University of Calgary | Calgary, Alberta

Permanent, Full Time

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The Department of Libraries and Cultural Resources is currently seeking a Full-time Regular Digital Preservation Technician.

Apply for the position on the University of Calgary Careers site

Reporting to the Digital Projects Librarian, the Digital Preservation Technician works in a team environment of ongoing change. Digital objects need to be properly preserved for use by future generations.  The Technician will participate in the design, development and implementation of the digital preservation system and processes. Impact of error is high.  Projects involve a high volume of work, many deadlines throughout the year, and complex technical decision-making. A high level of concentration, resourcefulness and creativity is required.  The work is primarily conducted during normal Monday-Friday business hours. Strong technical skills are critical.

Working within the newly formed digital preservation unit, the Digital Preservation Technician will be responsible for digital preservation activities to preserve library and archives collections within the University of Calgary’s Digital Preservation System (DPS). The Technician will ingest, process and retrieve digital assets for access. The Technician will iterate upon existing digital preservation workflows and create new workflows where needed. The Technician will also help create and update documentation and training materials as needed. The position will be responsible for applying specialized skills and knowledge to oversee and report on the active preservation of digital assets. The Technician will also work with colleagues from across Libraries and Cultural Resources to assess and prepare a wide variety of digital and digitized collections for ingestion into the digital preservation system.

Position Description

Summary of Key Responsibilities (job functions include but are not limited to):

• Evaluate, implement, and customize digital preservation tools, ensuring configuration affords compliance with archival description standards, specifically ISAD(G), to support digital object processing and migration, data and metadata transformation, metadata extraction, and digital forensics.
• Ingest and process digital assets from local workstation into digital preservation workflow
• Send archival information packages to appropriate preservation storage
• Retrieve archival information packages as needed for information requests
• Monitor digital assets to verify data integrity and repair
• Deliver client support for training and troubleshooting the digital preservation system
• Collaborate with team members to process digital assets into digital preservation system
• Ensure adherence of systems to technical, quality assurance, data integrity, and security standards.
• Document solutions and workflows for internal purposes and also as part of compliance with University regulatory and privacy requirements
• Keep up-to-date in digital preservation best practices and recommend workflow improvements and procurement of systems/applications as appropriate
• Communicate with web developers, system administrators and other stakeholders in the evaluation, education and implementation of digital preservation infrastructure
• Assess digital objects, determine and apply optimal digital preservation strategies
• Identify at-risk digital objects and apply appropriate curation actions (e.g., format conversion for audio, video and other multi-media collection types)
• In collaboration with appropriate team members, design and implement metadata preservation routines within established workflows
• Participate in design of preservation requirements, strategies and long-term access with colleagues and teams engaged in a range of collections activities and initiatives.
• Assist the Digital Projects Librarian in the creation of policies and address issues relating to preservation of data, digital collections and objects, born digital initiatives and other collections initiatives arising from, or supporting, learning, research and the scholarly communication process
• Identify opportunities and capacity for preserving existing and emerging types of digital content (e.g. audio, video, web-based)
• Create documentation including workflows, procedures, best practices and official correspondence with partners and vendors
• Informal one-on-one training with LCR staff
• Compile statistics and reporting to stakeholders

Qualifications / Requirements:

Required:

• Post-secondary Archival or Library Technician diploma or related diploma such as: records management; conservation and preservation; or computer science
• Minimum of three (3) years of experience working in an archives or library with digital collections
• Demonstrated ability to continuously master new applications and technologies
• Demonstrated knowledge of key concepts in digital preservation, including the life cycle of preserved digital objects, the OAIS Reference Model and the NDSA Levels of Preservation
• Awareness of digital preservation best practices, as well as emerging digital preservation approaches, technologies and applications.
• Demonstrated knowledge of technical challenges related to data management/curation, including format migration, preservation, metadata, data retrieval, and access/use
• Knowledge of diverse digital formats, as well as digital collections management and preservation systems/applications
• Superior communication and interpersonal skills, facilitating work in a team environment
• Excellent written and presentation skills, including the ability to contribute to the drafting of grant applications and project proposals
• High level problem solving and critical thinking skills
• Demonstrated capacity to work effectively and professionally with staff at all levels as well as with faculty and students

Preferred:

• Experience implementing API integrations
• Experience in one or more fields relevant to digital preservation
• Experience with digital preservation systems
• Experience with repository platforms
• Experience with scripting languages, particularly Python
• Knowledge of various metadata schemas, especially for digital preservation, and the ability to apply appropriately depending on the context
• Demonstrated knowledge of key strategies in digital preservation, such as migration and emulation
• Demonstrated knowledge of providing access to preserved digital material, particularly born-digital material
• Experience with reading and transforming XML
• Experience with web-archiving
• Experience working with large volumes of data

Application Deadline:  February 24, 2023

We would like to thank all applicants in advance for submitting their resumes. Please note, only those candidates chosen to continue on through the selection process will be contacted.

Additional Information

This position is part of the AUPE bargaining unit, and falls under the Technical Job Family, Phase 2.

To find out more about management and staff opportunities at the University of Calgary and all we have to offer, view our Management and Staff Careers website. 

The University strongly recommends all faculty and staff are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

About the University of Calgary

The University of Calgary is Canada’s leading next-generation university – a living, growing and youthful institution that embraces change and opportunity with a can-do attitude. Located in the nation’s most enterprising city, the university is making tremendous progress on its Eyes High journey to be recognized as one of Canada’s top five research universities, grounded in innovative learning and teaching and fully integrated with the community it both serves and leads. The University of Calgary inspires and supports discovery, creativity and innovation across all disciplines. For more information, visit ucalgary.ca.

The University of Calgary has launched an institution-wide Indigenous Strategy in line with the foundational goals of Eyes High, committing to creating a rich, vibrant, and culturally competent campus that welcomes and supports Indigenous Peoples, encourages Indigenous community partnerships, is inclusive of Indigenous perspectives in all that we do.

As an equitable and inclusive employer, the University of Calgary recognizes that a diverse staff/faculty benefits and enriches the work, learning and research experiences of the entire campus and greater community. We are committed to removing barriers that have been historically encountered by some people in our society. We strive to recruit individuals who will further enhance our diversity and will support their academic and professional success while they are here. In particular, we encourage members of the designated groups (women, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, members of visible/racialized minorities, and diverse sexual orientation and gender identities) to apply. To ensure a fair and equitable assessment, we offer accommodation at any stage during the recruitment process to applicants with disabilities. Questions regarding [diversity] EDI at UCalgary can be sent to the Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (equity@ucalgary.ca) and requests for accommodations can be sent to Human Resources (hrhire@ucalgary.ca).

We encourage all qualified applicants to apply, however preference will be given to Canadian citizens and permanent residents of Canada.