Wednesday, October 24, 2018

Archives Portal Europe Technical Coordinator. APE, The Hague. Open until 31 October 2018

Job description: Archives Portal Europe Technical Coordinator



Job Title: Archives Portal Europe Foundation Technical Co-ordinator


Location: Flexible


Reports to: The APE Governing Board


Conditions: A contract is offered for one year, with the intention of being extended. The salary is

maximum 4100 for a 36 hours working week with 20 holidays per year and flexible working



hours. We would consider an arrangement for a 4 day-week position with a requisite reduction in

hours and salary level.


Background


The Archives Portal Europe (https://www.archivesportaleurope.net/) aims to make European



archives as accessible as possible. It enables researchers to find information from archives held

across Europe, in thousands of archival institutions. The success of APE is down to a strong

collaborative network of colleagues across Europe, who work together to maintain and develop the

service, a solid technical infrastructure and a great drive and enthusiasm for what we do, creating

strong networks, looking at how we can innovate and develop and promoting the service widely to

attract new audiences to archives.


Funded by the European Commission between 2009 and 2015, from October 2015 onwards, the

Archives Portal Europe has been maintained and developed by the Archives Portal Europe

Foundation (APEF) (http://www.archivesportaleuropefoundation.eu/), with a decision-making body,

the Assembly of Associates (AoA), and a Governing Board (GB), charged with day-to-day

management.


APE believes in the importance of standardisation, using international XML schemas EAD (Encoded

Archival Description), EAC-CPF (Encoded Archival Context – Corporate Bodies, Persons and

Families) and EAG (Encoded Archival Guide), to create tools to manage and publish complex data



from a wide range of archives across Europe. Bringing data together from such diverse sources is a

considerable challenge that requires a great deal of technical know-how, an understanding of the

practical situations of many repositories, and a strong collaborative and participate network of

country managers, who represent the content providers from their respective countries.


The Archives Portal Europe has a particularly important strategic relationship with Europeana, the

cultural heritage portal for digital materials (https://www.europeana.eu/portal/en), and aims to

make archival material searchable and findable through this portal. APE has participated in a

number of Europeana projects and works with them to develop a common digital infrastructure for

cultural heritage across Europe.



Purpose and Scope


To co-ordinate the technical team working on APE developments, to ensure project tasks are

organised and carried out, to liaise with various stakeholders, to participate in working groups and

meetings on aspects of APE work. To keep abreast with technical developments, and continually

develop the service to meet users' needs.


Key Responsibilities of the Role


Responsibilities fall into four areas: Technical, External & Contracts, support for Country Managers,

participation in Working Groups.


General


Liaise closely with the Governing Board and keep the GB updated on all matters,


including technical progress and representation on various external bodies.
Maintain a Google Analytics account and provide statistics on portal usage.





Technical (c 50% of the role)


Coordinate the technical team.

Convene, run meetings and provide reports on regular meetings of technical team.

Take responsibility for the running of the APE portal, addressing bugs and rolling out


new releases.
Prepare proposals for the GB on technical developments and input into the roadmap


for the infrastructure, data quality, standards, front-end and back-end of the portal.
Implement the decisions taken by the GB and the working groups.

Keep abreast of technical developments that may be relevant to APE, e.g. standards


developments, new software and tools.




External and Contracts (c 20% of the role)


Give presentations on APE at external meetings and events.

Input into outreach and communications that are led by the PR Officer.

Execute project tasks, e.g. for Europeana Digital Service Infrastructure projects.

Represent APEF and the archival domain in various European and international


organizations and projects, such as Europeana.
Input into project proposals and submissions as and when required.





Support for Country Managers (c 10% of the role)


Work with the PR Officer to support Country Manager (CM) meetings, e.g. provide


input on technical progress.
Act as the contact point for the CMs with technical matters, e.g. upload problems,


data quality questions.

Working Groups (c 20% of the role)


Actively participate as a member of the Standards Working Group.

Actively participate as a member of the Technical Working Group.





Knowledge and Experience


A master's degree, or comparable qualifications

Experience of working as an information professional, presenting and collaborating, at a national

and international level.

Experience of contributing to and working with standards and online services in the cultural

heritage sector.

Experience of managing projects with a strong technical and data focus.


Skills


Good IT skills, specifically relating to data aggregation and normalization

A keen understanding of interoperability from technical, semantic and cross-domain perspectives.

Good knowledge of standards within the archival domain, especially the ICA standards, ISAG(G),

ISAAR, ISDIAH, and the XML formats, EAD, EAC-CPF and EAG.

Knowledge of information standards and protocols, such as Dublin Core and METS, and how they

may relate to archival discovery.

Knowledge of the cultural heritage sector, in particular relating to online discovery.



An awareness of web accessibility and usability issues.

Knowledge of RDF and Linked Data approaches.

Fluency in English; knowledge of other languages is preferred.

Strong verbal and written communication skills, in particular production of clear documentation for

the technical aspects of a service, appropriate to different audiences.

Strong problem-solving skills and a strong team player.


Salary and benefits

Monthly salary between maximum 4100 for a 36 hours working week with flexible



working hours. Dependent upon the level of your experience and the country you are based

in.

Possibility of a 4-day week with adjustments to the hours and salary as appropriate

20 holidays per year

1 year fixed term contract with possibility of extension.




How to apply

For more information about this position please contact Mr Arjan Agema, president of the APEF

Governing Board at: +31 6 55 26 78 53 or president@archivesportaleuropefoundation.eu.

Applicants are invited to send a CV together with a covering letter setting out their reasons for

applying for this post before the 31 October 2018 to president@archivesportaleuropefoundation.eu







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