Mountain West Digital Library Metadata Librarian (Research Assistant Librarian)

Description

The Mountain West Digital Library (MWDL) seeks an energetic, innovative, and accomplished professional for the position of Digital Metadata Librarian. This is an excellent opportunity to work with collaborative and enthusiastic colleagues who are dedicated to building services for digital libraries and archives. Hosted at the J. Willard Marriott Library at the University of Utah, this position serves the Mountain West region as a key part of the MWDL Service Hub for the Digital Public Library of America, which aggregates metadata from partnering libraries, museums, and archives in six states for sharing both regionally via the MWDL portal at http://mwdl.org/ and nationally via the DPLA portal at http://dp.la/.

Research Librarian (non-tenure track career-line faculty) at the J. Willard Marriott Library, with rank (Assistant or Associate) based on experience and vote of Marriott Library faculty.

This is a 1 FTE non-tenure-track career-line faculty position funded for two years from the start date. The position will be reviewed for possible continuation at that time. Continuance of the position beyond two years is dependent upon recommendation of the MWDL Director, continuing funding and approval of the MWDL Governing Board, and continuing approval of the Dean of the Marriott Library.

Preferred consideration will be given to all applications received by July 15th, 2017.

The Digital Metadata Librarian of the Mountain West Digital Library supports the improvement of metadata standards and metadata in digital collections from MWDL partners, including memory institutions in Utah, Nevada, Idaho, Oregon, and Wyoming. This position will also be responsible for creating, maintaining, and repurposing digital object metadata for the Marriott Library, including any collections, subjects, languages, and formats as assigned using the MWDL Dublin Core Application Profile or other necessary metadata standards.

Working with all employees in MWDL and reporting to the MWDL Director, the successful candidate will:
• Facilitate the harvest of collections metadata into MWDL and from there into the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA): 
a. Perform metadata audits of new collections and spot-check existing collections for ongoing conformance to standards. 
b. Work with new partners and repositories to resolve metadata issues and Open Archives Initiative (OAI) interoperability issues. 
c. Work with Web Discovery Services team at Marriott Library to execute ingestion of new collections into Ex Libris Primo. Modify normalization rules and XSL transformations as needed. 
d. Coordinate with DPLA staff regarding mapping and ingest of metadata into DPLA portal.
• Complete metadata work on the Marriott Library collections and conduct quality assurance on existing metadata for collections marked for MWDL ingest.
• Respond to questions about metadata from partner institutions. 
• Describe new collections on website and promote them via social media. Design topic browse pages for website.
• Conduct periodic collection analyses of MWDL and prepare roadmap of our collection coverage.
• Work with appropriate task force(s) within MWDL Digitization Committee and with DPLA staff to improve metadata policies and best practices.

Additional responsibilities: Assist the MWDL Director with investigation of new technologies of interest to member repositories and other collection partners. Participate actively in appropriate professional societies and report on outcomes and work processes developed at occasional professional conferences. Other duties as assigned as MWDL grows and develops.

Required Qualifications
• MLS/MLIS from an ALA-accredited graduate school or equivalent degree either completed or anticipated within one year OR the equivalent combination of a relevant advanced degree and experience working in an academic library.
• Digital metadata emphasis in graduate school or equivalent in work experience. 
• Demonstrated ability to work both independently and in a team environment.
• Excellent communication skills and dedication to collaborative team-building across multiple institutions. 
• Skill with using Microsoft Office software suite or equivalent. 
• Capacity to thrive in the fast-paced, future-oriented environment of a research institution and to respond effectively to changing needs and priorities. 
• Demonstrated proficiency and capability with information technology systems in the context of an academic library.
• Successful completion of a criminal background check, as required by Utah state law (http://www.regulations.utah.edu/humanResources/5-130.html).

Preferred Qualifications
• Two years of experience working with assigning metadata for digital materials. 
• Experience with digitizing materials and managing a digital collection and other digital library-related tasks, working with CONTENTdm or other leading digital assets management system. 
• Experience with Open Archives Initiative (OAI) harvesting. 
• Demonstrated comfort with the evolving technology landscape of libraries and emerging descriptive metadata practices.
• Familiarity with XML, XSLT, and tools or scripting languages for transforming metadata. 
• Familiarity with libraries, archives, and museums in the Mountain West region. 
• Reading, writing, or speaking skills in a second language.

Compensation: $53,000 for 1.00 FTE effort. Excellent paid benefits including 14.2% retirement fund contribution; vacation, sick, and professional development leave; health care plan including medical and dental coverage; and participation in various additional insurance programs.