Engineering and Scholarly Communication Librarian
Alfred University Libraries
The Alfred University Libraries invite applications for a 10-month, tenure-track, Engineering and Scholarly Communication Librarian, at the rank of assistant librarian.
Based in the Samuel R. Scholes Library of Ceramics, the librarian will serve as liaison to the Inamori School of Engineering in the New York State College of Ceramics. In addition, the librarian will lead digitization initiatives within the Alfred University Libraries, with a special focus on developing and promoting scholarly communication opportunities for faculty, students, and staff.
Responsibilities:
Engineering Liaison
- Serve as liaison to the Inamori School of Engineering.
- Design, teach, and assess information literacy instruction sessions for undergraduate and graduate students.
- Ensure outreach and provide research assistance to faculty, students, and staff.
- Participate in collection development activities.
- Participate in scheduled reference coverage, including one evening per week during the semester, and occasional weekend hours.
- Additional subject areas may be assigned.
Scholarly Communications and Digitization Lead
- Lead the development of a scholarly communications program that promotes the scholarship of Alfred University’s faculty, students, and staff.
- Act as a resource for faculty, students, and staff, and develop opportunities for the Alfred University community to learn about scholarly communication topics including copyright, data management, and open access.
- Lead a cross-libraries work group focused on digitization initiatives.
- Supervise a support staff member who assists with digitization work. Liaise with technical services staff on metadata for digital collections.
- Depending on interest, there is the opportunity to become involved in work related to Open Education Resources.
Other
- Serve as liaison to the Alfred University Libraries systems team and provide first-line technical support in Scholes Library.
- Serve on Library, College, and University committees.
- Maintain active involvement in the library profession and contribute to the advancement of information science and practice through scholarly work.
Required Qualifications
- An ALA-accredited MLS or equivalent graduate degree, prior to start date.
- Interest in engineering topics and evidence of the ability to quickly learn and understand research and reference sources in engineering and to respond to technical reference questions.
- Demonstrated potential for teaching information literacy skills to undergraduate and graduate students.
- Knowledge of information technologies and standards prevalent in digital curation and preservation work and a dedication to using best practices.
- Familiarity with current topics in scholarly communication, such as copyright, data management, open access, and open education resources.
- Enthusiasm for project management and the ability to work both independently and as part of a team.
- The ability to fill gaps in knowledge through self-directed learning.
- Customer service mindset.
- Excellent written and oral communication skills.
- Evidence of the ability to meet the requirements of promotion and tenure.
- Commitment to the Alfred University Libraries’ values of free and open pursuit of knowledge; support for intellectual and cultural diversity; innovation, collaboration and creativity; excellent service; and effective communication.
Preferred Qualifications
- A degree, coursework, or work experience in engineering.
- Teaching experience.
- Experience with institutional repositories, particularly DSpace.
- Knowledge of data management practices.
- Demonstrated project management experience including the ability to plan, coordinate, and implement projects in collaboration with others.
- Supervisory experience.
The Alfred University Libraries include the Samuel R. Scholes Library of Ceramics, a specialized library for art and engineering which serves the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University, and Herrick Memorial Library, which serves the wider university. Alfred University is a comprehensive university of 2,000 students, located in Western New York. Additional information is available at https://alfred.edu.
Salary is competitive with excellent benefits including tuition remission. Librarians at Alfred University have faculty status and are eligible for sabbaticals.
Application material must include a cover letter that addresses how the applicant’s qualifications meet the position requirements, a resume or CV, and names, titles, and contact information for three professional references, at least one of which must be a former supervisor. Application materials should be sent to humanresources@alfred.edu. For additional information, please contact Ellen Bahr, Chair, Search Committee, Alfred University Libraries, at bahr@alfred.edu.
Alfred University actively subscribes to a policy of equal employment opportunity, and will not discriminate against any employee, student or applicant because of race, age, sex, color, sexual orientation, gender identification or expression, physical or mental disability, religion, ancestry or national origin, marital status, genetic information, military or veteran status, domestic violence victim status, criminal conviction status, political affiliation or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. Protected veterans, minorities and women are encouraged to apply.
Review of applications will begin on March 23 and continue until the position is filled.