written communication skills, with the confidence to respond to enquiries from a range of different users – academic staff, students, schoolchildren, external researchers, members of the public
Ability to manage own work and time effectively, with minimal supervision
Capable of working as both an individual and as part of a team
Experience of working in an academic library or similar environment
Physically fit to work at height
Awareness of document handling and basic archival skills
Good IT skills using Microsoft Office packages
Good information retrieval skills
Experience of working with Special Collections or Archives
Experience of working in a customer service-focussed environment
Attributes and Behaviour
Communicating
Chooses communication tools appropriately e.g. selective use of emails and other channels of communication
Uses face to face communication regularly
Team-working
Shares relevant and useful information with others
Supportive of team decisions
Respects the value that different views bring to the team
Understanding Others
Adapts own responses to take into account cultural differences, behaviours and perspectives
Uses open-ended questions to open up discussions
Delivering services
Takes responsibility for achieving own targets
Co-operate with others in achieving targets
Has a positive attitude for doing things better
Qualifications
5 GCSEs (or equivalent) at Grade C or above, including Maths and English
Newcastle is an inclusive global University community where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.
We are committed to being a fully inclusive Global University which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society. We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all our employees and the communities they represent. We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from everybody, regardless of race, sex, ethnicity, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, age, disability, gender identity, marital status/civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, as well as being open to flexible working practices.
The University holds a silver Athena SWAN award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality. The University is also a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe.
Requisition ID: 25161
