Undergraduate Hourly positions are open to enrolled University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Undergraduate Students only.
Unit: Central Illinois Jewish Communities Archives (CIJCA) at Illinois History and Lincoln Collections (IHLC)
Location: Main Library, Room 324
Supervisor: Krista Gray, Archives Program Officer
Number of Openings: 1
Hourly Rate: $15
Anticipated Start Date: January 2026
Academic Term(s) of Employment anticipated: Spring 2026, with possibility of extension to future semesters
Hours per week anticipated: 6-12
Schedule: Based on candidate’s availability within IHLC’s open hours (Monday-Friday, 9am-12pm and 1-5pm)
Summary: The Illinois History and Lincoln Collections (IHLC), a unit of the Special Collections Division in the Main Library, is hiring for undergraduate assistants to start in spring 2026. This particular opening focuses on providing support for the Central Illinois Jewish Communities Archives (CIJCA) housed within the IHLC. The successful candidate will work 6-8 hours a week under the direction of unit staff. Hours can only be worked when the unit is open, 9am-12pm and 1-5pm, Monday-Friday.
The IHLC is a small unit in the library, and undergraduate assistants play a vital role in supporting unit operations and making collection materials available for research. Those conducting research with our library and archives materials include students looking for primary sources, genealogists investigating family history, scholars in various fields, and community members and professionals researching people, the land, architecture, and more. The CIJCA is a relatively new part of the IHLC, established in 2021. It offers insight into the integral contributions made by Jewish residents, including businesspersons, rabbis, and community leaders, in central Illinois. The materials collected in the CIJCA include an oral history collection as well as records from synagogues, temples, community and educational organizations, businesspersons, individual community members – and continues to grow. The position will provide hands-on experience working with these materials.
Major Duties and Responsibilities:
- Assisting with the oral history process including transcription creation and editing, metadata creation, as well as other quality control steps.
- Contributing to the web archiving project by conducting quality control, metadata creation, and other related tasks.
- Helping to organize and describe archival materials
- Retrieving and reshelving materials
- Rehousing print and manuscript materials for better preservation
- Assisting with scanning orders and email reference requests
- Contributing to other projects and tasks as assigned (these will vary depending on the needs of the unit and skills of the person hired)
Required:
- Currently enrolled as an Undergraduate Student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
- Ability to work independently and with sustained attention to detail
- Ability to assess and communicate problems or abnormalities clearly
- Strong communication skills
- Sensitivity to and awareness of handling concerns for rare and fragile materials
Preferred:
- Interest in history, particularly in Jewish history and community
- Archives or library experience and/or interest
- Strong academics
To Apply:
If interested, please submit an application and upload your resume at the following link: https://forms.illinois.edu/sec/1973635979
Please email Krista Gray, Archives Program Officer, at graykr@illinois.edu if you have any questions. Application review will begin on December 11; however, we will accept applications through December 17.