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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