Museum Management Program Fellowship – National Catalog

American Conservation Experience, a nonprofit Conservation Corps, in partnership with the National Park Service (NPS), is seeking a Museum Management Program Fellow to provide support to the National Catalog.

For more information about ACE, please visit: www.usaconservation.org.

Start Date: May/June 2024

Estimated End Date: Fall 2024

*a 28-week minimum commitment is required*

Location: The Museum Management Program (MMP) is part of the National Center for Cultural Resources Stewardship and Partnership Programs that provides national program support functions for park resources and advises the Associate Director, Cultural Resources, Partnerships, and Science, in Washington D.C. on policy. MMP supports development and coordination of service wide policies, standards and procedures for managing museum collections, including natural, cultural, archival, and manuscript materials. MMP provides staff advice, technical assistance, and professional development pertaining to museum collections acquisition, documentation, preservation, protection, use, and disposal for the NPS. For more information, please visit: https://www.nps.gov/museum/index.html

Position Overview: The ACE Fellow will work with the Museum Registrar to provide support to the National Catalog, the Service wide repository for museum catalog records that is located in the Bombshelter in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. The Bombshelter also contains a small museum collection called the NPS Clearinghouse. The primary purpose of the position is to process annual submissions of museum catalog records for the parks and the National Catalog archive. Duties will include:

• Evaluate catalog records against NPS cataloging standards for the disciplines of art, archeology, archives, ethnology, history, biology, paleontology, and geology
• Learn the Interior Collections Management System (ICMS) and its successor, the Museum Collection Management System (MCMS) in order to ensure that data fields contain appropriate entries
• Create and send reports to park and regional curators and complete the printing and archiving of the fiscal years 2022 to 2024 catalog records
• Develop new processing procedures to use with MCMS when it is implemented in 2025
• Review and comment on sections of the Museum Handbook, Part II
• Performing routine museum maintenance activities such as environmental monitoring and pest management

Schedule: Full-time Monday to Friday; 8:00am – 4:30pm.

Position Benefits

Living Allowance: The ACE Member is expected to contribute ~40 hours/week and will receive a living allowance of $840/week to offset the costs of food and incidental expenses, dispersed bi-weekly.

Public Land Corps Hiring Authority: Members serving under this agreement may be eligible for a federal hiring authority upon completion of their term of service. PLC projects also include specific eligibility requirements such as age and citizenship.Please contact ACE staff with questions about eligibility, or view general information online here.

Housing: Housing is the responsibility of the member and not provided by ACE or NPS. An allowance of $1,000/month will be provided to help offset the cost of housing.

Provided Training/Orientation: ACE members will receive position specific training and an orientation outlining ACE policies and procedures, clear guidance on prohibited activities, and networks for support. Specific training may include Interior Collections Management System (ICMS).

Qualifications

Required:

• Basic knowledge of professional museum accession, catalog, deaccession, and inventory procedures
• Working knowledge of database systems for museum collections management
• Members must be a U.S. citizen or Permanent Resident, as required by U.S. government contracts
• Willing and able to represent ACE and the partner organization in a professional, positive, and enthusiastic manner
• Ability to be both self-directed/work alone, and be a positive, contributing member of a group.
• A current and valid form of ID (will be required to provide copies of IDs upon hiring)
• Willing to undergo and must pass the required two-part criminal history check
• Ability to perform the essential duties of the position with or without reasonable accommodation.
• ACE Members will need to complete bi-weekly timesheets, beginning of term feedback forms, end of term evaluations and for longer terms, a mid-term evaluation
• To learn more about eligibility requirements, please visit our website https://www.usaconservation.org/epic/#eligibility-requirements

Preferred:

• Competitive applicants for this position can hold or be pursuing a minimum of a bachelor’s degree and/or have relevant experience in subject areas such as history, museum studies, archeology, archives, geology, biology, paleontology, or other courses related to the management of museum collections.
• Knowledge of Microsoft Office programs like Word and Excel.
• Ability and willingness to do repetitive tasks, environmental monitoring, and museum housekeeping.
• Deep interest in museum management related to registrar duties and cataloging of museum collections.

Physical Demands, Work Environment and Working Conditions:

• Physical Demands: Requires frequent sitting, standing, walking, carrying, using hands to handle or feel, and reaching with hands and arms. Manual dexterity required for computer keyboard/mouse and other office equipment.
• Weight Lifted or Force Exerted: Frequently moves up to 50 pounds.
• Environmental: Indoor, office environment conditions, no windows; indoor air quality is good.
• Noise Environment: Moderate noise such as in a business office with printing equipment and light traffic.