Archive Assistant Project: MayDay Rooms Archive

Written By CHASE DTP

Application deadline: 6th January 2025

Starting Date: to be negotiated

Hours: Part time - to be negotiated.

We are looking for a PhD student to explore ways to increase the accessibility of our archive. The research placement would be located at the MayDay Rooms Archive and would consist of researching, advising and implementing strategies aimed at making the archive more user-friendly and increase its overall accessibility. Mayday Rooms is an archive, resource center, and political self-education space established to safeguard the ephemera and documentation of radical social movements. Our work sees to connect radical historical materials with contemporary social struggles. This placement will expand a crucial aspect of this work by assisting in cataloguing and auditing MDR's collections which, in turn, will allow to further develop Mayday Rooms as a vital educational resource of anti-oppressive, working-class history.

You can read more about what we do here: www.maydayrooms.org

We are currently in the process of creating a cataloguing and metadata workflow as well as a user-friendly finding aid system. The Archive Assistant, in close collaboration with MDR Archivist, would help with the following:

  • Producing archive finding aids

  • Trialing labeling schemes across various collections

  • Cataloging and sorting archival material

  • Assisting with collection audit

The research placement will involve training in:

  • Cataloguing workflows

  • Archiving and metadata creation

  • Archival handling and preservation

We would love to hear from someone who is keen to be involved in the process of increasing archive accessibility, and we wish this to be a collaborative endeavour that is used by the public that goes outside of academia. Prior experience in archiving/cataloguing would be a bonus.

This placement is open to all TECHNE, CHASE and AHRC funded students but would particularly suit students interested in:

  • The History of Social Movements

  • Working Class history

  • Archives and Museums

  • Digital Humanities

If you’re interested in the position please send a CV along with a cover letter outlining your skills and other aspects of your suitability for the role to lukasz@maydayrooms.org. Please also indicate your availability and prefered starting period.

CHASE DTP
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