At a Glance
- Tasks: Help curate and connect cultural knowledge through research and organisation.
- Company: Join Rock & Art, a unique platform for cultural journalism and knowledge sharing.
- Benefits: Gain valuable experience, collaborate with creatives, and contribute to meaningful projects.
- Other info: Flexible remote role with opportunities for personal growth and recognition.
- Why this job: Make an impact in the cultural sector while developing your skills in knowledge curation.
- Qualifications: Open to all backgrounds; strong research and organisational skills are a plus.
The predicted salary is between 33865 - 41391 £ per year.
Company Description
About Rock & Art
Rock & Art is an independent cultural journalism and knowledge platform exploring art, music, literature, identity, bodies, sexuality, politics and subcultures through critical, intersectional perspectives. We are not a conventional news outlet or magazine. We practice slow journalism: research-driven, long-form and contextual work that seeks to understand culture rather than simply report on it. Rock & Art is built around the belief that journalism can be a method of producing public knowledge. Our work connects cultural criticism, research, documentation and collective knowledge-building, creating an independent and lasting resource for readers, researchers and communities. Our editorial practice is guided by intellectual curiosity, evidence, context, editorial independence, and a commitment to complexity and responsible representation.
We are currently building an international volunteer community of writers, researchers, editors, fact-checkers, knowledge curators and cultural contributors who want to help develop Rock & Art as a long-term cultural knowledge project. This is a fully remote, worldwide volunteer opportunity. You can apply from anywhere in the world, provided you can collaborate remotely and communicate effectively with the team. All positions are voluntary and unpaid. They are not employment positions and do not include salary, fees or financial compensation.
Job Description
At Rock & Art, publication is not the end of the process. An article can become a point of connection to other articles, people, movements, concepts, historical periods, cultural practices, works of art, organisations and sources. Knowledge curation helps make those relationships visible. You will help us think beyond individual pieces of content and consider the larger intellectual structure they belong to. This role may be particularly suited to people interested in information architecture, humanities, cultural research, librarianship, archives, knowledge management, taxonomy, metadata, digital humanities or interdisciplinary research.
What you will do
- Review published and developing Rock & Art content.
- Identify recurring concepts, themes, people, movements, works and cultural practices.
- Identify relationships between articles and research projects.
- Help organise content into meaningful editorial clusters.
- Develop and refine taxonomies and controlled vocabularies.
- Review categories, subcategories, tags and other metadata.
- Identify opportunities for internal knowledge connections.
- Help establish consistent naming conventions for concepts and entities.
- Create and maintain knowledge records.
- Identify gaps in the existing knowledge structure.
- Recommend areas requiring further research or future editorial development.
- Connect historical and contemporary material where meaningful.
- Help distinguish related concepts that should not be collapsed into a single category.
- Contribute to the development of the Rock & Art Knowledge Graph.
- Document editorial and knowledge decisions.
- Follow relevant Rock & Art Editorial System (RAES) standards and frameworks.
You will not be expected to know our existing knowledge architecture or RAES before applying. We will introduce you to the relevant systems and workflows.
What is knowledge curation?
Knowledge curation is not simply organising information. It involves making thoughtful decisions about how information relates to other information. For example, an article about a musical movement may connect to particular artists, political events, technologies, geographical contexts, genres, subcultures and historical developments. Those relationships can help readers discover connections they would not otherwise encounter. A knowledge curator asks: What belongs together? What should remain distinct? What is missing? What relationship exists between these things? What terminology should we use? What will make this knowledge useful five or ten years from now? This requires both organisation and interpretation.
What we are looking for
We welcome applicants from a wide range of backgrounds. You may be:
- a librarian or information professional;
- an archivist;
- a historian;
- a researcher;
- a humanities or social sciences student;
- a digital humanities practitioner;
- a knowledge manager;
- an information architect;
- an academic;
- a cultural researcher;
- a writer or editor with strong organisational skills;
- an independent researcher with experience building collections or databases.
Formal qualifications are not required. We are particularly interested in people who enjoy finding patterns, making connections and bringing structure to complex bodies of information. Strong candidates will generally demonstrate:
- analytical thinking;
- strong research skills;
- excellent attention to detail;
- curiosity about cultural and historical relationships;
- an ability to organise complex information;
- good written English;
- sensitivity to terminology and meaning;
- comfort working across disciplines;
- willingness to document decisions;
- intellectual humility;
- an understanding that classification is never completely neutral.
Experience with taxonomies, metadata, ontologies, knowledge graphs, library classification, archival systems, databases or information architecture is welcome but not essential.
Our approach to knowledge
Rock & Art does not treat knowledge as a collection of isolated articles. We are building a connected repository in which individual pieces contribute to a larger understanding of culture. We believe:
- Knowledge is collective.
- Structure creates meaning.
- Context changes interpretation.
- Classification carries assumptions.
- Connections create discovery.
Good information architecture should help readers think, not simply help them navigate. We therefore want our knowledge structures to remain flexible, transparent and open to revision. A taxonomy is not a permanent statement about the world. It is a tool for helping people understand relationships within a body of knowledge.
Additional Information
What you can expect from Rock & Art
Although this is an unpaid volunteer position, we want the work to be meaningful and properly structured. You can expect:
- a defined knowledge-curation framework;
- access to Rock & Art’s taxonomy and knowledge architecture;
- opportunities to work with interdisciplinary cultural material;
- collaboration with researchers, writers and editors;
- experience contributing to a developing knowledge graph;
- opportunities to develop skills in knowledge organisation and information architecture;
- recognition of substantial contributions where appropriate;
- the opportunity to help build a long-term cultural knowledge resource.
Your work may influence how future Rock & Art content is researched, written, connected and discovered.
Time commitment
This is a flexible volunteer role. You may contribute occasionally, work on a defined knowledge project, or participate on an ongoing basis. Some assignments may involve reviewing a small collection of articles. Others may involve developing a taxonomy, mapping a subject area or contributing to a larger knowledge-architecture project. The scope and timeframe will be agreed in advance. We value thoughtful and consistent participation over volume.
Important information about this opportunity
- Location: Remote — worldwide
- Position type: Volunteer
- Compensation: Unpaid / no financial compensation
- Employment status: This is not an employment position
- Commitment: Flexible, agreed according to availability
- Language: English
- Experience: Open to emerging and experienced knowledge workers, researchers and cultural practitioners
How to apply
Please submit:
- A short introduction explaining who you are and why knowledge curation interests you.
- Your CV or a brief overview of your relevant background.
- One example of work involving research, information organisation, classification, documentation, archival work, databases, editing or knowledge management, if available.
- A short response to this question: Choose a cultural subject you know well. How would you organise its key people, concepts, movements, works and historical contexts so that someone unfamiliar with the subject could begin to understand the relationships between them? There is no single correct answer. We are interested in how you think.
We are looking for people who see knowledge not as a pile of information, but as a living structure of relationships—and who want to help us build that structure.
Volunteer Knowledge Curators — Rock & Art | Remote, Worldwide in Belfast employer: Rock and Art UK
Rock & Art is an exceptional employer for those passionate about cultural journalism and knowledge curation, offering a unique opportunity to engage with interdisciplinary material in a fully remote setting. Volunteers can expect a supportive work culture that values intellectual curiosity and collaboration, alongside opportunities for personal growth in knowledge organisation and information architecture. By joining our international community, you will contribute to a meaningful project that seeks to redefine how we understand and connect cultural narratives.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Volunteer Knowledge Curators — Rock & Art | Remote, Worldwide in Belfast
✨Get Involved in Local Media Communities
Join local journalism groups or media guilds in your area. They often have volunteer opportunities that can help you network and get your foot in the door. Plus, being active in these communities can lead to solid references and connections!
✨Offer Your Skills to Non-Profits
Many non-profit organisations need media help for newsletters, social media, or event coverage. This is a fantastic way to gain hands-on experience and bolster your portfolio while also doing something meaningful.
✨Attend Journalism Workshops and Events
Keep an eye out for workshops, seminars, and networking events on journalism. Not only will you learn new skills, but you’ll also meet fellow aspiring journalists and industry insiders who could have leads on volunteer positions.
✨Show Your Work Publicly
Set up a blog or a social media page where you can showcase your writing. Share the stories that matter to you and tag relevant organisations or publications. This visibility can attract attention from local media outlets looking for eager volunteers like us!
We think you need these skills to ace Volunteer Knowledge Curators — Rock & Art | Remote, Worldwide in Belfast
Some tips for your application 🫡
Show Off Your Writing Samples:As you're diving into the world of journalism-media, make sure to include a few of your best writing pieces in your application. Whether it's articles, blog posts, or even social media content, showcase your range and style. We want to see how you tell stories and engage readers!
Tailor Your CV for the Media World:Your CV should reflect your passion for journalism. Highlight relevant experiences, even if they’re volunteering gigs or class assignments that relate to media. Get creative with your layout—consider including links to your published work or any media platforms you've contributed to. We love seeing initiative!
Craft a Compelling Cover Letter:Your cover letter is your chance to share your enthusiasm for the role at Rock and Art UK. Talk about why you’re drawn to this volunteer position specifically, and how it fits into your journey as a budding journalist. Let us in on your motivations and what you hope to learn!
Be Ready to Collaborate:Since this is a volunteer role, emphasise your willingness to work with others in the media field. Mention any group projects or collaborations you’ve done in the past. Skills like teamwork and communication are vital in journalism, and we want to see that you can thrive in a collaborative environment!
How to prepare for a job interview at Rock and Art UK
✨Show Off Your Writing Skills
As a volunteer in journalism-media, we need to present samples of our best writing. Curate a portfolio that highlights different styles – features, news reports, or opinion pieces. Be prepared to discuss the thought process behind your pieces and how you approach different topics.
✨Be Conversational and Engaged
Interviews in the media field can feel more like a chat than a formal interrogation. So, let’s be enthusiastic about our ideas and show a genuine interest in the role. Prepare some engaging questions about the type of stories Rock and Art UK covers and their approach to journalism.
✨Know Your Media Tools
Familiarity with tools like CMS for writing and editing, or social media for content promotion can set us apart. If you've used any multimedia tools or video editing software, don’t hesitate to mention them—it shows versatility and a modern edge in our media approach.
✨Highlight Your Passion for Volunteer Work
Since this role is a volunteer position, we need to convey why we're passionate about journalism and what we're hoping to learn or contribute. Share our motivations for joining Rock and Art UK and how this role aligns with our personal goals in the media industry.
