Job Description
Senate House Library
Senate House Library is the central library for the University of London, and the home library for the School of Advanced Study. We offer access and research support to collections covering Arts, Humanities and the Social Sciences, and are home to a large number of unique and distinctive Special Collections in the heart of London’s student and research community.
Volunteer tasks
We are currently inviting applicants for volunteer roles with Senate House Library’s Special Collections team. The role will involve working with archival materials, and would be ideal for an early career archivist or person considering a career in Archives. Tasks include:
- Enhancing catalogues and finding aids.
- Digital asset management work and implementing basic digital preservation workflows.
- Assisting with organising important documentation relating to collections.
- Investigating collections to provide more context about our holdings.
Volunteers will work consistently with the Archives Manager who is registered by the Archives and Records Association. The Archives Manager and volunteer will agree on a regular pattern of attendance, e.g., weekly, fortnightly, although this can clearly be varied to accommodate other commitments by prior arrangement. Volunteers will be provided with training appropriate to the project they are undertaking and, depending on the nature of the work, access to systems, databases and other documents.
For enquiries relating to this role, please contact the Archives Manager Sean Macmillan.
The deadline for application is 18th of October at 11.59PM. Interviews are likely to be held in the week beginning Monday 8th of November.
Please note this is a voluntary role and therefore no remuneration is offered, but reasonable expenses may be reimbursed by agreement. Volunteers will be covered by the University’s existing policies and insurance arrangements for staff.
Application process
To submit your expression of interest for this role, please provide your supporting statement and CV (optional) by clicking the apply button below. When completing the supporting statement, please answer the following questions (no more than 250 words per question):
- Why do you want to volunteer in an Archive?
- Why is Metadata important?
- What sort of skills are needed to work well in an archive?
- What are some of the main differences between analogue and digital archives?
When applying through the portal please post the text of your supporting statement (in response to the four questions above) in the field titled “Using examples, please describe how your experience and personal qualities relate to the requirements outlined within the Person Specification and Job Description” and mark the other two fields N/A.
By applying, you are agreeing to be accepted into a pool of Senate House Volunteers. For further information, please download our Senate House Library Volunteers Policy below.
The University reserves the right to close the vacancy earlier than the published end date should it receive sufficient applications to warrant earlier shortlisting.
The University of London is committed to promoting a diverse and inclusive working environment where we can all be ourselves and succeed. We particularly encourage applications from members of Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic communities as this group is currently under-represented. All appointments are made on merit, based on the criteria identified in the job description.
All staff and volunteers will be expected to follow University of London and Senate House Library health and safety procedures and protocols.
Pursuing equal opportunities and excellence in education.