Volume 5, Number 6
Dec 1981

Position Open

CONSERVATOR
GS-1001-12 ; Full performance level, GS-l2 National Archives and Records Service, Document Preservation Branch, Washington, DC

Qualifications: Applicants must meet the experience requirements of six years: Three years general experience, three years specialized experience. General experience must have provided the applicant with knowledge of and practice in the particular tools, techniques, and methods necessary to the handling, storage, care and protection of a museum collection including the attendant record keeping, and with lay familiarity and understanding of the science or history represented by the museum. Specialized experience must include manual dexterity and skill in using conservators' tools; ability to meet and talk with other people concerned with the care of artifactual material, including curators, scientists and other scholarly public personnel; skill in the manipulative techniques of paper conservation; a background in the history and materials of art and documents on paper.

Knowledge, skills and abilities or other characteristics evidencing

• Demonstrated expert knowledge in paper conservation
• Practical knowledge of materials science and technology, and organic and inorganic chemistry
• Demonstrated ability to develop new techniques based upon scope and variety of background relating to the body of existing restoration techniques
• Familiarity with related fields, such as chemistry, physics, and research in cultural history and art

• Knowledge of the history of art and ability to verify the authorship of authenticity of am object

Duties: Serves as senior Conservator and section leader, working closely with all custodial units to determine treatment of individual records and establish work schedules. Advises NARS employees and individuals or groups outside NARS, on conservation methodology and treatment of paper and related artifacts, on a regular and case by case basis. Examines objects, to identify their nature and extent of treatment needed for their preservation or restoration. Other duties include preparation of written proposals for treatment of objects, and technical reports, as well as participating in professional conferences and meetings to stay abreast of the latest advancements in the field of paper conservation.

Evaluation will be based on (I) experience; (2) job performance; (3) education and (4) training and recency of appropriate awards. Information on experience, education and training must be given in sufficient detail to be clearly evaluated as it relates to this position.

Application: Apply directly to: NARS Personnel Branch, AAHPON, Room G-7, 7th & Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20408. Please submit Standard Form (SF-171), Personal Qualifications Statement, along with a current Performance Appraisal. Any appropriate Notice of Rating or eligibility obtained as a result of OPM certification should also be submitted.

All applications will be retained under this announcement for a specified retention period. Closing date, 12-31-81. For more information or a copy of this announcement in its original form, contact Mrs. Bernice M. Powell on (202)

523-3595 and refer to Vacancy Number NT82-100S. (Editor's note: The National Archives has posted positions for paper conservators before, but has been prevented from filling them by Federal job freezes. Conservators who have applied previously are urged to reapply because this is a new posting (dated 11/30/81). Applicants who do not currently work for the government and need a Form 171 to fill out can get the form at the Federal building in their town. The Form 171 is also known as the Personal Qualifications Statement, and takes the place of a resume. Time should be allowed for filling it out carefully. Only applicants presently employed by the Government need to send in a Performance Appraisal. The Notice of Rating or eligibility is, in effect, your "grade level assignment" from the Office of Personnel Management--what used to be called the Civil Service. At appointment levels this high, it usually takes six weeks to get a notice of rating.

(The Document Preservation Branch has ordered equipment and is preparing facilities for a wide range of diagnostic and treatment procedures in the conservation of archival records.

(The salary range for a GS-l2 is $28,245-$36,723 per year.)