The Garden Museum is situated in the medieval and Victorian church of St-Mary-at-

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Russell Freeman
5 years ago
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1 Job Description Job Title: Archivist Contract/Hours: Permanent, 3 days per week Grade/Salary: 28,000 p.a. pro rata Reporting to: Director/Curator Background to the Museum and the Archive The Garden Museum is situated in the medieval and Victorian church of St-Mary-at- Lambeth, standing between Lambeth Palace and Lambeth Bridge on the banks of the River Thames. The Garden Museum closed to the public in October 2015 and re-opened in May 2017 after a 7.5 million restoration and extension. The Archive of Garden Design was set up in 2012 to preserve for posterity the working records and designs of the twentieth and twenty-first century s leading garden designers and their gardens. Previously there has been no institution with a strategy to collect a coherent archive of the making of modern gardens and many of the archives of the country s garden makers were at risk of loss abroad Gertrude Jekyll s archive, for example, went to Berkeley, the University of California. The Archive s collecting policies have been drawn up in consultation with the Landscape Institute, The Royal Institute of British Architects, and the Royal Horticultural Society and we now work collaboratively with these bodies to preserve the country s rich body of garden design material. The Archive contains important collections by leading garden designers and provides a unique record of their careers, working practices and the projects they produced as well as many unrealised garden designs. It is at the physical and strategic core of the Museum, helping us to understand what gardens mean to people and the role they play in our communities. As gardens themselves are ephemeral, these records constitute in some cases the only way through which we can understand these gardens; and interpret them for the

2 future. The Archive also includes films commissioned by the Museum, of some of the leading designers explaining their approach to the creation of their gardens. Collections The Archive has a major cataloguing and research project in progress for the papers of Russell Page, which is separately funded through an American Foundation. A basic catalogue of 3,400 items has been completed, and the next stage is for a researcher to work 2 days per week on a project leading to publication of a catalogue, and on-line study boxes. Plans, sketches, letters and planting plans illustrate Penelope Hobhouse s skill as a plantswoman and designer, often realising design solutions and planting schemes for difficult sites. John Brookes plans and sketches from the 1950s record his introduction of Modernism to British Gardens. His book The Room Outside has provided an enduring legacy of designing functional outside spaces that were beautiful and showcased planting. Dominic Coles design drawing for the Eden project show the conceptual dialogue between site, ecology and architecture. Geoffrey Jellicoe s plans for Shute House and the linked areas within the Temple Garden illustrate the creativity of a garden designer drawing on a lifetime of experience, and working with a client Lady Anne Tree, a skilled plantswoman. The Principles of Gardening by Hugh Johnson was one of the most significant books of the 1970s. His papers reveal the ideas behind the book and scribbled introductions and redrafted texts reveal the organic development of this book. Andrew Lawson has photographed the great majority of significant modern gardens in Britain and abroad but his collection of photographs is not just a database of views but presents an artistic story and illustrates his role in bringing gardens to the eyes of fledgling designers. His photographs weave across the archive contextualising many gardens it records.

3 Beth Chatto s notebooks, typescripts and black and white photographs as well as film footage give an insight into the making of Great Elmstead. Joy Larkcom s research notes from her trips to China and Europe record the changing palette of a generation of British vegetable growers. They chart the introduction of many exotic salad types and vegetables that are now seen as staples to our diets. Janet Jack s work at Alexandra Road Estate is admired as one of the most inspirational modern examples of how social housing can be integrated with private gardens and green spaces, meadows and playgrounds. The business archive of designer and garden contractors William Wood shows more than a century of changing taste, from Edwardian tennis, courts and rock gardens to swimming pools and water features. The Role The role of Archivist is initially funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund as part of the Garden Museum redevelopment project. It offers an exciting opportunity to lead on the final realisation of the new Archive of Garden Design. They will oversee the return of archive collections from temporary off-site storage in Oxfordshire. On return, many of the collections will need to be re-packaged into appropriate conservation-grade enclosures. The Archivist will also establish protocols for good collection handling and for use of the reading-room, and will lead on access policies for the archives. As this is a completely new archive, the Archivist will collect enquiry and visitor statistics for the purpose of establishing location and cataloguing priorities for the collections, some of which will require long-term off-site storage. Cataloguing work is ongoing, and the Archivist will work with the collection management software developers, System Simulation, to ensure both accessible online presentation of the catalogue and smooth export of data into discovery portals such as Archives Hub. They will also supervise an ongoing, externally-funded project to catalogue with the Russell Page Archive and subsequent sections of the collection.

4 The Archivist will work to raise the profile of the archives in the local and research communities. This will entail working with the Learning Officer and Curator to develop educational resources from the archives, providing archival research and support for exhibitions, and creating or maintaining connections with garden history programmes and societies. The archive collection supports the museums display and the Archivist will support the museum s Curator in selecting works for exhibition. In the long run, the Museum will be seeking Accreditation for its archive service and the Archivist will be vital in planning for and putting forward the Museum s application. Main duties will include Planning and implementing proactive collecting of archives relating to garden design including the management of deposit agreements, physical collection of materials and accessioning collections Continuing the cataloguing programme for the Archive, applying subject specialist expertise and professional archive standards, and maintaining the archive module of Collections Index, the Museum s collections management system Monitoring environmental conditions, developing access procedures and guidelines for visitors, and managing the reading-room. Answering any enquiries into the archive collections, and supervising any visiting researchers to the archive. Collecting enquiry and visitor statistics to establish priorities for collection care. Leading the recruitment and management of volunteers who will assist in the management and cataloguing of the archive. Delivering basic training to employees and volunteers around aspects of archive collection care and use. With the Learning Officer and Curator, developing and delivering a programme of learning activities around the new archive, to involve a variety of different groups and developing materials, such as resource boxes, to support unsupervised learning. Developing the archive offer on the Museum s website, including the creation of digital educational resources.

5 Developing a programme of digital preservation for digital archives. Developing strong working relationships with relevant external organisations to enable collaborative working and raise professional awareness of the Garden Museum and its collections. Working with the Director on the commissioning of films as a way of recording garden history and practice. Preparing the archive service for an Archives Accreditation application in PERSON SPECIFICATION Essential Knowledge, skills and experience Professional qualification in archive management. Excellent interpersonal, oral and written communication skills. Experience of supervising volunteers. Excellent team working skills. Good IT skills, including experience of using cataloguing software. Experience of cataloguing archives, including devising and implementing cataloguing schemes for archive collections. Ability to work under minimal supervision, using own initiative and judgement. Ability to plan and manage workload to meet deadlines. Experience of promoting archives and outreach work Desirable Demonstrable interest in garden history. Experience of managing design archives. Experience of, and interest in, developing relationships with living designers.

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