Museum Technician – X-Files & Peabody Museum Research Dept. (PMR)

Summary: Assist with the Harvard Peabody Museum’s ongoing digitization and modification of its extensive accession/registration files (X-Files).

Typical Duties:

  1. Work with the collections management and registration departments to scan paper accession records (X-files) to digital formats, and process the files into the museum’s collections database.
  2. Under the guidance of collections management and registration, edit existing digitized X-Files (n= +-13,000 multi-page PDFs), and create redacted or edited versions as needed. Process new files and track in collections database.
  3. Assist in reviewing extant X-files for restricted data, such as personal identification data and culturally sensitive information.
  4. Work with collections management staff (PMR Collections Stewards) to organize and process past & current documents created during external researcher projects.
  5. Assist with scanning paper labels with objects, processing the files into the database, and prepping the paper records for long-term archival storage.
  6. Assist with scanning and processing approximately 50,000 additional historic paper accession cards.
  7. Occasionally assist other collections management department staff members on a variety of museum tasks as needed.
  8. Perform clerical functions related to the project including data entry if needed.
  9. Perform other duties as required.

Requirements:

Basic Requirements:  B.A. or equivalent in museum studies, library sciences, anthropology, fine arts, or other related fields.

Skills and Experience:  Familiarity with museum and/or library records management. Ability to maintain consistent standards while processing a large document collection. Knowledge of digitizing and relational database software preferred. Experience in an anthropology museum preferred.

Supervisor: PMR Collections Steward

Details: Part-Time: 16 hours per week, Casual Hire (i.e. non-Union, non-benefitted)

Monday – Friday, hours negotiable (between 8:00 am – 6:00 pm)

Wage: Dependent upon experience.  Probable range $15 – $18/hr

Duration: 12 months, possibility of continued work budget permitting

Location: Cambridge, MA

Application: Please email cover letter and resume to:

Diana Zlatanovski, Collections Steward

Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University

dzlatanovski@fas.harvard.edu