Cultural Services Officer/Assistant
function in a professional context:
Cultural services assistants/officers work mainly in public and private institutions dealing with the organisation, management and provision of cultural services to the public.
Public relations and organisation of cultural events such as exhibitions, conventions, festivals and events on various themes:
- Working with events organisers to identify contents and programmes;
- Providing promotion and information services for the cultural events and any related publishing activities;
- Participating in the planning of teaching and dissemination activities concerning the event, also using new media to disseminate cultural knowledge.
Moreover, in the use of cultural services:
- Assisting other specialised professional figures (librarians, archivists) in the classification, cataloguing, inventorying and management of cultural objects (literary texts, historical sources, archaeological assets, etc.), cooperating in the management of digital archives and electronic libraries;
- Gathering, recording and organising documentation on various subjects, updating archives and databases;
- Liaising with other structures, bodies and organisations to provide or receive advice and assistance and foster mutual collaboration;
- Front-office services dealing with public users (loans, advice on bibliographic searches, help in the use of computerised consultation instruments);
- Drafting and updating information materials for users (also using multimedia supports);
- Participating in the production of multimedia products and calculations concerning the language, recovery and electronic conservation of cultural information assets.
The activities described above, when working in contexts of immigration, may also involve specific activities to promote the knowledge of the Italian language.
In order to acquire greater autonomy and responsibility in the performance of the above activities, and gain a full command of the methods and tools supporting such professional activity, graduates may require further studies or vocational training to complement the theoretical and methodological knowledge acquired during the Degree Programme in Literature.
competencies associated to the function:
In order to perform the above functions, graduates must have:
- A solid background in the humanities, particularly in the literary, philological, linguistic, historical fields as well as in the arts and archaeology, these areas being required for a competent understanding and full methodological command of the above-mentioned cultural products;
- Ability to read, understand and organise documentary materials;
- Basic computer knowledge and the ability to learn to use specialised programmes coherently with professional activities;
- Full written and oral command of the Italian language and the ability to apply it to different fields (teaching, cultural, interpersonal, communication, professional);
- Ability to develop organisational, management and planning skills to design and select cultural proposals linked to the specific needs of users.
career opportunities:
- Public and private entities working in the protection and enhancement of the historical, cultural, artistic and archaeological heritage (access to public institutions is usually based on competitive employment procedures)
- Cultural institutes in Italy and abroad
- Foundations
- Museums, archives and libraries
- Centres teaching Italian as a foreign language
Cultural information text writer and publishing assistant
function in a professional context:
Solid background in a range of complementary basic humanistic and cultural subjects and an excellent command of language are the characteristics required for professional roles, also in a freelance capacity, involving the production of texts and contents for dissemination purposes, or publishing assistant in various cultural information and dissemination fields.
These professional figures may perform the following activities:
- Support to other specialist professionals (editorial staff) in various operational, managerial and organisational tasks;
- Research, management and archiving of data and documents (including digital objects in computer systems);
- Research, selection and organisation of information for use in the production of editorial contents;
- Support to other specialist professionals in the formal organisation of texts to ensure their compliance and coherence with multimedia and conventional presentation strategies;
- Management of contacts with other authors;
- Editing activities, revising the texts produced by other people, to harmonise language and style and verify the consistency of contents;
- Drafting of editorial texts for conventional and web publication;
- Cooperation in the design of computer architectures and the development of new multimedia tools for
dissemination.
In order to acquire greater autonomy and responsibility in the performance of the above activities, and gain a full command of the methods and tools supporting such professional activity, graduates may require further studies or vocational training to complement the theoretical and methodological knowledge acquired during the Degree Programme in Literature.
competencies associated to the function:
In order to perform the above functions, graduates must have:
- A solid background in linguistics and full command of the syntax and grammar of the Italian language, using linguistic forms and styles for oral and written communication, to draft texts, documents and press releases to support the work of Editors;
- In many contexts, strong written and oral skills in English and/or another European language are required;
- Familiarity with the main computer tools and the ability to apply computer knowledge for gathering information and editing texts;
- Familiarity with research techniques, also on the Internet, and database consultations;
- Writing skills, and the ability to learn and study further specific editorial and communication techniques;
- For the selection and synthesis of information, analytical skills are required, along with the understanding of events and news in the cultural field.
The tasks assigned may be performed within working teams (thus requiring coordination and communication skills), or, in the case of freelance activities, strong time management and personal organisational skills.
career opportunities:
- Press offices
- Publishers and multimedia publishing
- Website and multimedia product developers
- Web and conventional newspaper publishers
Private businesses (communication and information activities)
