12 Fixed term contract Opportunities in Greater London

Closing date: 30th June 2022

Salary: £25,750

The National Gallery is looking for a library and archive assistant.

The position contributes to the success of the Research Centre by assisting with the maintenance and organisation of the Library and Archive collections and the process of making them available to internal and external researchers. Research by Gallery staff supports the acquisition, care and study of paintings in the Gallery’s collection. Research by external visitors to the Research Centre supports the Gallery’s leading national and international role in the scholarship of Western European painting.

Responsibilities

• The jobholder will invigilate external visitors to the Research Centre and answer internal/external enquiries about the library, archive and art historical dossiers
• Library duties include ensuring that books are kept tidy and in good order on the shelves by means of regular checking, re-shelve books and periodicals after use, and assist with book moves as needed
• The jobholder will carry out barcoding of books and related updating of records
• They will assist with auction catalogues processing and downloading of records and with data entry and records clean-up in the library database and card files as needed
• Archive duties include the retrieval of items from the archive store and digitisation of material for remote enquiries
• There will be some general administrative duties, including maintaining facilities

Knowledge, skills, experience

• Experience of library and archive work or transferable skills from another sector
• A demonstrable interest in pursuing a career in the library or archive sector
• Willingness to learn about the holdings of the National Gallery Research Centre
• Excellent IT skills including a knowledge of Microsoft Office applications and databases
• Familiarity with standard library and archive equipment (copiers, scanners, etc.)
• Independent research skills
• Excellent writing skills for responding to remote enquiries
• Excellent interpersonal skills for dealing with staff and visitors to the Research Centre
• Flexible, adaptable, and willing to assist internal and external users as and when required
• Ability to work unsupervised and as part of a team
• Able to follow existing procedures with excellent attention to detail
• Ability to organise and prioritise tasks, meeting deadlines as required
• Ability to make routine decisions independently
• Ability to work responsibly at routine tasks as well as at those requiring greater initiative
• Approachable manner when dealing with staff and visitors to the Research Centre
• The work requires some heavy lifting as well as working at height

We welcome and encourage applications from candidates who are under-represented in the creative industries.

Please make sure that you state in your application that you found this role via Creative Access.