Digitization Specialist

Position OverviewReporting to the Digitization Coordinator, the Digitization Specialist plays a crucial role in the digitization and preservation of physical materials in the university's scholarly and archival collections. The Digitization Specialist follows best practices in library digital collections and supports the Libraries scanning and digital photography operations, particularly still image digitization, including but not limited to archival materials in a variety of formats, such as bound volumes, photographs and transparencies, manuscripts, and oversize items. The primary focus of this role is to convert analog resources into digital formats while ensuring the integrity and accessibility of these digital assets. This position supports access to KU's unique and interesting holdings in a wide range of topics by the KU community, students, researchers, and the world through digitization for KU's digital repositories, exhibits, and patron requests.Job Description65% Image Capture and ProcessingDigitization: Prepares materials for digitization in consultation with curators and other library personnel. Utilizes specialized equipment and software to scan, digitize, and capture high-quality images or documents from various formats, including books, manuscripts, photographs, and audiovisual materials. Captures digital representations of collection materials using a variety of hardware and software for research, exhibition, and publication. Creates documentation to track workflows and project progress.25% Quality Control and Metadata ManagementQuality Control: Conduct thorough quality assessments to ensure the accuracy and fidelity of digitized content, making necessary adjustments and corrections as needed.Metadata Management: Collaborate with Digital Initiatives Librarian to capture and document required metadata for digitized materials, enhancing discoverability and accessibility.10% Other dutiesEquipment Maintenance: Maintain and troubleshoot digitization equipment for several workstations, ensuring optimal performance and minimal downtime.Participation in committees, task forces, and special projects related to digital projects and digitization services from within the Libraries or from across campus as appropriate.Required QualificationsBachelor's degree and three years of library or related experience OR high school diploma and five years of library or related experience.Demonstrated knowledge of digitization best practices in a cultural heritage environment such as a library, archive, or museum as evidenced by application.Preferred QualificationsExperience or education in visual media or photography beyond an introductory level.Experience using, calibrating, and maintaining digital imaging equipment, for example, flatbed scanners, planetary scanners, DSLR cameras, and medium format cameras.Experience with imaging software applications, such as Capture One Culture Heritage; Scan Tailor; Adobe software; as well as MS Office programs.Knowledge of still image capture workflows in a cultural heritage environment, including working with TIFF/RAW image formats, QA/QC processes, and Optical Character Recognition (OCR) workflows with TIFF or PDF documents.Demonstrated experience and familiarity with library digitization standards, particularly the Federal Agencies Digital Guidelines Initiative (FADGI) and with library metadata standards (e.g., Dublin Core, MODS, EAD).Strong interpersonal skills, with the ability to communicate clearly and effectively, both orally and in writing.Demonstrated ability to work independently and collaboratively, with the ability to manage multiple projects at once.Additional Candidate InstructionsApplicants should attach a cover letter, resume/CV, and contact information for three professional references (including at least one previous or current supervisor) to this online application.

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