Main Content
Career Paths in Cultural Preservation and Communication
Everyday and Experiential Libraries, (Open-air) Museums, Memorials, Cultural and Customs Associations
If libraries are the domain of linguistics and literary studies and museums are the domain of historical studies, then cultural studies scholars also have their specialty: the “open-air museum” or the “hands-on library.” This is based on the realization that culture cannot always be conveyed intellectually. Cultural studies scholars are masters of “everyday life,” whether it be the past, foreign, or different everyday life. They are happy to make their method of participatory observation available to their audience, interested parties, and visitors by letting them “participate” and “experience” it for themselves. Access to the more institutionalized forms is gained through internships, which, however, usually do not place such high demands on academic rigor as an internship in an archive, library, or museum. Parallel to this, there is an expanding sector that is not quite as institutionalized, ranging from various role-playing networks and special forms of cultural travel to more commercial events such as “medieval markets,” where cultural studies scholars can contribute their knowledge and personalities.
Possible Tasks
- You archive written documents, but also film, image, and audio materials, as well as, increasingly, digital materials.
- After reviewing the relevant guidelines and regulations, you make independent decisions on which archival material will be accepted, cataloged, and prepared for user access, and what will be discarded.
- You are also responsible for the proper storage of archival materials and for matters of conservation and preservation.
- You look after archival collections and documentation, answer inquiries, and advise archive users.
- In order to systematically supplement the existing archive material, you research potential new holdings from private or public sources and, if necessary, interview contemporary witnesses.
- For larger archives, you supervise employees and independently perform general administrative tasks.
- You may also be involved in historical education, write historical or specialist publications, and design exhibitions.Industries and Occupations
- Libraries and archives
- Broadcasting institutions (e.g. media archives)
- TV station archives
- Press services, agencies, and image archive services
- Publishing houses
- Higher education (e.g. scientific archives)
- Museums (e.g. museum archives)
- Operators of historical sites and similar attractions (e.g. archives of open-air museums)Job Boards an Professional Associations
- Jobbörse der Archivschule Marburg
- BIB- Berufsverband Information Bibliothek e.V.
- Jobbörse Deutscher Museumsbund
- Stellenbörse Portal Kunstgeschichte
- Stellenbörse Verband Deutscher Kunsthistoriker
- Stellenbörse Bundesverband Deutscher Galerien und Kunsthändler e.V.
- Jobbörse Bundesverband Museumspädagogik e.V.
- Open Biblio Jobs
- Verein deutscher Bibliothekarinnen und Bibliothekare
