About Afghanistan Centre at Kabul University:

The Afghanistan Centre at Kabul University is the premier research institution and archive on Afghanistan in the region, with the most extensive collection of primary resources available in print and digital formats. The mission of ACKU is to promote literacy, facilitate scholarly work, and provide academic research training through its archive, digital library, and outreach and research programs.

ACKU was initially known as ACBAR Resource & Information Center (ARIC). The concept was envisioned by Louis Dupree and Nancy Hatch Dupree, two of the foremost experts on Afghanistan's history and culture. After the death of Louis in 1989, Nancy continued to work for the protection of cultural heritage through ARIC and later ACKU with a motto of “nation building through information sharing.”

Programs

The Library/Digital Resources

The ACKU library holds an extensive collection of documents on Afghanistan collected from various sources. Currently, it has more than 170,000 documents in Farsi, Pashto, English, and some other local and European languages. Its collection comprises monographs, posters, newspapers, slides, CDs, fact sheets, music recordings, periodicals, and magazines stretching back decades. The primary activities of the ACKU library include acquiring, cataloging, and digitizing the documents and making these accessible to local and international users through user-friendly online databases.

ACKU Box Library Extension

The mission of ABLE is to improve literacy among children and adults by promoting a culture of reading through easy-to-read books and educational material that is locally written and published. Since 1996, ABLE has established 277 libraries in communities across all 34 provinces. These libraries have over 200,000 annual users. ABLE has published 419 books in Farsi, Pashto, and, recently in, Uzbeki, on a variety of subjects based on user suggestions, of which over 50 titles are for young readers.

Research

ACKU promotes and supports a strong research environment in Afghanistan by training local scholars in research methodology, critical analysis, and academic writing. University students and faculty members are the main beneficiaries of the research courses. An academic research project on the issue of migration was completed at ACKU in collaboration with the City, University of London in late 2018. In addition, ACKU organizes various events, such as seminars, conferences, and workshops, and hosts sponsored events from partner institutions on its premises. Through this, ACKU aims to provide a platform for Afghan and international scholars to interact and exchange ideas.

The Digitization Assistant will produce digital copies of library collections within the ACKU Library policies, procedures, standards, resources, and progress reports. You must be flexible, be able to relocate operations when necessary, and be able to work as part of a team.

Duties & Responsibilities:

• Correctly scan physical data per the organization’s digitization policies and send the scanned copies for the quality check.
• Prepare weekly back-ups in external drives.
• This position is responsible for scanning documents on the computer.
• The scanner will produce positive or negative films for each primary color and black in the original copy.
• Scanning Operators check document quality control throughout the process.
• The Scanner assistant might also organize scanned documents on various local, network, and cloud storage devices.
• Compile data and provide regular progress reports.
• Follow up on any technical error encountered during the scanning process with the assistance of a direct superThe daily.
• Daily operational needs library include such as circulation and shelving of library materials and performing other related duties as required.
• Other duties as reasonably requested by ACKU.

Required Skills and Qualifications:

• A high school diploma is required. A bachelor's degree is highly valued.
• Preference will be afforded to candidates with experience in libraries, digital systems, and databases.
• Knowledge of Persian/Dari, Pashto, and familiarity with English is essential.
• Proficient in using MS Windows applications and MS Office.
• Good typing skills

Interested Afghan applicants should submit their CVs along with a cover letter indicating their interest and suitability for the position.

Please indicate the position title and vacancy number (Digitization Assistant ACKU-VA#2024006) in the subject line of your email.