Archivist

The Archivist appointed to Offaly County Council will be responsible for the proper management, custody, care and conservation of local records and local archives for the county and will put in place structures which will deliver the proper management of Offaly County Council’s archives as per the Local Government Acts of 1994, 2001 and 2011 and the archive collection of Offaly Historical Society.

The Archivist will oversee the drafting of and implementation of a five-year Archives Plan for the County Archive Service.

They will manage the Offaly Historical Society and Offaly County Council’s extensive historical records for each Council Department and be responsible for the conservation of records and archives that are over 30 years old. In addition, the role will include the management of the entire collection of the Rosse Papers from Birr Castle Archives which come in under the remit of Offaly County Council’s collection. This extent of this collection is demonstrated through the catalogue of Dr Anthony Malcomson.

In addition, the successful candidate will actively promote best practice in terms of the storage of physical archives and by default, streamline storage requirements through a programme of digitisation as deemed appropriate.

• The Archivist will use the AtoM online cataloguing programme in place and liaise with Offaly History and relevant Offaly County Council departments on equipment, digital resources and ICT policies and procedures as necessary.

• The Archivist will be required to guide Offaly County Council’s Corporate Services Department to implement the National Retention Policy for Local Authority records and oversee the cataloguing, managing, storage, preservation and conservation of the archives of Offaly County Council.

• The Archivist will be a member of County Offaly’s Heritage Forum and will work closely with the Heritage Team and Offaly Library Service Team in Offaly County Council. The Archives post will be located in the Heritage Team under the Planning Directorate: and will work in partnership with Offaly County Council's many departments. Due to the nature of the work, there will be close collaboration with the library service, and particularly with the Local Studies department.

• The Archivist will report directly to the Heritage Officer or any other senior officer as designated by the Chief Executive of Offaly County Council.

The successful candidate will be responsible for:

• the management of a budget and the County Archive building at Axis Business Park

• making archives held at Offaly Archives available for inspection by the public as appropriate.

• the active promotion of Archives to the public through presentations, talks with historical societies, meeting potential donors, exhibitions and the use of social media channels.

• devising and managing an outreach education programme for County Council staff, and may develop initiatives to work with primary level, second level and third level students.

• the management of all catalogues, databases and electronic platforms including www.offalyarchives.com

See key responsibilities for this post listed in Particulars of Office, under Duties.

Further information can be found in the Candidate Booklet.