Job Search

I did not count the numer of positions because I was not sure what the time frame was - for last year? Right now? I went to two places online: PADG and COOL, hoping to find two job postings that I could write about.

When looking at what might be available for me on the job market, I usually refer to Conservation Online's (COOL) Distribution List. Since I am interested in working within the U.S., I will not mention the overseas positions for conservators. Although the COOL DistList started out as advertising exclusively conservator jobs, in recent years I've seen both conservation and preservation jobs there.

The tricky thing I discovered is that for most of the conservation jobs, preservation components and management of preservation programs and projects weighs heavily in the job descriptions. This is true of the announcement for 2 positions at NARA. One of the positions is for a conservator responsible for coordinating digitization efforts. I assume that this would involve bench treatment time devoted to fragile objects to e digitized. The other position is for a conservator to develop and conduct a preservation training program.

I would think that for this second position, a PA professional would qualify just as well as a conservator. However, the advertisement says that they are looking for a person with professional conservation and preservation experience of a wide range of archival materials and formats. The ad goes on to mention all the major preservation administration competencies as being desired qualities in a candidate. These include, I am quoting: "program development in such areas as preventive conservation, risk assessment and prioritization,reformatting including digitizing, and emergency planning and response." If the person they are looking for is to have professional experience in development of preservation programs, it means that that person would have a fair amount of management experience as well. I have noticed that sometimes postings for Federal Government jobs do not include a detailed list of specific qualifications that the applicant must possess, like the type of degree or the number of years of post-graduate experience. I have encountered this in LOC job postings as well. Perhaps it's an effort to appear open and non-discriminatory?

Both of these positions require collaboration with other departments - digitization for the first one and the various division of NARA for the second one. Clearly, what they are looking for is a person who has leadership skills (able to develop, maintain and evaluate new programs) and is a team player, since cross-department interactions would be an everyday occurance.
The two positions advertised by NARA are examples of an exciting cross-germination between the fields of conservation and preservation. Such high expectations of professional expertise can seem overwhelming to want to acquire (in order to be able to qualify for a job like in the middle of my career). It seems that they are looking for people who embody both disciplines of conservation and preservation management. For many conservators, that career trajectory is natural and welcome. Taking on more responsibility for collections care and management of emergency preparedness and environmental monitoring programs are ways to advance to being head of a conservation lab, and in some cases, heads of preservation divisions. In any case, both of these positions are for people who have been acquiring experience in the field for 7-10 years, that's what I think.

When I looked on the PADG listserv, I saw a job offering for Digital Preservation Librarian at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. The position was posted by Shannon Zachary, who is head of Preservation and Conservation. I went to the UM library website to find a detailed list of requirements. The requirements for this position are listed in a much more specific way, I am quoting: "ALA-accredited masters degree in library or information studies or equivalent advanced degree and experience. Demonstrated knowledge of the lifecycle management of digital material; an understanding of issues related to digital formats, media, and migration is required, along with an aptitude for quickly mastering technical topics. Experience working in research collections (libraries, archives, museums, data centers), with a minimum of 3 years of progressive experience with digital resources."
This position seems perfect for a graduating PA, or a PA at the start of their career, since the posting does not specify whether the 3 years of experience had to be post-graduate or not. I think that a graduate from the Kilgarlin center, focusing on digital libraries, with additional experience at HRC or in another digital collection on campus, would qualify well. The plus side of being a recent graduate in a field like digital asset management, is that you are learning and absorbing a lot of new technological knowledge and getting familiar with the newest trends while at school.