JOB TITLE: Newspapers Project Assistant
LOCATION: History Center - 345 W Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55102 COMPENSATION: $21.89 hourly minimum
STATUS & HOURS: Full-time, project (approximately 2,080 annual hours) position through June 30, 2025.
BENEFITS: Eligible to participate in State Employee Group Insurance Program and a retirement program with employer contribution. Generous vacation and sick time accruals with additional paid holidays.
DESIGNATION: Bargaining Unit AFSCME Local 3173
POSTING DATE: January 12, 2024
DEADLINE DATE: January 31, 2024
TO APPLY: Interested applicants must apply online at the Minnesota Historical Society’s career center at www.mnhs.org/jobs and include a resume and cover letter by the application deadline date.
DESCRIPTION: This position exists to carry out project-based microfilm and digitization activities to support the preservation of and online access to the newspapers collection.
SUMMARY OF WORK: 1) Carry out project-based activities related to newspaper digitization, online access, and preservation; 2) Carry out project-based activities related to the microfilm program; and 3) Provide general support for the Collections Digitization unit.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:
- Bachelor’s degree or equivalent, plus two years’ experience working with microfilm, newspapers, or digital collections.
- Demonstrated ability to perform data entry tasks including searching, locating, entering, and updating data.
- Experience in quality control procedures.
- Attention to detail.
- Strong organizational, analytical, problem solving, and time management skills. ? Physical ability to regularly lift, maneuver, and carry storage containers weighing 40 pounds as well as oversized materials.
- Physical tolerance to dust and inactive mold spores.
- Ability to stand, sit, kneel, crouch, reach, bend, climb ladders, and push loaded carts.
- Ability to visually inspect microform media.
- Ability to identify vinegar syndrome by sense of smell.
- Ability to use a keyboard and work at a computer for extended periods of time. ? Willingness and ability to travel.
- Valid driver’s license.
DEMONSTRATED SKILLS IN:
- Proper handling of microfilm.
- Multitasking, working effectively under pressure to meet deadlines, prioritizing and adapting to changing priorities.
- Working independently and taking individual initiative while also being able to collaborate effectively and contribute positively in a team environment.
- Strong verbal, written and interpersonal communication skills.
- Computer skills, specifically Google Apps including Drive, Docs, and Sheets; Microsoft Access and Excel.
KNOWLEDGE OF:
- General professional library standards and best practices.
DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS:
- Experience working with vendors.
- Experience with inspection of microfilm for vinegar syndrome and reel degradation.
- Experience tracking productivity metrics.
- Knowledge of digitization standards and best practices.
- Knowledge of cataloging rules and metadata encoding standards.
- Creating and entering accurate metadata in an integrated library or collections management system.
Should you have questions with the application process, email humanresources@mnhs.org.
At MNHS, we don’t just accept difference — we celebrate it, we support it, and we thrive on diversity for the benefit of our employees, our products and services, and our community. The Minnesota Historical Society believes that an inclusive culture among our team members is critical to our success as a historical society and museum, and we seek to recruit, develop and retain the most talented people from a diverse candidate pool. The Minnesota Historical Society is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and employer.