About This Role
This role involves preserving and improving access to historically and culturally significant motion-picture collections for a major federal cultural institution. Working with agency staff, the archivist will identify and inspect historic film, assess preservation concerns, rehouse materials, and create accurate inventory and descriptive metadata. This position offers the opportunity to work with complex production elements, ethnographic recordings, educational films, and sponsored-film collections while developing measurable, repeatable workflows that support long-term federal archival planning.
Responsibilities
- Develop collection processing plans, procedures, and timelines in consultation with agency staff and in accordance with established priorities
- Inspect 16mm and 35mm film to identify titles, reel numbers, episodes, fieldwork names, and other distinguishing information, including materials with incomplete or missing labels
- Identify and distinguish original camera negatives, answer prints, release prints, workprints, optical and magnetic soundtracks, trims, outtakes, and other fragmentary production elements
- Assess and document film condition, including vinegar syndrome, shrinkage, and other preservation concerns; refer materials requiring specialized treatment to designated agency staff
- Perform basic preservation triage and safely rehouse films in archival-quality containers while protecting original materials from damage
- Create and maintain accurate item-level inventory and audiovisual metadata using agency-provided spreadsheets, systems, standards, and authority guidance
- Apply barcodes, reconcile physical materials with inventory records, maintain custody manifests, and stage completed films for transfer to long-term storage by agency staff
- Conduct quality reviews of physical processing and metadata, document corrective actions, and resolve rejected work within required timeframes
- Track productivity, processing time by format, data quality, unstable-material discoveries, and workflow challenges; prepare biweekly progress and monthly metrics reports
- Schedule and participate in weekly customer meetings, incorporate feedback, and refine procedures to address bottlenecks and improve processing consistency
- Prepare a final report documenting accomplishments, challenges, lessons learned, and recommendations for processing complex film collections at scale
- Complete required training and follow customer requirements for safe handling, facility access, information security, and records management
Requirements
- At least six months of experience working in a library or archives environment performing similar tasks
- Demonstrated expertise in motion-picture film identification, handling, and inspection
- Proficiency in distinguishing and managing varied film elements, including camera negatives, answer prints, workprints, optical and magnetic soundtracks, and composite or fragmentary materials
