Associate Director of Participatory Archiving Programs

General Summary: 

The Associate Director of Participatory Archiving Programs oversees all aspects of community networking and programming in or affiliated with the UMB’s University Archives and Special Collections (UASC) and its branches, which includes managing the nationally recognized Mass. Memories Road Show (MMRS) program, a statewide, event-based participatory archiving program that documents people, places, and events in Massachusetts history through family photographs and stories. The incumbent annually leads collaborative efforts to produce free, high-profile public events where individuals bring photographs to be copied and added to a digital archive. They further manage, enhance, and promote RoPA, the Roadmap for Participatory Archiving, an online resource developed by UASC that guides libraries and cultural institutions in collaborating with community members to plan inclusive participatory archiving events and creating digital collections. The incumbent is also responsible for applying protocols of the MMRS and RoPA to other initiatives that expand the university’s archival collections through oral history and primary source material contributions from, for example, members of cultural heritage or geographical communities. The incumbent guides these initiatives with a focus on engaging UMass Boston undergraduate and graduate students in UASC’s archival and public history projects, including the MMRS, as well as with an eye toward extending the University’s inclusivity mission to communities throughout the Commonwealth.

Working independently and reporting to the University Archivist, the Associate Director of Participatory Archiving Programs partners with Massachusetts cities and towns in planning, producing, promoting and running a full schedule of public programs for the UASC. The incumbent is responsible for promoting an ongoing application process; fielding proposals from interested communities and meeting with community partners; coordinating publicity and web updates; and overseeing pre- and post-event data management and facilities requirements for each public program. With regards to the ongoing public history education and outreach, the incumbent presents at conferences and community meetings and works with other campus units on outreach and marketing. Additionally, the incumbent assists the University Archivist in developing strong relationships with external community partners, individuals, and organizations with an interest in facilitating archival acquisitions.

Other duties include scheduling and attending off-site meetings as needed in preparing community-based events; developing and maintaining efficient workflows and project timelines; managing ongoing correspondence and promotional material; playing a central role in the preparation of grant proposals to fund the MMRS and RoPA as well as other UASC programs.

Examples of Duties: 

• Work collaboratively with library and campus departments, staff and outside organizations to develop and plan public programming to meet campus, library and UASC goals;
• Coordinate with local planning teams composed of elected town officials, community leaders, teachers, municipal staff members, library and historical organization staff and volunteers as well as sponsors, and educate participants in the mission and goals of the Mass. Memories Road Show (MMRS) program to plan events and build collections representing the local community and documenting its history for teaching, research, and other educational purposes;
• Promote the broad dissemination and use of the Roadmap for Participatory Archiving
• (RoPA) and developing strategies for its further development;
• Conceptualize and investigate initiatives to keep MMRS and RoPA relevant to and on the cutting-edge of cultural heritage practice. Explore and pursue grant opportunities that support and that are in line with the goals of the MMRS, RoPA, and UASC; serve as PI and co-PI in managing grant-funded projects to enhance and expand the MMRS and undertake national leadership initiatives on behalf of participatory archiving;
• Process digital assets gathered at MMRS events; ensure adherence to established descriptive standards and metadata schemas; train staff and supervise student employees carrying out MMRS-related data entry and transcription work; ensure compliance with digital preservation standards and workflows;
• Execute oral history collection projects in line with accepted best practices in the field; identify interviewees and arrange interview schedules, devise suitable interview questions; train interview team; conduct and transcribe interviews; and process results of interview sessions;
• Create and execute outreach plan including developing timelines for marketing leading up to the events; create press release text for on and off-campus communications offices, al