Special Collections and Archives Assistant

Salary: £21,197 with progression to £22,662 per annum

Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits . We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.

Closing Date: 09 March 2023

The Role

Working within the University Library service, you will support the work of Special Collections with a particular focus on the effective delivery of services for the wide range of researchers accessing our archives and rare books. This includes answering remote enquiries, invigilating our reading room and administrating timetables, and responding to requests through retrieving and reshelving material in our closed access stores.

You will also contribute to our wide and varied range of activities that underpin access, including promotion, listing, preservation, and teaching activities.

This post is part time, for 18.5 hours a week.

Informal enquiries may be made to Ian Johnson: ian.johnson@newcastle.ac.uk

Key Accountabilities

Assist the Special Collections Librarian and Library Archivists in curating, cataloguing and making available for use, material held in the Library’s Special Collections and Archive Stores

Sort, number and list Special Collections and Archival material, as directed by the Special Collections Librarian or Library Archivists

Respond to e-mail, telephone, written and face to face enquiries about Special Collections in accordance with the Library’s standards

Supervise the Special Collections Reading Room, as and when required

Contribute to an annual exhibition programme to promote Special Collections

Assist in the routine management of Special Collections Stores, including environmental monitoring and reporting

Contribute to the production of Special Collections Guides, in print and online format

Collate and report statistical data pertaining to the use of Special Collections and Archives

Retrieve and reshelve material as required

Support the teaching activities of the Special Collections Librarian and Library Archivists

Organise the Special Collections Reading Room timetable, as and when required

The Person (Essential)

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

Working knowledge of Special Collections and Archives, ideally with some knowledge of the holdings of Newcastle University Library

Knowledge of an academic library environment

Awareness of the use of IT in library services – experience of using a library management system

Good verbal and written communication skills, with the confidence to respond to enquiries from a range of different users – academic staff, students, schoolchildren, external researchers, members of the public

Ability to manage own work and time effectively, with minimal supervision

Capable of working as both an individual and as part of a team

Experience of working in an academic library or similar environment

Physically fit to work at height

Awareness of document handling and basic archival skills

Good IT skills using Microsoft Office packages

Good information retrieval skills

Experience of working with Special Collections or Archives

Experience of working in a customer service-focussed environment

Attributes and Behaviour
Communicating

Chooses communication tools appropriately e.g. selective use of emails and other channels of communication

Uses face to face communication regularly
Team-working

Shares relevant and useful information with others

Supportive of team decisions

Respects the value that different views bring to the team
Understanding Others

Adapts own responses to take into account cultural differences, behaviours and perspectives

Uses open-ended questions to open up discussions
Delivering services

Takes responsibility for achieving own targets

Co-operate with others in achieving targets

Has a positive attitude for doing things better

Qualifications

5 GCSEs (or equivalent) at Grade C or above, including Maths and English

Newcastle is an inclusive global University community where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.

We are committed to being a fully inclusive Global University which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society. We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all our employees and the communities they represent. We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from everybody, regardless of race, sex, ethnicity, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, age, disability, gender identity, marital status/civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, as well as being open to flexible working practices.

The University holds a silver Athena SWAN award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality. The University is also a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe.

Requisition ID: 25161