Job Posting Title:

Art Cataloger, The Harry Ransom Center

----

Hiring Department:

Harry Ransom Center

----

Position Open To:

All Applicants

----

Weekly Scheduled Hours:

40

----

FLSA Status:

Exempt

----

Earliest Start Date:

Aug 01, 2025

----

Position Duration:

Expected to Continue Until Aug 01, 2029

----

Location:

UT MAIN CAMPUS

----

Job Details:

General Notes

About the Harry Ransom Center:

The Ransom Center is an internationally renowned humanities research library and museum at The University of Texas at Austin. Its extensive collections provide unique insight into the creative process of writers and artists, deepening our understanding and appreciation of literature, photography, film, art, and the performing arts. Visitors engage with the Center's collections through research and study, exhibitions, publications, and a rich variety of program offerings including readings, talks, symposia, and film screenings.

The Ransom Center’s art holdings, ranging from fifteenth-century prints to contemporary artworks, are a rich resource for advancing insight into the creative process. Among the collection’s strengths are extensive holdings of artists’ books; archives and visual materials related to publication history, book art, and book design; and materials important to the history of typography and fine presses. The large collection of original illustrations includes drawings and prints by Eric Gill, Miguel Covarrubias, John Biggers, and Arthur Rackham. European and Latin American modernists—among them Odilon Redon, Jean Cocteau, Frida Kahlo, and Diego Rivera—and satirists such as George Cruikshank, Max Beerbohm, and José Posada are also well represented. The Center’s contemporary artworks on paper include works by Robert Rauschenberg, James Turrell, Elizabeth Catlett, Jasper Johns, and Betye Saar. Archival strengths include works and papers of Nancy Cunard, Charles Henri Ford, Pavel Tchelitchew, Ed Ruscha, Elizabeth Olds, and Anita and Leah Brenner.

The Ransom Center encourages discovery, inspires creativity, and advances understanding of the humanities for a broad and varied audience through the preservation and sharing of its extraordinary collections. To learn more about our institutional mission and values, visit: https://www.hrc.utexas.edu/about/#mission-values. 

Purpose

This is a grant-funded, temporary, full-time, four-year position without the possibility of renewal. The Art Cataloger will report to the Manager for Visual Materials Cataloging and identify, document, describe, and rehouse materials from the Center’s Art Collection that have been identified as cataloging priorities by the Curator of Art. Although primarily consisting of works on paper, such as prints and drawings, materials may also include a limited number of paintings and textiles.

The Art Cataloger will create and update consistent and accurate item-level catalog records in the Center’s collection management system in accordance with internal procedures and current standards of archival and museum theory and practice.

The Art Cataloger will provide routine housing for Art Collection materials as needed, working with guidance from the Center’s Preservation & Conservation staff, to ensure the long-term preservation and security of the materials.

The Art Cataloger will engage in related Metadata & Discovery functions as assigned.

ResponsibilitiesThrough object examination and research, identifies, documents, and describes Art Collection materials, and creates consistent and accurate item-level catalog records in the Center’s collection management system according to national and local standards.Updates legacy item-level records to bring the level of cataloging up to current standards. Assists with creating metadata for digitized images.Consults with: Curator of Art regarding historical and provenance-related information relevant to the artworks; Conservation staff to ensure accurate identification of processes and materials; and Preservation staff on proper housing of materials. Performs minor or routine preservation housing tasks.May supervise student workers, paraprofessional staff, or volunteers, including providing instruction for and evaluation of activities.Engages in related Metadata & Discovery functions as assigned that may include serving on internal committees, and engaging in campus, regional, and national scholarly and professional organizations and activities.

Required QualificationsA Master’s degree in Art History, Museum Studies with two years of relevant experience, or a Master’s degree in Library and Information Science from an ALA-accredited program with two years of relevant experienceDemonstrated ability to identify artistic media and art processes.Experience describing artworks at the object- and group-level, and knowledge of descriptive standards and controlled vocabularies.Demonstrated knowledge of preservation standards for and handling of art materials.Demonstrated ability to work efficiently and meticulously, balance multiple responsibilities, and adjust accordingly to changing priorities, needs, and deadlines.Excellent oral and written communication to effectively work with curators, conservators, preservation technicians, digitization technicians, and other librarians and archivists.

Preferred QualificationsTwo or more years of experience describing and cataloging artworks in a museum or research library setting.Substantial coursework in art history and demonstrated research experience.Knowledge of standard reference tools and research methods in art history.Coursework in cataloging.Knowledge of name authority records and their functions in a collection management system.Experience in use of metadata management and editing tools, such as Open Refine, and mass metadata remediation.

Salary$55,000 non-negotiable

Working ConditionsStandard office conditions.Repetitive use of a keyboard and standard office equipment at a workstation.

Work ShiftFull-time 40hrs/week, M-F 8am-5pm

Required MaterialsResume/CVLetter of interest3 work references with their contact information; at least one reference should be from a supervisor

Important for applicants who are NOT current university employees or contingent workers: You will be prompted to submit your resume the first time you apply, then you will be provided an option to upload a new Resume for subsequent applications. Any additional Required Materials (letter of interest, references, etc.) will be uploaded in the Application Questions section; you will be able to multi-select additional files. Before submitting your online job application, ensure that ALL Required Materials have been uploaded.  Once your job application has been submitted, you cannot make changes.

Important for Current university employees and contingent workers: As a current university employee or contingent worker, you MUST apply within Workday by searching for Find UT Jobs. If you are a current University employee, log-in to Workday, navigate to your Worker Profile, click the Career link in the left hand navigation menu and then update the sections in your Professional Profile before you apply. This information will be pulled in to your application. The application is one page and you will be prompted to upload your resume. In addition, you must respond to the application questions presented to upload any additional Required Materials (letter of interest, references, etc.) that were noted above.

----

Employment Eligibility:

Regular staff who have been employed in their current position for the last six continuous months are eligible for openings being recruited for through University-Wide or Open Recruiting, to include both promotional opportunities and lateral transfers. Staff who are promotion/transfer eligible may apply for positions without supervisor approval.

----

Retirement Plan Eligibility:

The retirement plan for this position is Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS), subject to the position being at least 20 hours per week and at least 135 days in length.

----

Background Checks:

A criminal history background check will be required for finalist(s) under consideration for this position.

----

Equal Opportunity Employer:

The University of Texas at Austin, as an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer, complies with all applicable federal and state laws regarding nondiscrimination and affirmative action. The University is committed to a policy of equal opportunity for all persons and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disability, religion, or veteran status in employment, educational programs and activities, and admissions.

----

Pay Transparency:

The University of Texas at Austin will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the contractor’s legal duty to furnish information.

----

Employment Eligibility Verification:

If hired, you will be required to complete the federal Employment Eligibility Verification I-9 form.  You will be required to present acceptable and original documents to prove your identity and authorization to work in the United States.  Documents need to be presented no later than the third day of employment.  Failure to do so will result in loss of employment at the university.

----

E-Verify:

The University of Texas at Austin use E-Verify to check the work authorization of all new hires effective May 2015. The university’s company ID number for purposes of E-Verify is 854197. For more information about E-Verify, please see the following:

E-Verify Poster (English and Spanish) [PDF]Right to Work Poster (English) [PDF]Right to Work Poster (Spanish) [PDF]

----

Compliance:

Employees may be required to report violations of law under Title IX and the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act). If this position is identified a Campus Security Authority (Clery Act), you will be notified and provided resources for reporting. Responsible employees under Title IX are defined and outlined in HOP-3031.

The Clery Act requires all prospective employees be notified of the availability of the Annual Security and Fire Safety report. You may access the most recent report here or obtain a copy at University Compliance Services, 1616 Guadalupe Street, UTA 2.206, Austin, Texas 78701.