Princeton University Library’s Department of Special Collections is excited to offer the Archival Residency for Manuscripts Division Collections again this year. The residency provides a summer of paid work experience for a current or recent graduate student interested in pursuing an archival career.
Residency Description: The 2020 Resident will primarily gain experience in technical services, with a focus this year on arrangement and description of manuscript collections, including hybrid collections with born-digital and audiovisual materials. The Resident will also assist with in-person and/or remote reference and other public services related projects. The Fellow will work under the guidance of the team of processing staff responsible for collections within the Manuscripts Division, including the Lead Processing Archivist, Project Archivist for Americana Manuscripts Collections, Processing Archivist for General Collections, and the Latin American Processing Archivist, as well as the Reference Professional for Special Collections.
The Manuscripts Division is located in Firestone Library, Princeton University’s main library, and holds over 14,000 linear feet of materials covering five thousand years of recorded history and all parts of the world, with collecting strengths in Western Europe, the Near East, the United States, and Latin America. The Resident will primarily work with the Division’s expansive literary collections, the papers of former Princeton faculty, and collections relating to the history of the United States during the 18th and 19th centuries.
The ten- to twelve-week residency program, which can begin as early as May, provides a stipend of $950 per week. In addition, travel, registration, and hotel costs to the Society of American Archivists’ annual meeting in August will be covered by Princeton.
Requirements: This residency is open to current graduate students or recent graduates (within one year of graduation). Applicants must have successfully completed at least twelve graduate semester hours (or the equivalent) applied toward an advanced degree in archives, library or information management, literature, American history/studies, or other humanities discipline, public history, or museum studies; a demonstrated interest in the archival profession; good organizational and communication skills; and the ability to manage multiple projects. At least twelve undergraduate semester hours (or the equivalent) in a humanities discipline and/or foreign language skills (particularly Spanish-language reading skills) are preferred.
The Library highly encourages applicants from under-represented communities to apply.
To apply: Submit a cover letter, resume, and two letters of recommendation addressed to the search committee at mssdiv@princeton.edu with the subject line “Archival Residency.” Applications must be received by Monday, March 9th, 2020. Video interviews will be conducted with the top candidates, and the successful candidate will be notified by April 3rd.
Please note: University housing will not be available to the successful candidate. Interested applicants should consider their housing options carefully and may wish to consult the online campus bulletin board for more information on this topic.
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY/AFFIRMATIVE ACTION EMPLOYER.
Information about previous recipients can be found here.