Digital Collection Specialist Jobs (NOW HIRING)

History Colorado’s artifacts and original documentary materials are central to our educational and interpretive mission. The collection currently comprises approximately 225,000 artifacts, 1,000,000+ photographs, and 9,000+ linear feet of textual and archival materials. History Colorado's collection includes a wide array of artifacts reflecting more than 12,000 years of human presence in Colorado and the region. The Military Collections include materials related to the 10th Mountain Division and other Colorado-based military institutions like the Colorado Army National Guard, the Air Force Academy, NORAD, Peterson AFB, Fort Carson, etc. Please visit historycolorado.org/collectionfor more information.

This is a collaborative position which will allow us to ensure the rich personal stories in our military collections are not only well-documented and cared for but also shared in a way to maximize the context and use of the materials by the public. This position will ensure that collections are physically and intellectually preserved and available to the public for use, including in research, loans, programs, educational activities, and exploration and discovery. This includes, among many varied tasks, processing and digitization, hosting collections care programs, and coordinating volunteers collecting oral histories. The Anschutz Military Collections Specialist will be able to augment and elevate the work in Military History and ensure we reach our varied interested communities, including patrons, students, veterans, and scholars and maximize the educational potential of our military collections and ensure that Coloradans’ stories of service and sacrifice are documented and told in a variety of ways.

Specific examples of these tasks include:

• Assist with organizing, advertising, and delivery mechanisms for outreach and programming to reach our veteran, active military, and other community members
• Expand current efforts to rehouse artifacts in need of stabilization, including our extensive military firearms collection
• Coordinating volunteers and technological equipment to capture veterans’ oral histories across the state and assisting with other collections acquisition projects
• Assist the Hart Research Center with requests related to the military collections
• Connect with k-12 schools and universities and assist with the creation of educational programming and field trips
• Develop crowdsourcing projects to transcribe the collection

Major Responsibilities and Duties:

• Programming & Outreach
  • Develop creative and unique programs and activities to connect users to collections, including educational tools, tours, or workshops such as school field trips or school talks
  • Attend meetings and civic events to promote the collection such as community acquisition work with Curatorial staff
• Collections Access and Stewardship
  • Increase and augment digital and physical collection discoverability, access, and use of the collection
  • Work on permanent collection projects such as storage and retrieval, outreach, problem-solving, backlog, inventories, conservation, cataloging, and other projects
  • Occasionally assist with collection acquisitions
  • Occasionally participate in the exhibit development process when appropriate
• Direct and supervise volunteers and interns

Preferred Candidate can Successfully Demonstrate:

• Experience in project management, meeting deadlines, and flexible multi-tasking in a fast-paced and changing environment
• Effective communication, public speaking, and cooperation with other museum staff
• Ability to work independently and eventually make decisions with or in absence of a supervisor
• Experience with innovative and/or motivated approaches to collections outreach and providing access to collections
• Excellent customer service and research skills
• Strong understanding of typical collections problems, collections and provenance research, and problem-solving skills with collections objects
• Knowledge of or ability to learn Colorado history and history of the American West with a focus on military history; Military History background is strongly preferred but not required
• Strong computer skills and proficiency with collections management databases, metadata standards, and cataloging standards common to museums and archives, strong experience with argus preferred
• Knowledge of museum collection standards and conservation practices including the standard agents of deterioration, their effects on different types of artifacts, and how to best mitigate their effects (theft, fire, water, temperature, relative humidity, pests, light, contaminants, etc.)

Minimum Requirements

• Experience Only: 2 years professional experience managing and working with military collections.
  Or
• Education & Experience: Master’s degree in Museum Studies, History, Art History, Library Science (or related degree) with a minimum of 1 year of practical museum experience; Must be comfortable and have experience handling weaponry and military items.
• Must have experience Handling, storage, and experience with large collections or high volumes of activity at a medium to large institution (or comparable experience

Special Requirements

• Sometimes requires lifting heavy objects and working on ladders
• May require periodic travel by car, van, and truck to storage facilities and museums throughout the state, typically for periods of less than one week in duration
• May require working weekends or evenings for special programming or research access
• Work from home options may be available periodically
• Successful candidate must pass a criminal history background check prior to hire.

Questions:

1. History Colorado staff has been working together in response to the events that happened in 2020 to discuss as an institutional community the ways in which History Colorado can advance the work of anti-racism. These grounding virtues are the result of our collective process. Please go to the link below to see the virtues (Grounding Virtues) and tell us: how have these guiding principles shown up in your previous work and/or how would you contribute to these virtues in your position at History Colorado?
2. Describe your interest in military history and your experiences working with veterans or military personnel.
3. Describe your experiences working with volunteers - or how you might utilize volunteer help for collections projects.