We are seeking a Curatorial Assistant. The Stern Center for the History of the Book in the Renaissance, Sheridan Libraries, Johns Hopkins University, is making history relevant to today’s students and the wider public through the production of public-facing interpretive content about our early book and manuscript collections for the newly launched Stern Center website. This position will collaborate with the Stern Center Director and Stern Center Postdoctoral Fellow in researching and composing illustrated essays on 10 items in the Libraries’ history Tudor and Stuart Club collection. This position will also collaborate with the Stern Center Director and Stern Center Postdoctoral Fellow in researching, writing, and speaking publicly about a history of the JHU Tudor and Stuart Club utilizing the extensive club archive held by the Sheridan Libraries. The result will be an illustrated sequence of pages on the Stern Center website dedicated to the T&S Society.
NOTE: This temporary position will entail approximately 10-15 hours per week over a six-month period, or until funds are exhausted.
Specific Duties & Responsibilities
- Selects historically important rare books and manuscripts in coordination with the Center’s Director, based on their particular rarity, and their reflection on the collection policies and practices of the Tudor and Stuart Club (founded in 1923; revived as the T&S Society in 2023).
- Drafts interpretive essays on each of these items, including relevant hyperlinks to other related on-line resources, and generates relevant bibliographies to promote future research.
- Identifies elements of each book that would be ideal to digitally scan, illustrate, and make downloadable on the Stern Center site.
- Describes and condenses the Tudor and Stuart Club archive into a logical and informative narrative that both describes the history and development of the club as a distinctive organization and bibliophilic cultural organization, including a history of its traditions, speakers, and other events. Include a coherent, downloadable finding aid of the Club’s archive.
- Selects materials from the archive to digitize and illustrate the result sequence of Stern Center T&S Society web pages.
- Periodically meets with the Stern Center Director and Stern Center Postdoctoral Fellow to discuss the development and drafting of this interpretive content.
- With the Stern Center Director and Stern Center Postdoctoral Fellow, collaboratively edits all content to enhance accessibility to a wide academic and non-academic readership.
The referenced salary range is based on Johns Hopkins University's good faith belief at the time of posting. Actual compensation may vary based on factors such as geographic location, work experience, market conditions, education/training and skill level.
Minimum Qualifications- Bachelor’s Degree in a related field.
- Two years’ work experience in an academic environment or other related experience.
- Additional (graduate level) education may substitute for required experience, to the extent permitted by the JHU equivalency formula.
Preferred Qualifications- PhD in English.
- Three years of intensive graduate-level study of Tudor and Stuart literary print culture.
- Two years of profession library experience working with Renaissance-era books and manuscripts.
- Demonstrated experience handling and interpreting Renaissance books and manuscripts.
Classified Title: Assistant Curator
Job Posting Title (Working Title): Curatorial Assistant
Role/Level/Range: ATP/03/PB
Starting Salary Range: $23.69 - $41.43 HRLY (Commensurate with experience)
Employee group: Casual / On Call
Schedule: M-F, Varies
Exempt Status: Non-Exempt
Location: Remote
Department name: Special Collections
Personnel area: Libraries
