Part-time Archives Assistant

Reports to:   Associate Director of Institutional Archives and Collections

Department:   President’s Office

Status:  Part-time

Schedule: Up to 20 hours per week during regular office hours, Monday-Friday, 9am-6pm

About Central Park Conservancy

Central Park is one of the world's most famous and beloved public spaces. Designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux in 1858, the 843-acre Park was the country's first purpose-built public park and is a National Historic Landmark and a New York Scenic Landmark. The Central Park Conservancy, a private, not-for-profit organization, was founded in 1980 to rescue the Park, which had fallen into serious disrepair. Since then, the Conservancy has overseen the investment of over $1.6 billion in the restoration of the Park, which now hosts over 40 million visitors a year.

The Conservancy’s mission is to preserve and celebrate Central Park as a sanctuary from urban life. The City of New York has formally entrusted the management of the Park to the Conservancy which is responsible for every aspect of its care, including landscape maintenance, capital improvements, and the visitor experience. The Conservancy employs roughly 400 people and has an annual operating budget of over $100 million. The Conservancy is one of the City’s largest and most successful public private partnerships and is considered a major civic institution given its impact on the health of the Park and the vibrancy of the City.

Job Summary: 

The Central Park Conservancy Archives is seeking a part-time assistant to work on digital asset management and support the day-to-day activities of the archives. The position will be for up to 20 hours per week with flexible scheduling during regular office hours.

The Conservancy Archives maintains a physical collection of documents, photographic media, and other records that chronicle the management of Central Park and the Conservancy’s institutional history since its founding in 1980 and slightly before. Additionally, the Archives manages the organization’s digital asset management system (DAMS), which contains recent digital photography and archival scans.

Reporting to the Associate Director of Institutional Archives & Collections, the assistant will primarily focus on processing digital photographs from various departments within the organization. This includes uploading photos to our DAMS and creating metadata using institutional guidelines and vocabularies. Additionally, the assistant will support staff in research and image requests, assist with archival processing, rehousing, and description, and participate in other activities in the archives.

Summary of Essential Job Functions:

• Process digital photographs and other assets from departments across the Conservancy and upload them to our DAMS
• Apply accurate, consistent metadata to assets in the DAMS to ensure discoverability
• Respond to staff requests and assist in image selection
• Perform in-house digitization of photographic materials and documents
• Conduct quality control on digital assets and their metadata
• Process and rehouse archival materials
• Create and update accession records, finding aids, and inventories, and enter information in ArchivesSpace
• Other projects as assigned

Minimum Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree; current Master’s student or recent graduate from an ALA-accredited program with archival coursework, or equivalent, is preferred
• Archives and digital asset management experience
• Proficiency with Microsoft applications, especially Excel
• Familiarity with digital asset management and archival collections management systems, ideally Widen and ArchivesSpace
• Detail-oriented and organized
• Flexible, responsive, and attentive to time-sensitive needs
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to work both independently and collaboratively

Rate:  $28 per hour

Diversity, Equity & inclusion

The Central Park Conservancy’s work is guided by the belief that Central Park, and all public parks, must be managed and actively protected as an inclusive and democratic space for all.

Working closely with our New York City partners, we will always strive towards creating and sustaining a sense of belonging for all visitors and advocating for equitable and accessible public use of the Park.

In service of this belief, we are committed to fostering a workforce and organizational culture that is as diverse as Central Park itself and the dynamic city it serves.

Safety Requirements

Establishment and maintenance of a safe work environment is the shared responsibility of this organization and employees at every level. The Conservancy will make every effort to assure a safe environment and follow federal, state, and local safety regulations. Employees are expected to obey safety rules and to exercise caution in all their work activities. Accordingly, employees should be aware of any hazards which could cause an injury or accident (e.g., spills, obstacles in walkways, etc.). If an employee discovers a potentially dangerous condition, he/she/they should alert other employees and notify his/her/their supervisor immediately.

Disclaimer

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this classification. They are not to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required of personnel so classified. All personnel may be required to perform duties outside of their normal responsibilities from time to time, as needed.