Digital Collections Conservator British Library

• Vacancy for Digital Collections Conservator at the British Library

19 November 2023

Boston Spa or St Pancras, UK

Full-Time

The British Library's Digital Collections are a unique treasure trove, including everything from digitised manuscripts and books to eBooks and eJournals, the UK Web Archive, born-digital personal archives, sound collections, electoral registers, and much more. In total, the collection comprises many millions of collection items, and millions more individual files, all comprising several petabytes of data. All of these items require efficient management if they are to persist over time and remain reliably available into the future.

The post of Digital Collections Conservator is an opportunity for someone to join the British Library’s Digital Collections Management and Preservation team in order to help support the preservation of these collections for current and future users. The successful candidate will need to develop a detailed understanding of the Library’s digital collections and the acquisition and processing workflows that underpin them.

A key part of the role will involve working with colleagues on the practical aspects of preserving digital collections, including the development of preservation plans and the ingest of collections into the Library’s long-term digital repository and Minumum Preservation Tool environment. The successful candidate will also contribute to the development and promotion of best practice for digital preservation within the Library, as well as to support colleagues with the implementation of the digital elements of the Library's Collection Management Strategy.

This is an exciting role based on developing a deeper understanding of the Library’s digital collections. Candidates should have experience of managing and preserving digital collections, as well as being able to demonstrate a practical knowledge of digital preservation risks, challenges, and solutions. Candidates should also be able to demonstrate a sound understanding of concepts relating to digital lifecycle management, and how they potentially interact with preservation requirements.

With strong writing, analytical and time-management skills, the ideal candidate will be able to work independently, as well as to communicate well with senior colleagues and others outside of the immediate team environment.