Summary
The Smithsonian Institution is the world's largest museum, education, and research complex, with 21 museums and the National Zoo. This position is located in the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI), NMAI's Cultural Resources Center (CRC) in Suitland, MD. More than one selection may be made from this announcement.
Duties
The Archives Technician is responsible for assisting with the arrangement, description, preservation, cataloging and access to NMAI's moderately large archival collections. In this position, you will: Assist the Head Archivist and Archive Center staff in the physical collections management of a wide-range of archival materials including but not limited to papers, photographs, film, video, and sound recordings. Responsibilities include tracking, rehousing, and storing of archival collections; monitoring temperature, relative humidity, and storage conditions; conducting archival collection inventories and surveys; and reorganizing and refiling collections materials, among other duties related to the care, preservation, and management of archival collections. Process new and legacy archival collections. Apply basic preservation methods including removing damaging residue or attachments; rehousing documents in acid free folders and containers; and identifying and maintaining a running list of fragile materials that require preservation treatment and digitization. Describe archival materials for both new acquisitions and unprocessed legacy collections. The description includes well-written and concise finding aids and collection level records entered in Archivists' Toolkit system in accordance with archival descriptive standards including DACS. Prepare small purchase orders to secure supplies and services from outside vendors. Work on administrative and program support tasks including arranging travel for staff and contracted consultants, including scheduling transportation, making hotel reservations, supporting staff en route and preparing travel authorizations and vouchers. Assist the Reference Archivist in providing reference and research services both onsite and remotely, to the public, Native American communities and constituents, researchers, and Smithsonian staff. Assist on-site researchers in the Archive Center reading room by identifying appropriate collections, pulling items, assisting in their use, and refiling them. Answers staff and public inquiries by performing necessary research about archival holdings and responding in a detailed manner via email, phone, or letter.
Requirements
Conditions of Employment Qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of the announcement. For information on qualification requirements, see Qualification Standards Handbook for General Schedule Positions on OPM website.
Education
See above under qualifications..
How you will be evaluated
Applicants for this position may be evaluated in multiple stages. The first stage is an evaluation of your responses to the online multiple-choice questions that assess your experience, education, and/or training for the job-related competencies below: Knowledge of methods of archival storage and preservation for paper, photographic, media, and digital materials. Knowledge of basic archival principles, methods, and techniques, automated information systems, and their applications to routine archival situations. Ability to use electronic archival and museum collection information management systems for describing, organizing, and managing archival holdings. Knowledge of purchasing procedures, rules, and regulations. Knowledge of Federal travel procedures, rules and regulations. Ability to perform onsite and remote reference service with a wide variety of archival researchers, including museum professionals, scholars, tribal representatives, artists, non-traditional researchers, and the general public. Applicants who meet or exceed minimum qualifications will be assigned to one of three category groups based on job-related criteria: Best Category - Meets the minimum qualification requirements and excels in most of the job related competencies above. Better Category - Meets the minimum qualification requirements and satisfies most of the job related competencies above. Good Category - Meets the minimum qualification requirements, but does not satisfy most of the job related competencies above to a substantive degree. This category rating process does not add veterans' preference points or apply the "rule of three", but protects the rights of veterans by placing them ahead of non-preference eligibles within each category. A selecting official may make selections from the highest quality category (Best Category) provided no preference eligible in that category is passed over to select a non-preference eligible in that category unless the requirements of 5 U.S.C. 3317(b) or 3318(b) are satisfied. Preference eligibles who meet minimum qualification requirements and who have a compensable service-connected disability of at least 10 percent must be listed in the highest quality category, except when the position being filled is scientific or professional at the GS-9 grade level or higher. Applicants who have not submitted a resume in the USAjobs system and/or have not answered all of the vacancy questions will not be considered for this position. Important Note: Your resume and supporting documentation will be compared to your responses to the occupational questionnaire or other assessment tool for consistency. If a determination is made that you have rated yourself higher than is supported by your resume, you will be assigned a rating commensurate to your described experience. Your resume should provide sufficient information regarding how your education and experience relate to this position, including the major duties and qualifications criteria listed. You may preview questions for this vacancy.