Description

Position Overview

The Visual Resources Curator provides professional leadership for the History of Art Department's visual resources facility and digital image collections. The position oversees the development, organization, preservation, and delivery of visual materials in support of the department's teaching, research, and service mission.
In addition to managing established visual resources operations and supervising graduate assistants, the Curator contributes to the ongoing development of digital research infrastructure and collaborates with faculty and graduate students on projects that incorporate digital tools, image-based analysis, and digital humanities methodologies. The position supports the responsible and sustainable integration of digital scholarship into the department's academic programs.

Job Description

50% - Leadership Oversight for Visual Resources

• Provides leadership and oversight for all operations of the visual resources facility, ensuring effective support of departmental teaching and research needs.
• Directs the production, acquisition, organization, and preservation of digital images and associated descriptive metadata.
• Administers the department's online digital image collection (LUNA digital asset management system), including oversight of database architecture, metadata standards, content development, and long-term sustainability. Evaluates and enhances database content on an ongoing basis to ensure relevance, discoverability, and research value.
• Develops and maintains standards-compliant metadata practices that support discoverability, interoperability, structured data reuse, and long-term digital preservation.
• Oversees digitization initiatives and applies advanced knowledge of digital photography, scanning, and image processing technologies to ensure high-quality digital surrogates suitable for classroom presentation, scholarly research, digital publication, and online dissemination.

15% - Resource for Digitally Enhanced Research and Teaching Projects

• Serves as a departmental resource for faculty and graduate students developing digitally enhanced research and teaching projects, including consultation on metadata modeling, digital image rights management, data organization, sustainability planning, and appropriate digital platforms.
• Supports faculty initiatives that engage digital humanities approaches involving visual materials, such as digital exhibitions, image databases, data-driven art historical research, and other forms of digitally mediated scholarship.
• Collaborates with faculty and relevant university units to integrate visual collections into emerging digital research environments and technology-enhanced pedagogies.

20% - Oversee Integrated Collection Management and Production Control

• Manages integrated collection management and production control systems to ensure efficiency, data integrity, scalability, and alignment with evolving digital scholarship practices.
• Coordinates installation, configuration, and maintenance of classroom media systems and related instructional technologies.
• Applies knowledge of intellectual property laws and best practices as they pertain to digital collections, digital dissemination, and networked scholarly communication.

10% - Supervise Graduate Assistants

• Recruits, trains, and supervises graduate assistants in digital imaging, metadata creation, structured data practices, and professional visual resources standards.
• Plans, assigns, and reviews work of staff and student employees.

5% - Manage Budget and Engage in Long-Range Planning

• Manages budgetary planning, purchasing priorities, and equipment acquisition in alignment with departmental needs and technological development.
• Engages in long-range planning to ensure that departmental visual resources infrastructure and physical facilities remain compliant with relevant professional standards (ANSI, ARLIS/NA) and responsive to emerging digital research practices.
• Maintains awareness of developments in visual resources management, digital imaging, digital preservation, and digital humanities scholarship.

Required Qualifications

1. Bachelor's degree and three years of library or related experience OR high school diploma and 5 years of experience coordinating one or more major library administrative services or programs.
2. Experience with art historical scholarship and visual culture, as evidenced by application materials.
3. Experience with professional principles and practices of visual resources management, as evidenced by application materials.
4. Experience with digital imaging techniques, metadata standards, structured data practices, and digital asset management systems, as evidenced by application materials.
5. Supervisory experience and demonstrated ability to organize and direct the work of others.
6. Proficiency with relevant imaging, database, and metadata tools (e.g., LUNA, FileMaker Pro, Oxygen XML Editor, Photoshop, and related applications).

Additional Candidate Instruction

In addition to the online application, the following documents are required to be considered for this position:

• A cover letter addressing how required and preferred qualifications are met.
• Resume or curriculum vitae.
• Contact information for three professional references.

Application review begins on Monday, April 13, 2026. To ensure consideration, please apply prior to that date.

Disclaimer

The University of Kansas prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, national origin, age, ancestry, disability, status as a veteran, sexual orientation, marital status, parental status, gender identity, gender expression, and genetic information in the university's programs and activities. Retaliation is also prohibited by university policy. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding the nondiscrimination policies and procedures and is the Title IX Coordinator for all KU and KUMC campuses: Associate Vice Chancellor for the Office of Civil Rights and Title IX, civilrights@ku.edu, Room 1082, Dole Human Development Center, 1000 Sunnyside Avenue, Lawrence, KS 66045, 785-864-6414, 711 TTY. Reports can be submitted by contacting the Title IX Coordinator as provided herein or using the Title IX online report form and complaints can be submitted with the Title IX Coordinator or using the Title IX online complaint form.