Positions at University of Southampton

Conservators (2 positions)
Archives and Special Collections

Full Time Fixed Term (1 Year)
Highfield Campus

Salary: UKP27,578 - UKP33,884

Reference: 153812KX

Closing Date:  Sunday 30 September 2012 We are looking for two
qualified conservators to work in the Special Collections Division
for one year.  The first post will be wholly dedicated to the
conservation of the papers of the first Duke of Wellington; the
second post will work on the Wellington project for 50% of the time,
covering the full range of other conservation duties as a maternity
leave replacement for the balance.  Both posts require expertise in
nineteenth-century materials. The post is based at the University of
Southampton Highfield campus at the Hartley Library. The
University's archival holdings are especially strong in political
and military material of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries,
along with collections relating to the Jewish peoples. The post
holder will join a conservation group within Special Collections
that provides a full range of services to the Division in
purpose-built conservation studios.

The closing date for this post is 30 September 2012. Please apply
online through <URL:http://www.jobs.soton.ac.uk>  or alternatively
telephone +44 23 8059 2750 for an application form. Please quote
vacancy reference number 153812KX on all correspondence.

The University of Southampton is already one of the top 15 research
universities in the UK and has achieved consistently high scores for
its teaching and learning activities.

Staff are involved in research activities at the highest level and
our postgraduates make a major contribution to our thriving
community. Our researchers are ranked among the top five in UK
universities for engineering and computer science, nursing and
general practice, statistics, sociology and social policy, European
studies and music, and earth systems and environmental sciences.

Our students come from all over the world to grow creatively, enjoy
the many experiences on offer and learn from our professional
theorists and practitioners--excellent preparation for a broad range
of careers. We are proud of our alumni, many of whom have secured
prestigious positions across the globe.

We are committed to further improve our position as a leading
research university of international standing, distinguished by our
enterprise. We aspire to be a place of opportunity and inspiration
that attracts talented staff and students regardless of their
background. By 2015 we expect to be clearly recognised as a
successful and influential international university that has both
strong roots in its local area and a substantial global presence.

University Library: We have five libraries located across our
campuses which provide access to a wide and diverse range of
literature.   The main Library, the Hartley Library, is located at
Highfield Campus and has an excellent reputation as one of the
leading research libraries in the UK.

The Library's total collection comprises over 2.4 million volumes,
six million manuscripts and more than 22,000 current periodicals,
primarily available in electronic format.  The library also has
approximately 400,000 e-books.

The Special Collections Division

    The post falls within the Special Collections Division of the
    University Library, which is responsible for the University's
    holdings of manuscripts and printed special collections.
    Including the post advertised, it currently has a staff of 15
    (10 FTE) including archivists, conservators, a librarian and
    support staff.  The Division has approximately 6,000 linear
    metres of archives in strongroom accommodation, a secure reading
    room, its own conservation facilities and a prestigious
    exhibition gallery.

    The Division's manuscript collections number more than 6 million
    items and are especially strong in nineteenth- and
    twentieth-century political and military papers; and in material
    focused on relations between the Jewish and other peoples, and
    the papers of Anglo-Jewry more generally, together constituting
    one of the largest collections of Jewish archives in Western
    Europe.  In the first category, notable collections include the
    papers of the first Duke of Wellington, the third Viscount
    Palmerston and Earl Mountbatten of Burma.  The Palmerston and
    Mountbatten papers form part of the Broadlands Archives,
    recently secured for the University after a campaign that saw us
    raise UKP2.85 million in seven months.  Among the collections of
    Jewish archives are some for the most prominent members and
    organisations in the community, including the private papers of
    three Chief Rabbis, the archives of the Jewish Board of
    Guardians, the Anglo-Jewish Association, and the Jewish
    Chronicle newspaper.  A guide to the collections, detailed
    databases and surveys of related archive material are available
    on

        <URL:http://www.southampton.ac.uk/archives/>

    The Division has recently launched a Virtual Reading Room at

        <URL:http://viewer.soton.ac.uk/>

    The papers of the first Duke of Wellington were allocated to the
    University of Southampton in 1983 under the national heritage
    legislation. The collection came with a substantial burden of
    conservation: some 10% of the archive, approximately 10,000
    sheets of paper, were unfit to handle, largely through water and
    mould damage.  Substantial progress has been made with the
    conservation which we estimated in 1983 as some 50 years of
    work.  About 70% has now been completed.  The University is
    currently raising funds to enable us to complete this work and
    the posts currently advertised are funded from grants from the
    J. Paul Getty Jr Charitable Trust, the National Manuscripts
    Conservation Trust, and the Rothschild Foundation and from
    general philanthropic donations.  Part of one conservator post
    is associated with maternity cover for an existing member of
    staff and half of its duties are more general in nature.

    The printed special collections are in a number of cases
    intimately connected with the manuscript collections and members
    of the Division work together closely at all times.  Holdings
    include a wide range of printed materials, photographic
    collections, prints and drawings and the Library's holdings of
    rare books.  Of particular note are the Cope collection of
    material on Hampshire and the Isle of Wight; the Perkins
    Agricultural Library of works of British and Irish writers on
    agriculture, printed before 1901; and the Parkes Library, one of
    the most important collections in Western Europe for the study
    of Jewish history and the relationships between the Jewish and
    non-Jewish worlds.  The printed collections are catalogued in
    the University Library's online Catalogue, which can be
    accessed through the website above.

    The Division receives more than 5,000 reader visits each year.
    Most readers are carrying out academic research, and many of
    those working with the manuscript collections come from
    overseas.  The Division's website receives more than 26,000
    accesses each week.

    The Hartley Library and the Special Collections Division within
    were the focus of a major building project, completed in the
    summer of 2004. As part of a UKP10 million programme of
    construction and refurbishment, with substantial support from
    the University, the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Jewish Claims
    Conference, the project has provided accommodation for the main
    library collections for a further decade and expansion space for
    the Special Collections for a further twenty years.  In
    addition, it has provided new working accommodation for archive
    staff, new conservation and reprographic facilities, increased
    reading room accommodation, a secure seminar room for teaching
    and workshops with original materials, and a prestigious area
    for exhibitions.  In conjunction with academic staff, the
    Division mounts conferences, seminars and public lectures, and
    has a programme of publications.  The Division is closely
    involved with teaching associated with its collections, and
    contributes to courses in history, archaeology, English,
    medieval studies and other disciplines.


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 26:17
                Distributed: Friday, September 14, 2012
                       Message Id: cdl-26-17-020
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