Archives, Exhibitions & Circulation Assistant; TSLA

Staff - Union Job Category CUPE 2950 Job Profile

CUPE 2950 Salaried - Tech Svc Library Asst 4 (Gr7)
Job Title Archives, Exhibitions & Circulation Assistant (TSLA4)
Department UBC Library I Rare Books and Special Collections Compensation Range $4,594.00 - $4,827.00 CAD Monthly Posting End Date January 21, 2026

Note: Applications will be accepted until 11:59 PM on the Posting End Date.

Job End Date Ongoing

At UBC, we believe that attracting and sustaining a diverse workforce is key to the successful pursuit of excellence in research, innovation, and learning for all faculty, staff and students. Our commitment to employment equity helps achieve inclusion and fairness, brings rich diversity to UBC as a workplace, and creates the necessary conditions for a rewarding career.

Responsible for archival and AtoM workflows and resolving/responding to complex problems relating to archival holdings, records and inventories for Rare Books & Special Collections (RBSC). Trains and supervises the work of undergraduate and graduate students. Performs quality control to improve findability of archival collections. Carries out preservation activities and responsible for preparing items for exhibitions/external loans. Provides public service at the RBSC circulation desk.

Works under the general direction of the head of Rare Books and Special Collections. Works under the direct supervision of the Rare Books and Special Collections Senior Library Assistant and the RBSC Archivist. May receive direction from the RBSC Librarian, as workload permits, in consultation with the RBSC Senior Assistant.

• Archival processing/AtoM:
  Oversees the operation of archival physical processing (ex. rehousing, identifiers, separation of materials, storage) and AtoM database (ex. metadata/database maintenance) in RBSC, a branch that performs majority of its own technical services (i.e. archival processing/metadata creation).
• Establishes and implements operational procedures, and provides training (archival physical processing, AtoM, and finding aids, metadata, Voyager records) to RBSC student assistants, interns, volunteers and support staff.
• Provides cross-branch AtoM support and coordination for University Archives and Okanagan Special Collections (RBSC, UA and OSC share one AtoM database).
• Proactive and continuous identification, recommendation and implementation of procedures related to archival processing and AtoM workflows.
• Uses initiative, interpretation, and/or ingenuity to develop, implement, and evaluate innovative procedures, practices, standards, specifications, or projects.
• In coordination with RBSC archivists and librarian, participates in the development and management of projects and disseminates information to staff.
• Organizes and oversees processing/metadata projects for RBSC student assistants, volunteers, interns, and support staff.
• Makes decisions regarding situations requiring deviation or exception from normal procedures (for work done by RBSC staff, student assistants, interns, and volunteers), such as manage photograph processing on a case-by-case basis due to irregularities and manage AtoM descriptions (ex. file/item level for materials with complex archival arrangement).
• Prepares and updates training manuals and documentation related to RBSC archival physical processing and AtoM as well as special project workflows.
• Responds to complex inquiries/problems from patrons, RBSC/DI staff, student assistants, interns and volunteers related to RBSC archival physical processing, AtoM, archival holdings, finding aids, metadata, and Voyager records.
• Aids with the technical side of AtoM software, and is an integral asset during upgrades and with testing functionality, such as providing expertise on archival processes (finding aid templates, arrangement and description, accession records, etc.) and hone in on issues that someone with less knowledge may miss.
• Supports RBSC Archivist (and student archivists) with intellectual control, such as managing crosswalks, CSV imports, and the metadata clean-up projects.

• Carries out basic preservation activities for archival materials and identifies items in need of special treatment or reformatting and works with conservator to determine treatments for archival materials.
• Acts as one of the main contacts for conservation/preservation needs of RBSC and liaises with RBSC staff and conservator.
• Refolders, reboxes and labels archival material including textual documents, audiovisual items, photographs, architectural plans, and artefacts.
• Assists in basic physical processing of archival material by unpacking and conducting a preliminary sort of incoming material, labeling folders and boxes and participating in the preparation of the finding aid.
• Prepares loan documents and condition reports for exhibition loans.
• Following conservation best practices, prepares archival materials for in house and external exhibitions. This includes…