Music & Recorded Sound Archivist

Job Summary

The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder) Libraries invites applications from collaborative and innovative candidates for the position of Music & Recorded Sound Archivist! The University Libraries’ Archives were established in 1918 and hold internationally renowned manuscript, photograph, records and media collections relating to the history of CU Boulder, the state of Colorado, the Rocky Mountain West, and transnational subjects, including American popular and classical music.

The Music and Recorded Sound Archivist is a non‑tenure track, Teaching Professor track faculty position. This individual prioritizes activities that appraise, process, and provide access to the extensive archival music and recorded sound collections held by the University Libraries and the American Music Research Center. The role actively amplifies under‑represented voices in order to tell more inclusive stories that feature the Libraries’ unique and growing archival collections.

The Archivist independently prioritizes and completes archival processing in coordination with library personnel and established processes, and develops and implements plans for continued evaluation and augmentation of workflows impacting access to these materials.

As a member of the University Libraries faculty, the Music & Recorded Sound Archivist will be expected to maintain a record of scholarly research/creative work, participate in professional service activities, and actively engage in faculty governance. This position has the opportunity to work in a hybrid capacity. It is a non‑tenure track, Teaching Professor faculty position that will be hired at the Assistant Teaching Professor rank and reports to the Section Head of Archival and Metadata Processing (AMP).

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• Establish priorities for and perform efficient arrangement, description, and physical processing of the American Music Research Center collections and other archival music and recorded sound collections;
• Facilitate discovery of archival music and recorded sound collections by creating or updating finding aids in Archives Space and coordinating with relevant personnel to catalog collection items as needed in the Libraries’ online catalog;
• Apply archival theory and practice, national standards, relevant legal regulations, professional ethics, and best practices that govern the arrangement, description, and use of archival materials, including but not limited to DACS, MPLP, and copyright law;
• Assess and address preservation issues related to music and recorded sound collections, in collaboration with relevant Libraries personnel;
• Collaborate with music catalogers and archivists in RDS on the coordination of processing and descriptive workflows for music and recorded sound materials;
• Evaluate and judiciously implement emerging technologies to assist in the processing of collections when appropriate;
• Collaborate with archivists in the Collection & Archival Strategy team on the acquisition of new materials; support collection development activities for music special collections and recorded sound collections;
• Assist with reference and instruction requests relating to music special collections and recorded sound collections;
• Participate in weekly service point shifts in the Reading Room and other Libraries’ service points as assigned;
• Communicate collegially, advocate for collections and resource needs, and contribute constructively to Library strategic priorities; participate in building an inclusive campus environment;
• Maintain a consistent record of contributions in the areas of professional service, research, and/or scholarly activity;
• Actively participate in Libraries meetings, activities, and events and represent the Libraries in appropriate venues, including the AMRC Advisory Board and Partnership Steering Committee;
• Assume other responsibilities as assigned and perform other…