Project Archivist: New Traditional School

We are looking for a Project Archivist to contribute to the development, understanding and future planning of a new archive featuring materials related to music compositions and performances by traditional and folk musicians in Scotland. 

The Opportunity:

This is a six-month part-time role (0.5 FTE) contributing to the end stage of an 18-month project funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). This project builds on a pilot study funded by the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) and Creative Informatics called ‘Mapping the New Traditional School in Scotland: Pilot study’, which took place between June 2021 and February 2023. 

The key aims of this project are to establish the first special music collection of extended and experimental compositions by traditional musicians in Scotland, to develop a deeper understanding of the nature of these compositions and the practices of the composers, and to establish the foundation of a new archive of digital and physical materials along with a proposal for future development. More broadly, we aim to understand the relationship between tradition and creativity as encountered in the work of this community of practice. 

A knowledge exchange (KE) symposium will take place towards the end of the project, at which the Archivist is invited to present alongside the PI.

The Archivist will be based in the Centre for Research Collections and benefit from the additional support of colleagues in archives and collections. A member of the project advisory panel will provide an alternative contact to support the archivist. 

We welcome applications for this post from all qualified candidates and particularly welcome applications from members of minority ethnic groups, who are currently under-represented in the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures.

Informal inquiries may be directed to LLC.Recruitment@ed.ac.uk. 

Parts of this role can be carried out remotely, however onsite work is required at the University of Edinburgh. The post is 17.5 hours per week, which can be worked flexibly across the week to suit the post holder. Some collaborative work is required which will be scheduled with the research team. The post is fixed term for six months, from 01/07/24 – 31/12/24.

Your skills and attributes for success: 

• A degree-level qualification in archival management plus typically at least 2 years’ relevant experience OR typically 5 to 8 years’ relevant practical experience, demonstrating development through involvement in progressively more demanding work/roles. 
• Substantial experience of working in archives, ideally with music or ethnomusicological collections, with practical experience of physical and digital archival collections, cataloguing to professional standards, and identifying conservation, preservation and access requirements. 
• Excellent data entry and management skills and an accurate and methodical approach to work.
• Demonstrable experience, knowledge and skill in using management systems for library and archive cataloguing and collections.
• Technical knowledge of archival standards and awareness of the legislative framework.

Advert information