Despite my general fondness for the music of the Grateful Dead, I was taken aback when I stumbled upon this job posting today:
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The University Library of the University of California, Santa Cruz, seeks an enterprising, creative, and service-oriented archivist to join the staff of Special Collections & Archives (SC&A) as Archivist for the Grateful Dead Archive. The Archivist will be part of a dynamic, collegial, and highly motivated department dedicated to building, preserving, promoting, and providing maximum access both physically and virtually to one of the Library's most exciting and unique collections, The Grateful Dead Archive (GDA). The UCSC University Library utilizes innovative approaches to allow the discovery, use, management, and sharing of information in support of research, teaching, and learning.
Grateful Dead Archive:
The Grateful Dead Archive documents the band's creative activity and influence in contemporary music history from 1965 to 1995, including the phenomena of the Deadheads, the band’s extensive network of devoted fans, and the band’s highly unusual and successful musical business ventures. The Archive contains original documents, clippings, artifacts, photography, posters, audio and video recordings, publications about the Dead and its individual members, its tours and performances, recordings and productions, and business. Correspondence and art contributed over the years by Deadheads are part of the Archive.
The Archive, which is approximately 600 linear feet, is physically housed in McHenry Library's Special Collections & Archives department. A dedicated area, "Dead Central" (soon to be opened in the newly renovated McHenry Library) will offer the public opportunities for listening and viewing material from the Archive. Material digitized from the Archive will be made in the Library’s CONTENTdm digital collections system and in a separate, Omeka-powered system will form the basis of Virtual Terrapin Station, a web-based digital collections system which will provide access to digitized materials from the collection while at the same time allowing social interaction and the exchange of data with and from the public. The Finding Aid for the GDA will be submitted to the CDL's Online Archive of California, and bibliographic records for all commercial GDA publications will appear in Library's local catalog, CruzCat, and in OCLC's WorldCat.
Under the general direction of the Head of Special Collections and Archives, the GDA Archivist will provide managerial and curatorial oversight of the GDA, plan for and supervise the physical and digital processing of all Archive related material, and promote the GDA to the public and facilitate its use by scholars, fans, and students.
Rank: Associate Librarian or Librarian
Salary: Appointment Salary Range: Associate Librarian III- Librarian I, with an approximate salary range of $52,860-$68,892, commensurate with qualifications and experience.
Position Available: March 1, 2010
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A Grateful Dead archive that stretches for two football fields -- what a long, strange trip!
