Please see below for advert and job description. Candidates should also note the contact details for more specific information. It is important that you obtain this, and that you follow the detailed application guidelines described there.
Graduate Trainee Archivists
Salary £17 000 w.e.f 1 August 2004
The National Archives of Scotland has two one-year fixed term appointments within its Reader Services and Private Records Branches. You will mainly be based at General Register House, 2 Princes Street, Edinburgh. In Reader Services Branch you will work in the Historical Search Room and be expected to advise the public on records relevant to their research and answer written and telephone enquiries. In Private Records Branch you will be involved in various aspects of cataloguing work (including using CALM). The successful candidates will spend six months in each branch. Contracts will start in August 2004.
You will be expected to establish and respond positively to different customer needs and you will have excellent communication skills. You will be a self-starter and a team player. You will have an honours degree, preferably first or upper second class, in history or another arts subject and a keen interest in archive work.
These one-year work placement opportunities are for graduates as part of the pre-course requirement for a full-time university archive diploma course. You will be expected to apply for such a course during your appointment.
Please contact Nancy Byers for more specific information (details below).
Applications should take the form of a covering letter and a CV which must include qualifications, and examples of work experience which demonstrate how you meet the competencies described above. You should also provide an academic and a work-based reference. We cannot consider your application without this. Please submit all documentation to Nancy Byers, National Archives of Scotland, H M General Register House, Edinburgh, EH1 3YY (tel.: 0131 535 1327; email: [log in to unmask]). The closing date for receipt of applications is Wednesday 2 June 2004. Interviews will be held on 17 or 18 June.
We welcome applications from all suitably qualified people and aim to employ a diverse workforce which reflects the people of Scotland.
Trainee Search Room Archivist, Historical Search Section
General Duties
1. To advise readers on NAS sources and the use of finding aids and also on record sources held elsewhere.
2. To reply to written and telephone enquiries on historical topics and record sources in NAS and elsewhere.
3. Other duties as appropriate.
Business Objectives
1. To draft answers to written enquiries in time to enable the Section to meet its overall target of 87.5% answered within 15 working days and 95% within 25 working days, in order to inform enquirers accurately about the resources of the NAS and other institutions.
2. [Timing to be agreed with line manager depending on previous experience], gain a working knowledge of the core NAS collections in order to be able to provide proper advice to readers and enquirers.
Trainee Archivist
Private Records Branch
General Duties
1. Cataloguing records of historical interest, using the NAS's CALM electronic catalogue.
2. Editing existing catalogues.
3. Assisting with the administration of collections, including possible liaison with depositors.
4. Providing cover for staff in the Historical Search Room.
5. Occasionally assisting the Church Records Officer.
6. Participating in a longer-term programme of cataloguing a major collection of papers.
7. Helping others in the branch with archival duties that may arise.
Business Objectives
1. Cataloguing 1,000 record file entries per year.
Susan Corrigall
Head of Historical Search Section
H M General Register House
Edinburgh
EH1 3YY
Tel.: 0131 535 1333
Fax.: 0131 535 1328