Digital Preservation Archivist

Posted to IASSIST on: 2026-08-25

Employer: Georgia State University

Employer URL: https://gsu.edu/

Description

Digital Preservation Archivist

The Special Collections & Archives department is part of the University Library, which includes the following collection areas: University Archives, Southern Labor, Music & Popular Culture, Women’s Collections, Gender & Sexuality, Photographic Collections, Atlanta Civic & Neighborhood History, and rare books.

The University Library seeks a motivated, collaborative, and service-oriented Digital Preservation Archivist (non-tenure track, open rank faculty: Librarian Instructor, Librarian Assistant Professor, or Librarian Associate Professor) to provide leadership and expertise in digital preservation. This includes working with the archivists, librarians, and staff across the University to manage the long-term preservation of digital materials for all collecting areas and handling materials in all formats.

The position serves as a member of the library faculty (12-month, non-tenure track), holds faculty rank, and is expected to participate in service activities as outlined in the University Library’s faculty guidelines. The library is committed to providing excellent professional development opportunities for its employees. While not required, employees are welcome to further their careers by earning an additional advanced degree, and, in some cases, tuition assistance is available.

Responsibilities Include:

• Establish and refine policies, procedures, and best practices for acquisition, long-term preservation, accessibility, and life-cycle management of permanent digital materials in accordance with best practices and guidelines from the digital preservation community.
• Train and work with faculty and staff on processes and procedures around acquisition, appraisal, arrangement and description of permanent digital records.
• Work with archivists to identify digital materials on physical media and use digital forensics tools to extract and transfer selected content to the digital preservation system.
• Work with the University and University Archivist to implement procedures for capturing permanent, born-digital archival content, in accordance with the University System of Georgia’s records retention schedule.
• Manage and maintain the digital preservation system, train faculty and staff on its use, and provide ongoing support.
• Manage and maintain the University’s Archive-It web archiving account and collaborate with archivists to identify, capture, and revise web and social media content in accordance with the collection development policy. Supervise students and/or temporary employees as needed.

Required Experience

• Minimum of one year of experience working in digital preservation.

This position is eligible for hiring at the ranks listed below:

• Librarian Instructor – an entry level probationary rank requiring little or no professional experience and is based on potential. Appointments at this rank shall require expectation of successful overall performance and the potential for a promising career in librarianship or archival science.
• Librarian Assistant Professor – Minimum three full years of professional service.
• Librarian Associate Professor – Minimum of five full fiscal years of professional service.

Required Education

• Master’s degree (all ranks) in Library/Information Science, Archival Studies, Information Management, Management of Information Systems, or other relevant field (e.g. History).

Preferred Qualifications/Experience

• MLIS or MIM with a concentration in archives administration/management or graduate degree with a concentration in information management or systems.
• Society of American Archivists Digital Archives Specialist certificate or similar.
• Experience working on digital preservation, digital libraries, or digital repositories in an academic or special library setting.
• Experience with cloud-based digital preservation tools.
• Experience processing born-digital collections including appraising technical specifications, file integrity and formats at risk and creating processing plans to mitigate risks.
• Familiarity with web archiving tools such as Archive-It.
• Participation in/contributions to the digital preservation community (such as Digital Preservation Coalition, iPres, National Digital Stewardship Alliance (NDSA), etc.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Demonstrated knowledge of digital preservation issues, strategies, and standards.
• Good organizational skills and an aptitude for analytical and detailed work.
• Ability to work independently as well as collegially in a complex, rapidly changing and professionally diverse environment.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.

About GSU and the University Library

Georgia State University is a national model for innovation and opening opportunities for all, among the top five most innovative by U.S. News & World Report, ranked 1st among public universities in undergraduate teaching, the number 1 nonprofit university to award bachelor’s degrees to African American students, 4th in the country for its first-year student experience, and highly ranked for enabling the social and economic mobility of its students. Among the most diverse universities in the nation, Georgia State opens global perspectives as the number 1 U.S. public university sending African American students to study abroad.

A regional gateway to higher education, the five suburban Perimeter College campuses provide more than 30 associate degree pathways. The downtown Atlanta campus offers more than 250 degree programs in 100 fields of study at the undergraduate, graduate and first-professional degree levels.

With five university-wide research centers and numerous centers and institutes at the college and school levels, Georgia State’s interdisciplinary, dynamic and productive research enterprises address major health and societal challenges. It is one of only 146 universities with an R1 designation from the Carnegie Foundation, an honor reserved for the nation’s most active research institutions. Outgoing research expenditures have doubled in the last decade and topped $1.2 billion over the last six years, an indication of the University’s rapid research growth.

Georgia State is vital to the regional economy, with a more than $2.9 billion economic impact, and is also a vital part of Atlanta’s vibrant arts and entertainment community, with highly regarded programs in music, art, creative writing and film, the Rialto Center for the Arts, and the Creative Media Industries Institute that contributes to innovation and the workforce for interactive media and media entrepreneurship.

General information on faculty roles and responsibilities can be obtained from the Faculty Handbook and the Office of Faculty Affairs website. All faculty at Georgia State are, as part of their essential job duties, expected to: (1) be physically present on-campus as needed to contribute to Georgia State’s in-person educational experience, and (2) be able to teach in each of the following instructional modalities – in-person, online, or blended/hybrid – as determined by their Department Chair or Dean.

The University Library at the main Atlanta Campus provides one of the most attractive, open, and inviting educational facilities in the Southeast. With over 1.25 million annual visitors, the library is an integral part of the University community. The library is a valued partner within the campus community, offering a modern, inviting, and centralized facility supporting teaching and research with extensive collections and outstanding assistance. Learn more about the University Library at lib.gsu.edu.

Salary

$61,100 - $72,600

Job Location

Atlanta, GA

More info/apply URL: https://facultycareers.gsu.edu/postings/7165

Archived on: 2026-09-04