CCH is a museum and charity with collections and learning at its heart. We are an accredited museum with a core purpose to increase understanding of developments in computing over the past 80 years by exploring their social, cultural and historical impact. We look after the LEO Computers Society’s important archive, which continues to grow in both size and historical significance.

LEO computers were the first business computers in the world, developed in the late 1940s and early 1950s by mass catering firm Lyons, famous for its high street teashops, and were based on the Cambridge EDSAC. This post which has been generously funded by the AIT Trust is named in honour of Frank and Ralph Land, twin brothers who were important early pioneers in the LEO enterprise. More information is available in our press release.

The principal role of the Land Archivist is to work with the existing CCH collections team and CCH's CEO in the management of the LEO Computers collection at CCH and its services to users. 

Full details of the post are below.

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The post-holder may be required to undergo an enhanced DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check.

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• Accessioning material in line with the CCH (museums) acquisitions policy and maintaining the summary box list of new material received. Accessioning will use a combination of Excel and the CCH in-house content management system (SiteWise) to catalogue the archive materials to ISAD(G) standards.
• Making digitised archive material available online where possible by: 
  • Creating watermarked PDF access copies of digital archive material where appropriate using Acrobat.
  • Assessing the suitability of scanned material for online publication in light of Copyright and Data Protection.
  • Scanning documents, photographs and other materials from the archive, working in priority order as agreed with the LEO computers Society and the CCH CEO, and recording appropriate metadata for scanned items (and all digital accessions) using Excel.
• Repackaging, using archival-grade materials, where required.
• Environmental monitoring using Tinytag data loggers.
• Liaising with depositors and arranging for receipt of new material, in both digital and physical formats.
• Working closely with the LEO Computers Society (LCS) to facilitate and support their work, including:
  • providing scanning and cataloguing statistics for reports.
  • writing regular catalogue updates for LCS newsletters and to the post’s funders the AIT Trust as well as taking up other opportunities for publicising LEO as they arise and time allows.
  • attending meetings of the LEO Computer Society.
  • Maintaining LEO Digital Archive system drive and backups (both local and cloud via Dropbox).
  • Managing archive-related enquiries from members of the LCS, other stakeholders and the public.

Stakeholder Relations

• Contribute to an effective partnership between CCH and the LEO Computers Society.
• Contribute to visitor engagement with the collection.
• Management of volunteers working on the archive.

Working Conditions

The post will require working in stored collection areas, including the lifting and transporting of moderately heavy boxes of archive papers. 

Person Specification

Essential:

• Postgraduate qualification in archive administration or in a comparable professional area and /or substantial experience of successfully managing an archive including the provision of research and enquiry service, collections development and preservation.
• Demonstrable experience of digitising collections, and developing and managing online access to such material.
• Excellent organisational skills, with the ability to produce effective plans and strategies, work to deadlines and manage own time efficiently.
• Excellent IT skills including experience of working with collections management systems and Excel to manage and catalogue archival collections. Training will be provided on our bespoke in-house systems.
• Excellent interpersonal, communication and advocacy skills with the ability to build positive and effective working relationships with the LEO Computers Society and senior management, staff and volunteers at CCH and visitors to the museum.
• Commitment to diversity and equal opportunities.
• Commitment to CPD and training.

Desirable:

• Conservation knowledge of specific materials in our collection, including but not limited to: paper, plastics, metals, working collections, electronics, and photographs.
• Knowledge of and interest in computing history, contemporary computing, and computer science.