Head, Metadata Services

Description

WVU Libraries seeks applications and nominations for a creative and experienced leader to serve as Head, Metadata Services. The successful candidate will arrive in a time of excitement and possibility for the Libraries and the University. Building on a strong foundation, the Libraries are now poised to migrate to a next gen ILS, which creates an opportunity update processes and procedures for metadata creation and support for other departments within the libraries. This position reports to the Director, Knowledge Access and Resource Management and provides leadership to a team of professional and paraprofessional staff that are responsible for metadata creation and cataloging, both MARC and non-MARC, at all levels and in all formats. The successful candidate will be instrumental in providing continuous improvements to workflows and activities within the unit.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Creates, maintains, and enriches metadata representing WVU Libraries’ digital, physical, and virtual collections
• Directs the goals and assignments of staff in the unit, ensuring that processes are efficient and projects are completed in a timely manner
• Provides expertise in the development of metadata practices, especially as they pertain to digital projects, and the harvesting, enhancement, and transformation of digital metadata
• Provides guidance for describing unique materials, such as rare books, archives, and manuscripts
• Provides or coordinates training in metadata management, linked data, semantic web applications, and ontologies to staff within the unit and other library departments as needed
• Coordinates activities with other units in KARM to ensure efficient and productive operations and provide input to continuous process improvement in the creation of metadata and monitors and contributes to local, regional and national discussion relating to standards developments
• Collaborates with colleagues across the institution to develop metadata specifications to ensure consistent practice, including the selection of metadata schema, data elements, thesauri, crosswalks, and style sheets to make resources accessible for digital collections in diverse formats including text, image, audio, video, and research data sets
• Serves on appropriate committees in the Libraries and on campus.
• Performs annual reviews for personnel who report directly to this position.

Campus

West Virginia University is a land-grant institution with over 30,000 students, and the Libraries serve both the students and faculty of the state’s flagship university. The library system is comprised of the Downtown Campus Library, the Charles C. Wise Jr. Library, the Evansdale Library, the Health Sciences Library, the Law Library, Potomac State Mary F. Shipper Library and WVU Tech Vining Library. The WVU Libraries collaborate with American University, University of Iowa Libraries and Virginia Tech on the Diversity Alliance, a three-year residency program designed to diversify academic librarianship. WVU Libraries are a charter member of the Open Access Network and hold additional memberships with the Greater Western Library Alliance, Center for Research Libraries, CNI, CLIR, ICPSR, American Association of University Presses, SPARC, Library Publishing Coalition, the Society for Scholarly Publishing and PALCI. For more information about the libraries, see https://lib.wvu.edu.

Community

Located in Morgantown, WV and situated within the scenic foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, West Virginia University is within easy driving distance of Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Baltimore, and Washington D.C. The intellectual, cultural, and social climate of the University, coupled with easy access to outstanding recreational opportunities, creates a setting for enjoyable living. Morgantown has been ranked as the No. 1 Small City in America by BizJournals.com; the Best Small City in the East in Guide to Life in America’s Small Cities; and the 3rd-Best Small Town in the nation by Men’s Journal. Renowned for its natural beauty, West Virginia presents many outdoor opportunities for bird watching, fishing, skiing, hiking, rock climbing, white-water rafting, mountain biking, and snowboarding. Arts and entertainment options also abound across the institution, which competes in the Big XII athletic conference. The acclaimed Mountain Stage public radio program is recorded from locations across West Virginia each week. WVU hosts the Festival of Ideas, a provocative and timely speaker series annually. Additionally, West Virginia offers opportunities for crafting, antiquing, visiting art and historical museums as well as a host of other recreational and cultural activities.

Qualifications Required:

Masters of Library and/or Information Science from an ALA-accredited program; at least 2 years of experience creating and managing metadata in an academic or research library; supervisory experience. The successful candidate will demonstrate the following: knowledge of a variety of MARC and non-MARC metadata types, standards, and schema, such as EAD, EAC, PREMIS, METS, and MODS; demonstrated experience in creating, editing and transforming metadata; understanding of linked data principles, including RDF and ontologies; excellent analytical, organizational, and interpersonal skills; excellent verbal and written communication skills; a progressive record of professional participation that meets the criteria for promotion at the WVU Libraries.

Preferred: Experience migrating and remediating legacy metadata, demonstrated experience with linked data or semantic web applications, or familiarity with HTML, XML, and XSLT.