Samuel Proctor Oral History Program, University of Florida
The Samuel Proctor Oral History Program (SPOHP) at the University of Florida seeks an Oral History Archivist to lead the stewardship, access, and long-term care of its nationally significant oral history collection. SPOHP stewards more than 10,000 oral history interviews and sound recordings in physical and digital formats. The Archivist will oversee daily archival operations and play a central role in advancing preservation, processing, discoverability, and public access.
To apply: https://explore.jobs.ufl.edu/en-us/job/541035/oral-history-archivist
Position Description
The Oral History Archivist will serve as the primary professional responsible for managing new and legacy oral history materials, including accessioning, arrangement, description, metadata, digitization coordination, preservation planning, and access workflows. The position will work closely with the SPOHP Director and University of Florida Libraries staff to support the preservation and public accessibility of oral histories through the University of Florida Digital Collections.
Archival Processing and Management
- Appraise, accession, arrange, describe, and process new and legacy oral history collections and related materials.
- Manage collection databases, tracking systems, inventories, and related archival documentation.
- Assist with the development and implementation of policies and workflows for digital preservation, records management, storage, and long-term access.
- Lead efforts to address archival backlogs, including legacy analog audiovisual materials, digitization tracking, and processing prioritization.
- Oversee daily archival and collection-related activities involving oral histories and associated audiovisual and documentary materials.
Digital Access and Management
- Create, revise, and standardize metadata, inventories, indexes, abstracts, finding aids, and other descriptive tools to improve intellectual control, discoverability, and access.
- Coordinate archival workflows with University of Florida Libraries and the University of Florida Digital Collections, including metadata preparation, ingest support, and public access to processed materials.
Collections Management
- Maintain documentation related to deeds of gift, permissions, embargoes, restrictions, and other rights or access conditions for oral history materials.
- Support responsible stewardship of restricted, embargoed, culturally sensitive, and rights-sensitive collections using appropriate professional and ethical practices.
- Assess and support the care of audio and video recordings, transcripts, digital files, paper records, photographs, and other collection materials.
- Coordinate storage, preservation planning, digitization, and reformatting workflows.
- Develop, document, and maintain archival workflows and standards for new oral history projects, including file-naming conventions, folder architecture, interview documentation, metadata capture, and the transfer of materials into SPOHP’s archival systems.
- Provide collection data, inventories, and related documentation to support preservation planning, reporting, and grant or contract proposals involving archival processing and digitization.
Reference, Access, and Outreach
- Provide reference services and assist faculty, students, researchers, and community users in discovering and using SPOHP collections.
- Respond to inquiries regarding collection content, access, restrictions, permissions, and appropriate use.
- Serve as a liaison to University of Florida Libraries and relevant campus and community partners on matters related to archival access, preservation, and stewardship.
Minimum Requirements
Bachelor’s degree in an appropriate area of specialization and four years of related library experience; or a master’s degree in Library or Information Science or another directly relevant area.
This position closes on October 2, 2026, at 11:55pm.