Archivist vs university archivist

The differences between archivists and university archivists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both an archivist and a university archivist. Additionally, an archivist has an average salary of $47,145, which is higher than the $45,271 average annual salary of a university archivist.

The top three skills for an archivist include archival collections, online database and archival materials. The most important skills for a university archivist are student assistants, EAD, and digital materials.

Archivist vs university archivist overview

	Archivist	University Archivist
Yearly salary	$47,145	$45,271
Hourly rate	$22.67	$21.76
Growth rate	12%	12%
Number of jobs	449	251
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 67%	Bachelor's Degree, 54%
Average age	44	44
Years of experience	4	4

Archivist vs university archivist salary

Archivists and university archivists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Archivist	University Archivist
Average salary	$47,145	$45,271
Salary range	Between $23,000 And $94,000	Between $23,000 And $88,000
Highest paying City	Washington, DC	-
Highest paying state	Alaska	-
Best paying company	Apple	-
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between archivist and university archivist education

There are a few differences between an archivist and a university archivist in terms of educational background:

	Archivist	University Archivist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 67%	Bachelor's Degree, 54%
Most common major	History	History
Most common college	Harvard University	Harvard University

Archivist vs university archivist demographics

Here are the differences between archivists' and university archivists' demographics:

	Archivist	University Archivist
Average age	44	44
Gender ratio	Male, 43.1% Female, 56.9%	Male, 44.0% Female, 56.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 5.3% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 7.3% Asian, 5.1% White, 76.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.3%	Black or African American, 4.2% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 5.2% Asian, 3.5% White, 81.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2%
LGBT Percentage	13%	13%

Differences between archivist and university archivist duties and responsibilities

Archivist example responsibilities.

Create EAD and DACS compliant finding aids for new and existing collections.
Update online database with metadata on newly accession materials and implement new physical arrangement system for archival collections.
Develop a custom RDF metadata model for archiving and cataloging multimedia digital artworks in the library's digital asset management system.
Enter website content, adding basic HTML coding.
Use EAD for collection processing and organization of metadata.
Encode multiple finding aids in EAD including faculty biographical files.

University archivist example responsibilities.

Generate 80 EAD finding aids (example at http: //www.gwu.edu/gelman/spec/ead/ms0803.xml).
Process finding aids into EAD files so that the finding aids can be access through different programs and software.
Direct activities of workers assisting in arranging, cataloging, exhibiting and maintaining collections of archival materials.
Create correspondences/completed FDA forms/maintain submission calendars/review submission documents.
Create correspondences/completed FDA forms/maintain submission calendars/review submission documents.

Archivist vs university archivist skills

Common archivist skills

Archival Collections, 15%
Online Database, 11%
Archival Materials, 8%
Reference Services, 8%
Archival Research, 4%
Manuscript Collections, 4%

Common university archivist skills

Student Assistants, 18%
EAD, 13%
Digital Materials, 13%
Digital Format, 12%
DACS, 11%
Cataloging, 10%

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Archivist vs University Archivist

Updated January 8, 2025

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