Project cataloguer – Weiskel collection of maps and prints

Salary: Grade 6.1 - £35,841 per annum    
Contract type: Fixed term: full-time 6 months or up to 15 months part-time
Location: Balliol College, Oxford, OX1 3BJ or hybrid working with the requirement of periodic visits to site, as much of the material is digitized.
Department:  Library and Archives
Reports to: The College Librarian
Responsible for: NA
Hours: It is estimated that the entire project will be equivalent to 6 months full-time (i.e. 37.5 hours per week), but there is considerable flexibility to this for the right candidate. It would be possible to complete the project in 6 months full time or to extend to up to 15 months two days a week, or any point in between, to fit in with other commitments. Members of the Library team work evenings and weekends on an infrequent basis to staff special events. Working hours would be adjusted in lieu of such work.
Holiday: 6 weeks (30 days), plus Bank Holidays, during a complete holiday year, (suitably adjusted if part-time) five of which are taken during the Christmas period when the College is closed.  The College reserves the right to require staff to work on Bank Holidays during full term, receiving a day in lieu.  
Notice period: 1 month on either side 

Balliol College

Situated in an historic site in central Oxford, Balliol has been a hub of learning and community since its foundation in 1263. As one of the larger colleges within the University of Oxford, it is home to roughly 860 students, with undergraduates making up just under half of the student body. The College also employs over 80 Fellows, 50 lecturers, and about 180 support staff, with Professor Seamus Perry as its current Master. While academic excellence is at the core of Balliol’s mission, visitors are often struck by the College’s informal and welcoming atmosphere. Beyond its walls, Balliol has an active and engaged global community of over 10,000 alumni and donors. 

Further information about the College is available at www.balliol.ox.ac.uk.  

Purpose of the Post

The Library and Archives support the College’s aims by delivering access to the resources and working environment to support undergraduate and postgraduate study and teaching, and collecting, preserving and promoting the College’s intellectual heritage, at Balliol’s two library sites and online.

Balliol College has rich and varied historic collections of institutional archives, manuscripts and printed books. These include many collections of modern personal papers, with notable strengths in 19th- and 20th-century politics, diplomacy and education, including Balliol alumni T.H. Green and Harold Nicolson, Benjamin Jowett (Master of Balliol (1870−1893)), and the papers of the Mallet and Morier families; and extensive holdings of literary manuscripts including material by Balliol alumni Matthew Arnold, Arthur Hugh Clough, and Graham Greene, and Robert Browning, Balliol’s first Honorary Fellow.

We have received funds to catalogue and organize the collection of maps and prints, along with some other materials, donated by Professor Tim Weiskel and Cathy Weiskel to Balliol in June 2026. This collection consists of ca 1400 maps and prints, plus some numbers of early printed books (ca. 25) and other collections eg. postcards, cuttings. The focus of this role would be the cataloguing of the maps and prints only. These relate to transatlantic trade in the 18th and 19th centuries, with particular reference to transatlantic slavery: Professor Weiskel’s donation was decided following on from work at Balliol Library for an exhibition and programme of teaching events regarding this topic in 2021 and subsequent years: https://www.balliol.ox.ac.uk/events/2021/november/15/slavery-in-the-age-of-revolution-exhibition

Job duties and responsibilities:  

The main duties are included below.  This is not an exhaustive list and may be amended in line with College needs.

• Using the College’s archival cataloguing system Epexio to catalogue the maps, prints, cuttings and postcards, where possible, recreating the structuring of the collection as developed by Professor Weiskel.
• Processing and uploading accompanying digitised copies of material.
• Researching using the University’s catalogue SOLO and other resources to, where possible and relevant, link the maps and prints to their publications of origin.
• Carry out other research as necessary in primary and secondary sources to support descriptive cataloguing and authority record creation.
• Contribute to the controlled vocabulary database in Epexio to add name and subject headings to the records.
• Identify conservation priorities as part of the cataloguing process.
• Arrange and repackage the Weiskel collections as required.
• Liaise with the collections’ donors to keep them abreast of progress and to inform cataloguing.
• Take on any other duties as agreed with the Librarian.

• Educated to degree level with a postgraduate qualification in librarianship or archives management or a related discipline.
• Significant relevant experience of cataloguing early printed maps and/or other early printed (i.e. 15^th-18^th century) material.
• Self-motivated, and skilled in prioritising tasks and managing time to meet ambitious targets.
• Ability to work flexibly and in collaboration with colleagues in a small team.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and communications skills, both oral and written.
• Ability to solve problems and take a creative approach to work.

Desirable

• Any subject knowledge relating to the collections to be catalogued, especially the history of the early modern Transatlantic world, colonialism and the slave trade.
• Experience of archival cataloguing practices and systems.
• Experience of liaising with stakeholders in archive collections.
• Experience of enquiry work and supporting users within an archive environment.