Nadia Sophie Seiler Rare Materials Residency

The Nadia Sophie Seiler Rare Materials Residency is a twelve-month term-limited postgraduate position to provide recent graduates of library, archives management, or similar graduate studies programs with substantive exposure to and training in archival description and rare materials cataloging. The residency is made possible by the Nadia Sophie Seiler Memorial Fund and hosted at the Yale Center for British Art. 

The Resident will split time between the departments of Rare Books and Manuscripts and Archives. In each department, a primary project will consist of hands-on cataloging and description of special collections material. The Resident’s archival description and cataloging will apply appropriate standards, including Descriptive Cataloging of Rare Materials (DCRM), Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS), and Resource Description and Access (RDA), in conjunction with subject and genre/form analysis and Library of Congress Classification (LCC). For both projects, the Resident will receive thorough training from the Chief Archivist and the Senior Catalogue Librarian, who will provide ongoing review of and feedback on the Resident’s work.

In Rare Books and Manuscripts, material for cataloging will be drawn from the J. R. Abbey collection of color-plate books illustrated in aquatint and lithography. Areas of possible focus include works on architecture, furniture, gardens, and interiors; works on costume, with a focus on dress customs of peoples and countries; and panoramas and related procession and festival books.

In the Archives, material for processing will primarily be drawn from personal papers and archival collections, which largely document nineteenth- and twentieth-century British families, travelers, writers, and artists and artist circles. The Resident will also have the opportunity to research and process institutional records, both analog and born digital, which document the museum’s history, past activities, and impact on the study of British art.

At the culmination of the residency, the Resident will present a public talk on a topic relevant to the experience gained during their tenure. The Resident will also receive funds to attend the 2024 Annual Meeting of the Society of American Archivists (SAA) and the 2025 Conference of the Rare Books and Manuscripts Section (RBMS) of the American Library Association (ALA), or similar professional development activities.

Award Period

The residency will begin between July and September 2024 and run through 2025.

For inquiries about the position, please contact Jessica Quagliaroli, Chief Archivist, at jessica.quagliaroli@yale.edu.