ABOUT WESTERN

Since 1878, Western University has been committed to serving our communities through the pursuit of academic excellence and by providing students, faculty, and community members with life-long opportunities for intellectual, social, and cultural growth. We seek excellent students, faculty, and staff to join us in what has become known as the “Western Experience” - an opportunity to contribute to a better world through the development of new knowledge, new abilities, new connections, and new ways to make a difference.

ABOUT US

Western Libraries (WL) provides the library and archival expertise and infrastructure, information resources, technology, people, and spaces required to cultivate and mobilize knowledge, and accelerate excellence in teaching, research and scholarship.
**This position is expected to be filled internally by reappointment.

QUALIFICATIONS

Education:

• Must be a full-time student at Western and retain full-time student status for the duration of this appointment or be a student returning to full-time studies in the fall
• Enrolment in or completion of one or more library or archives-related graduate courses is an asset

Experience:

• Experience with office productivity software, specifically MS Word and Excel, required
• Experience with photo editing and PDF Editing software (e.g. Adobe Lightroom, Photoshop, Acrobat Pro) is an asset
• Experience working with digital repositories is an asset
• Experience with the basics of using digital cameras is an asset
• Experience handling archival, cartographic, rare book and/or other special collections items is an asset
• Experience with document or book scanning is an asset
• Previous special collections or archival work experience is an asset
• Introductory knowledge of one or more library or archives metadata standards (e.g. Dublin Core, XML, RAD) is an asset

Skills, Abilities & Expertise:

• Physical ability to handle archival materials, maps, and rare books, which will include heavy lifting of boxes weighing up to 20 kg., periodic reaching, standing, sitting, carrying, kneeling, bending, squatting, pushing and pulling
• Basic understanding of archives, records management and library terminology
• Written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to express ideas clearly and adapt communication style to suit the situation and audience
• Reliable and dependable with the ability to consistently work assigned schedule
• Ability to follow processes, practices and instructions accurately
• Ability to complete assigned work with high attention to detail
• Demonstrates integrity and works in accordance with Western’s policies and procedures
• Ability to multi-task and maintain an organized work environment
• Computer skills with Microsoft Office and file management software, with the ability to learn, use, and troubleshoot new software programs as required
• Ability to prioritize and organize a fluctuating workload
• Personable and courteous in working relationships with colleagues
• Ability to work independently and effectively as a member of the team to achieve department goals
• Strong problem solving skills
• Ability to work in a manner that is compliant with confidentiality requirements as applicable

The successful candidate will assist Archives & Special Collections staff in digitizing and providing access to selected archival and special collections material.

The student will undertake one or more of the following project-based duties:

• Digitizing special collections and archival material, such as books, diaries, newspapers, letters, printed music, and atlases
• Digitizing bound special collections and archival material such as books, diaries, newspapers, printed music, or atlases, using a specialized book scanner and digital SLR cameras
• Digitizing looseleaf special collections and archival material such as letters, sheet music, reports, etc., using an overhead scanner
• Preparing various types of material for digitization
• Transcribing metadata and entering descriptive data into spreadsheets (MS Excel) or databases (Omeka, Open Journal Systems)
• Editing digital images and creating documents using Adobe Creative Cloud (Lightroom, Acrobat Pro)
• Uploading digital files to repositories and filesharing software