Archivists: Salary, career path, job outlook, education and more
Archivists preserve important or historically significant documents and records. They coordinate educational and public outreach programs, such as tours, workshops, lectures, and classes. They also may work with researchers on topics and items relevant to their collections.
Some archivists specialize in a particular era of history so that they can have a better understanding of the records from that era.
Archivists typically work with specific forms of records, such as manuscripts, electronic records, websites, photographs, maps, motion pictures, or sound recordings.
- Education Required
- Archivists. Archivists typically need a masters degree in history, library science, archival science, political science, or public administration. Although many colleges and universities have history, library science, or other similar programs, only a few institutions offer masters degrees in archival studies. Students may gain valuable archiving experience through volunteer or internship opportunities.
- Job Outlook
-
The projected percent change in employment from 2016 to 2026: 13% (Faster than average)
(The average growth rate for all occupations is 7 percent.) - Advancement
- Continuing education is available through meetings, conferences, and workshops sponsored by archival, historical, and museum associations. Some large organizations, such as the U.S.National Archives and Records Administrationin Washington, DC, offer in-house training.
- Licenses/Certifications
- Although most employers do not require certification, some archivists may choose to earn voluntary certification because it allows them to demonstrate expertise in a particular area.
- Median pay: How much do Archivists, Curators, and Museum Workers make?
- $47,230 Annual Salary
- $22.71 per hour
Careers for Archivists, Curators, and Museum Workers
- Art conservators
- Art preparators
- Collection specialists
- Collections and archives directors
- Collections curators
- Conservation technicians
- Conservators
- Curators
- Digital archivists
- Directors, museum
- Educational institution curators
- Ethnographic materials conservators
- Exhibitions and collections managers
- Film archivists
- Herbarium curators
- Historical records administrators
- Image archivists
- Museum archivists
- Museum curators
- Museum directors
- Museum exhibit technicians
- Museum technicians
- Objects conservators
- Paintings conservators
- Paper conservators
- Photography and prints curators
- Processing archivists
- Reference archivists
- Registrars
- State archivists
- Technicians and technologists, museums
- Textile conservators