Vacancy for Project Archivist at Council for British Research in the Levant

Vacancy for Project Archivist at Council for British Research in the Levant

6 May 2022

London

£30,000 per annum

Fixed Term

The Council for British Research in the Levant (CBRL) advances public education on the Levant, promoting and disseminating research in the humanities, social sciences, and related subjects, working in Jordan, Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, and Cyprus. Our mission is to enhance knowledge and understanding of the peoples and cultures of the Levant. We have two institutes in the Levant: the Amman Institute in Jordan and the Kenyon Institute in East Jerusalem, where our libraries are located.

CBRL seeks a Project Archivist to contribute significantly to establishing CBRL's digital and physical archival infrastructure, enabling greater access to our collections. CBRL inherits the rich archive of the British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem (BSAJ). The centenary of the British Mandate in Palestine and the decolonisation of knowledge production provide an ideal context to develop the physical and digital infrastructure of CBRL's archives. This infrastructure will support CBRL's research strategy, offering a vital scholarly resource on Mandate archaeology for UK and international researchers. The candidate should have up-to-date archival knowledge and effective communication skills. Familiarity with the Levant is desirable but not essential, provided the candidate is eager to learn about the region.

The role is based in London with a competitive salary of £30K pro rata, inclusive of London weighting, and USS pension. It is a fixed-term position spanning 7 months from June to December, working 4 days a week, Monday to Thursday. The role follows a hybrid working policy, requiring in-office presence at least two days per week, excluding periods of work travel. Travel to the Levant region will be required for short periods, and occasional travel to a related archival collection in East London may be necessary.

Job Purpose and Summary

The CBRL Project Archivist will collaborate with the Strategic Projects Director to establish physical and digital archival infrastructure, including commissioning an open-source digital repository for collections. The archivist will be part of the UK team of four and participate in a BIRI-wide archive and digitisation knowledge-sharing project.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

• Archival development, discoverability, and accessibility: Develop and adopt metadata schemas for cultural heritage, environmental, and social science collections, presented bilingually (English and Arabic) via an open-access digital archive website.
• Collaborate with the Strategic Projects Director and external consultants on archival records management and preservation policies prior to digitisation.
• Contribute to multi-year digital humanities strategies to enhance discoverability and access to collections.

• Archive appraisal, arranging, cataloguing, and digitisation: Produce accurate data following relevant standards, identify sensitive data for review, and contribute to policy development. Rehouse materials using preservation-quality materials as appropriate.

• Promotion of CBRL archival collections: Create social media content highlighting collections and write blog posts for dissemination on CBRL's platforms.