MDD is Seeking a Part-Time Dance Archivist (SEP 1, 2023 - AUG 31, 2024)
Company:
Mark DeGarmo Dance
Dynamic Forms, Inc. d/b/a Mark DeGarmo Dance (MDD) is a leading New York City nonprofit organization based at The Clemente Center on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. President Barack Obama commended MDD for your service to your community and the nation and the National Endowment for the Arts deemed MDD’s evidence-based Partnerships in Literacy through Dance & Creativity program a national model. MDD’s mission includes educate NYC Asian American, Pacific Islander, Black, Indigenous, People of Color, Latinx, & other communities & especially children; create, perform & disseminate original artistic and scholarly work; & build intercultural community through dance arts. Dr. DeGarmo has created & MDD has produced over 100 choreographic works & tours involving cultural diplomacy & exchange with 13 countries.
Position: Dance Archivist
Duration: 1 year, through Aug. 31, 2024, part-time, potential for continued employment
Location: 107 Suffolk Street, MDD Studio Theater 310, New York, NY 10002-3387
Salary: $35-$50 hourly part-time consultancy or wage, in consultation with MDD and commensurate with qualifications & experience
Project Description: Mark DeGarmo Dance, an NYC-based nonprofit providing high-quality, interdisciplinary arts programming for NYC public elementary school students who live in economically challenged and disenfranchised communities, has a history spanning more than thirty years. The purpose of this phase of the Archive Project is to safeguard the legacy of MDD by assessing and beginning to implement the systems for organizing and describing the collection. The primary components of the project are: 1) a comprehensive archives assessment; 2) research and relationship building with potential institutional repositories; and 3) development of the systems for inventorying and organizing the materials (i.e., developing a metadata schema, controlled vocabulary, processing plan, etc.).
Responsibilities: The Dance Archivist will coordinate all aspects of the project and be responsible for meeting deadlines and tracking deliverables to ensure timely and thorough completion of project activities. In close collaboration with the organization, the Archivist will:
-Conduct a thorough assessment of analog and digital archival materials, identifying preservation concerns, organizational needs, scope of materials, etc.;
-Develop schema for inventory and description of AV and non-AV collections, working with content specialists to ensure accurate, complete, and high-quality metadata will be captured in accordance with established project standards;
-Support the creation of manuals, workflows, and protocols that document MDD’s archiving systems and practices;
-Research and communicate with institutional repositories identified as possible fits for acquiring the collection. The Archivist will assist the organization in selecting a repository partner and in ensuring that any systems put in place will align with institutional needs;
-Manage budget and track expenses.
Other responsibilities may include:
-Assist with the selection and curation of materials for digitization;
-Supervise project assistants and interns performing inventory, scanning, filing, cataloging, and other tasks;
-Liaise with vendors to manage the batching, tracking, transfer, and return of tapes and other materials for digitization.
-Required qualifications:
-ALA-accredited Master’s in Library Science;
-Demonstrated success in completing large-scale multi-format archival processing projects;
-Project management experience: ability to track progress toward multiple goals, meet milestones,
-Supervise assistants and work as part of a team;
-Strong grasp of metadata and content standards; familiarity with archival database design, platforms, cataloging, and data migration;
-Familiarity with analog video formats and digital file formats, strong grasp of audiovisual and digital preservation standards and best practices in digital asset management;
-Excellent communication skills and attention to detail;
-Knowledge of and interest in dance and issues in documentation and preservation of dance or performing arts preferred.
Note on the project’s 3 phases:
This position entails multiple phases. There is the potential to stay on in the future phases if desired: Phase 1: MDD Dance Archivist works for 1 year Sep. 1, 2023 – Aug. 31, 2024. Phase 2: Sep. 1 2024 – Aug. 31, 2025. Phase 3: Dates to be determined, currently projected to start Sep. 1, 2025 for 2-3 years through Aug. 31, 2027 or 2028. Phase 1 is the preparatory work to support Phase 2. Phase 2 outcomes include a descriptive inventory and a digitization and processing plan with a process manual so that new staff can update the descriptive inventory as the collection expands. Phase 3 outcomes include implementing Phase 2’s outcomes, including the collection’s accessioning by an institutional repository.
Application Instructions: Qualified candidates should email cover letter, résumé, and 3 professional references of previous supervisors noting candidate’s relationship to each to: search@markdegarmodance.org.
MARK DEGARMO DANCE IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER. All qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, color, national origin, marital status, religion, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, personal appearance, family responsibilities, political affiliation, or enrollment in a college, university, technical school, or adult education.
All inquiries are kept confidential. No calls.
