Digital Resources Librarian
Position #219
Librarian/Information Services Professional
Information Development & Management
Information Services Division
University of Southern California
POSITION SUMMARY
The University of Southern California is seeking an energetic, highly
motivated Digital Resources Librarian. The successful candidate will
join Information Development & Management with primary reporting
relationship to the Project Manager, Collection Information Systems and
secondary with the Director, Electronic Resources. Information
Development & Management is the group whose responsibility it is to
foster development of staff and projects related to the middle-space
between the traditional library and IT organization. A key goal of this
group is to develop a cadre of professionals who are comfortable
working in this middle space and recognize the opportunities present
when the talents of librarians, computer scientists and other
information professionals are brought together to solve problems
involved in information delivery and access. As part of this group, the
successful candidate is responsible for building relationships with
other professionals in order to create a climate in which innovative
services and programs can be developed and flourish.
The Digital Resources Librarian actively collaborates with other
professionals at USC to develop services and programs related to its
digital collections and to promote use of current and emerging
technologies as applied in digital libraries within the university and
profession. In order to foster a community of practice interested in
digital libraries within the university, the incumbent will coordinate
the activities of ISD’s Digital Library Roundtable, a group of faculty
and information professionals who work with digital collections and
meet monthly to discuss issues and emerging technologies. She/He will
invite speakers and set the agenda for its meetings in collaboration
with DIM staff and Roundtable members.
Her/his core responsibilities will include serving on collection
development councils as required to facilitate selection of electronic
resources and other materials in digital format such as digital
collections created by university faculty, staff and partner
institutions; and prioritizing new digital archives for creation and/or
migration to the Web.
She/He will coordinate the evaluation of resource overlap among
aggregators in collaboration with selectors; manage licenses and
intellectual property rights of digital resources; gather and analyze
usage statistics; and work with the appropriate departments to see that
electronic resource information is current.
A major responsibility of this position will be evaluating policies and
procedures related to the selection of electronic resources and digital
archives and the maintenance of the Electronic Resources Database.
She/He will make recommendations on process improvements and work with
the appropriate departments to implement changes and coordinate
migration of the current Electronic Resources Database to the
Collection Information System (CIS) currently under implementation.
Another key responsibility will be serving as program manager for the
CIS. In this role, she/he will coordinate the programmatic needs of the
CIS with teaching faculty, ISD personnel, and external partners
including outreach and investigation of new collection options and
system enhancements. Working with appropriate departments, especially
the library systems group which is responsible for the CIS’s technical
infrastructure, the Digital Resources Librarian will prioritize
collections and enhancements for their inclusion in the system; create
proposals and budgets for system enhancements and collection creation;
negotiate for the resources needed to complete this work; coordinate
training of contributors; publicize acquisition of new collections and
new system features.
THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Founded in 1879, USC is an international center of learning, enrolling
more than 30,000 FTE undergraduate, graduate, and professional students
on the University Park and the Health Sciences campuses and offering
degrees through its College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences, Graduate
School and 16 professional schools. It ranks in the top 10 among
private research universities in the United States in federally funded
research and in voluntary support. USC is one of only four private
research universities in the western United States elected to
membership in the Association of American Universities, a group that
represents the top one percent of the nation’s accredited universities
and which accounts for nearly two-thirds of all federally sponsored
research.
INFORMATION SERVICES DIVISION
The University Libraries are an integral part of USC’s Information
Services Division (ISD), a unified organization with the explicit goal
of providing highest quality and fully integrated computer, telephone,
and research services. To accomplish its goal, the ISD is structured
into three primary components: Resources and Services (which includes
Information Development & Management), Infrastructure Core, and the
Center for Scholarly Technology, with central support units in
Administrative Services, Operations, and Advancement.
USC’s libraries house, in Doheny Memorial Library, Leavey Library, and
twelve specialized subject libraries, collections of more than three
million volumes, over 5,000,000 microforms, 3,000,000 photographs,
nearly 44,000 linear feet of manuscripts and archives, and subscribe to
over 120 electronic databases and more than 14,000 journals in print
and electronic formats. Annually, reference transactions number close
to 50,000 and approximately 1,100 instructional presentations are made
to 16,000 participants.
USC is a member of the Association of Research Libraries, the Center
for Research Libraries, the Digital Library Federation, the Statewide
California Electronic Library Consortium and the Greater Western
Library Alliance. Additional information about the University of
Southern California and the Information Services Division can be
obtained at http://www.usc.edu and at http://www.usc.edu/isd.
EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS
The successful candidate will have a strong commitment to meeting the
needs of the University’s scholarly community; a strong customer
service orientation; an ability to interact effectively with students,
faculty, and staff from diverse cultural backgrounds; an ability to
manage multiple priorities and meet deadlines in a dynamic, changing
environment; and a willingness to take risks in approaching solutions.
Required: Graduate degree in library science from an ALA-accredited
institution or equivalent combination of relevant advanced degree and
academic research library experience; enthusiasm for working with
technology; knowledge of emerging information technologies such as XML
and their application in a research library environment; experience in
managing digital libraries and electronic resources and developing
digital collections; knowledge of intellectual property and licensing
issues as related to electronic resources and digital archives;
familiarity with standards applicable in digital libraries such as
Dublin Core, EAD and METS; experience collaborating with librarians and
a variety of information technology professionals on complex projects;
ability to work effectively as part of a team; and excellent oral and
written communication skills.
Desirable: Knowledge of scholarly publishing environment. Experience in
systems administration, analysis and/or management. Experience in
leading projects in an academic environment; experience collaborating
with librarians and other information technology professionals on
complex projects. Experience in specialized collection development with
electronic resources.
APPOINTMENT RANK/SALARY
Librarian II or Librarian III ($45,000-$60,000); appointment rank and
salary commensurate with experience and qualifications.
Librarians at USC have faculty status, with the option for appointment
on either the Continuing Appointment track or the renewable Contract
Status track. Appointment to the Continuing Appointment track requires
the potential to meet the University’s requirements for the granting of
continuing appointment, which requires demonstrated excellence in
librarianship, substantive and continuing contributions to the
profession, and university and community service. Appointment to the
renewable Contract Status track requires the potential to demonstrate
excellence in librarianship and effectiveness in meeting contract
standards and provisions.
BENEFITS
The position is full-time on a 12-month contract. Benefits include a
choice of university sponsored retirement programs, 22 paid vacation
days per year, a choice of medical and dental plans, and tuition
assistance.
APPLICATION PROCEDURE
Candidates should submit a letter of application, resume, and six (6)
references including their email addresses and other contact
information to:
Nannette Edelman, ([log in to unmask]) Coordinator
Search Committee
ATTN: # 219
Information Services Division
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA90089-0182
Review of candidates will begin immediately and will continue until the
position is filled. Because this is a faculty appointment, candidates
eligible for appointment to Librarian III may be asked to provide three
additional references to Nannette Edelman, Coordinator, Search
Committee.
Review of applications will begin mid-November 2003 and continue until
the position if filled. For more information about this position
please contact Deborah Holmes-Wong, Chair, Digital Resources Librarian,
Search Committee at [log in to unmask]
USC is an EO/AA employer.
Rev. 10/9/03
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