A fantastic opportunity to work with antique textiles has just come in. They’re looking for 2-3 individuals to photograph the American Textile History Museum’s archives in pursuit of a multi-museum, open-access, searchable database of antique and vintage textiles!

Here’s the description:

 

Position:  Image capture assistant for the Virtual Textile Project

Location:  American Textile History Museum, Lowell, Massachusetts

Type:  temporary position. Hiring 2 to 3 people.

Duration: June 13 to July 5 (with possible extension and/or additional opportunities).

Contact person:  Catherine Bradley via e-mail catherine.bradley@mcgill.ca

 

Job description:  The candidate will be trained to photograph antique textiles using different image capture techniques.  This is part of a larger project involving the creation of an open access database of antique and vintage textiles from important textile museums worldwide.  The ATHM is the first museum to have their textiles captured by our team, so the photographic protocols will be tested and adjusted during this phase of the project.  The candidates will be working directly with McGill University researcher, Catherine Bradley, and will be trained by a team from Dragon and Phoenix Software, led by Kat Lind.

 

The skills of interest for this project are arranged in several groups. The first group includes those abilities required by all members of the team, while the second identifies skills and competencies that need to be covered by the team, but not necessarily by each member of the team. The final group identifies those skills that would be an asset, but are not necessarily required.

 

Competencies and characteristics – all team members must possess the following characteristics:

  • detail oriented

  • meticulous in following protocols and procedures

  • general technical familiarity with computers, internet and storage

  • works well in a small team

  • comfortable in museum archives

  • fast learner

  • adaptable

  • easy going

  • good visional discernment

 

Competencies – team coverage.  The following characteristics must be present in the team as whole, not necessarily in each individual member.  The more characteristics the person possesses, the greater the chance of success.

  • experience handling museum artifacts

  • experience handling delicate items

  • interest in and knowledge about textiles

  • photographic skills with digital cameras

  • good written and oral communication skills

 

Hiring process:

  1. Please send a letter describing your suitability for the position, along with a current CV to    catherine.bradley@mcgill.ca

  2. Suitable candidates will be contacted for phone interviews

  3. The most suitable candidates will be interviewed on June 10.

  4. The candidates who are chosen will start work on June 12, 2013.