Job posting: Metadata specialist, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison

Full time

Salary: $28.00 - $32.08 per hour ($58,240 - $66,726 annual)

Job Description:

WHS is in the midst of a major initiative to ignite a digital transformation as part of a multi-year campaign to build a new History Center, scheduled to open in fall 2026. The exhibits and programming being planned for the Center rely heavily on digital collections, digital learning, and virtual programs, all based in the Center, while the digital content will allow a broad audience from across the state to connect with the Society’s collections and participate in events, lectures, community engagement, workshops and interactive research.

This transformation requires modernization of the Society’s equipment, systems, workflows, and building capacity within the Society’s Collections and IT teams. This position is part of a triumvirate that will provide leadership during this transition and help shape our collections digital strategy for the future. When ultimately realized, the Society’s digital strategy will enable the Society to connect communities across the state and nation to museum programs, ensure broad accessibility and preservation of the Society’s rich collections, and facilitate discovery of freely available digital content for national and international audiences.

The Metadata Specialist will work as part of cross-functional teams to support the Wisconsin Historical Society’s digitization and discovery initiatives. The Metadata Specialist is an integral part of the team responsible for creating and expanding the ways in which patrons discover and access the Society’s collections. This position is responsible for the development, implementation, and assessment of descriptive metadata for the Society’s digital assets. As such, this position will not only create metadata, but also maintain controlled vocabularies; develop metadata rules, standards, and practices; create and maintain metadata workflows and procedures; enhance and remediate existing metadata; and collaborate with other professionals to crosswalk metadata between systems.

Qualifications:

Minimally qualified candidate will have experience in all of the following:
• Experience using a digital asset management and discovery systems (e.g. CONTENTdm, Argus, ArchivesSpace, Aviary, PastPerfect, TIND DA, Mukurtu).
• Experience implementing a variety of metadata standards and protocols (e.g., MARC, EAD, RDA, MODS, METS/ALTO, Dublin Core, BIBFRAME).
• Experience working with archival and/or artifact collections, including experience handling fragile materials.

In addition to minimum qualifications, a well-qualified candidate will additionally have experience in one of the following areas:
• Experience using 3 or more digital asset management and discovery systems (e.g. CONTENTdm, Argus, ArchivesSpace, Aviary, PastPerfect, TIND DA, Mukurtu).
• Experience migrating from one library/archival content management system, digital asset management system, or discovery system to a new system.
• Experience with data remediation for both MARC and non-MARC data, especially involving system migration projects.

Education: Master's Degree Preferred, but experience with library/archives metadata can substitute

For more information and to apply: https://wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Article/CS16981

Application deadline: June 1, 2023