Metadata Librarian

Description

Deadline: March 19, 2018
Date Posted: February 14, 2018
Type: Tenured, tenure track
Salary: 55,008
Employment Type: Full-time

Assistant Professor/Metadata Librarian
Oregon State University Libraries and Press
Full-time, tenure track, 12 month position

Position Summary
The Oregon State University Libraries and Press (OSULP) seeks a creative, user-centered, flexible individual to apply for the position of Metadata Librarian. Working under the general direction of the Director of Emerging Technologies and Services and in consultation with faculty and staff in other library departments, the Metadata Librarian provides strategic direction and innovative leadership on metadata practices for digital and physical assets in the OSULP. The Metadata Librarians is an integral part of the repository development team and works closely with programmers and technicians in implementing metadata schemas. The librarian provides metadata consultation and instruction to both OSULP colleagues and the community more broadly, an effort that demands a strong knowledge of well-established and evolving metadata standards and a willingness to learning new technologies, as well as the practical applications of metadata standards to areas such as bibliographic records, research datasets, and cultural resource collections. 

This is a tenure-track faculty position at the rank of Assistant Professor, and the librarian is a member of the University Libraries’ faculty. Library faculty are expected to serve on committees and task forces both at the library and university level and take a leadership role in local, state and national/international library and academic societies and organizations. Librarians are also expected to share expertise and results of research with other information professionals via publication in refereed journals, poster sessions and presentations at professional meetings.

This position works closely with the Oregon State University Libraries Special Collections and Archives Research Center (SCARC). SCARC maintains and makes available the University's unique collections of manuscripts, archives, photographs, and books. Its holdings include materials pertaining to the history of science and technology, with the Ava Helen and Linus Pauling Papers as the cornerstone collection; the history of OSU and the contributions of prominent OSU faculty and alumni; cultural and ethnic groups in Oregon; natural resources in the Pacific Northwest, especially agriculture, forestry, and wildlife conservation; and the history of hops and brewing in Oregon.

OSULP is a progressive organization that contributes actively to the teaching and research mission of the University. The OSULP is a medium-sized research library and offers a collaborative, fast-paced work environment that is focused on providing innovative services and resources to our students, faculty, and staff. We are a leader in providing online access to our unique physical and digital assets through Oregon Digital, a collaborative platform with the University of Oregon, and ScholarsArchive@OSU. The successful applicant will join a very collaborative, highly engaged, and well respected team of library faculty and staff dedicated to delivering innovation and ideas.   

Oregon State University is located about 90 miles hours south of the Portland metro area in Corvallis, Oregon. Corvallis is a college town with vibrant restaurants, arts and culture, strong schools, and a robust vision for a sustainable future (Imagine Corvallis 2040). It is situated about an hour from the beautiful Oregon coast and two hours from the Cascade mountains.

Minimum/Required Qualifications

• A Masters degree from an ALA-accredited program or a foreign equivalent degree. 
• Experience working with digital repository systems and/or digital asset management systems. 
• Experience in recommending, designing, and implementing metadata schemas.
• Working knowledge of foundational metadata and cataloging principles and demonstrated experience with Dublin Core and MODS and other metadata schemes including, but not limited to, MARC, METS, EAD, or EAC-CPF. 
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively.
• Demonstrated skills with scripting languages and/or tools for data manipulation (e.g. OpenRefine, Python, XSLT, etc.).
• Demonstrated commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion. 

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with both harvesting and providing content for harvest, especially with the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH). 
• At least one year of experience working with metadata in a library or similar setting.
• Experience with linked data, semantic web applications, ontologies, and RDF.
• Experience with migrating and remediating legacy metadata.
• Experience teaching or developing curricula for teaching metadata or related topics
• Experience working with archival and/or born-digital collections

Decision Making/Guidelines 

• Takes the lead in selection of metadata schemas, data dictionaries and controlled vocabularies for digital and physical assets. 
• Develops workflows and procedures for assigning metadata to digital resources. 
• Formulates, recommends and executes policy pertaining to metadata practices and makes independent decisions regarding exceptions to established policies and procedures. 

Duties

Metadata Analysis, Creation and Support (60%)

• Working with the faculty and staff of OSULP, oversees metadata analysis and creation activities throughout the libraries. 
• Responsible for appropriate consistency of collection and item-level description and quality control across all digital collections. 
• Selects, designs, implements, adapts, and maintains appropriate metadata schemas, controlled vocabularies, linked data sources, authority control identifiers, and data dictionaries to facilitate access to, and control of, unique digital and physical assets. 
• Tracks developments in metadata schemas and leads the ongoing development of metadata standards and best practices within the libraries. 
• Documents projects, standards, and decisions on group and project websites and wikis. 
• Coordinates with partners to facilitate metadata harvesting, mapping, data conversion, and ingesting of OSULP metadata into other discovery systems. Partners include: Mountain West Digital Library, Digital Public Library of America, the Orbis Cascade Alliance, Oregon Explorer, MetaArchive, among others
• Collaborates with University of Oregon librarians on Oregon Digital and opaquenamespace.org metadata decisions.  
• Consults with OSU researchers about metadata best practices, workflows, and tools to facilitate research data management.

Instruction (15%)

• Coordinates with and trains constituencies inside and outside the libraries on the organization, description, and accessibility to information. 
• Develops lesson plans and delivers workshops on topics such as metadata, scripting, or data management. 
• Provides resources and instructional materials to assist data and content owners in understanding metadata and its importance. 
• Participates in library-wide professional development to improve teaching and assessment skills

Service (10%)

• Participates in professional societies and communities of practice at the state, regional, and national levels through active participation and leadership roles in committees. 
• Participates in library and university task forces and committees. 
• Demonstrates collegiality by actively participating in the governance and decision-making undertaken by library faculty.

Scholarship Derived from Primary Assignment (15%)

• Conducts research related to primary job duties and contributes to the appropriate scholarly community.
• Communicates the results of research and engages in professional dialogue with peers locally, nationally and internationally at scholarly and professional conferences; communicates directly with the national or international community of practice using appropriate media.
• Produces scholarly contributions for refereed journals, scholarly books and book chapters, conference proceedings, and other appropriate scholarly outlets.
• Archives and preserves work products in appropriate places which may include learning object, code or institutional repositories, and on professional websites.
   

Special Instructions to Applicants
To apply, please submit:
1) A resume/CV; and
2) A cover letter indicating how your qualifications and experience have prepared you for this position. When you address the minimum/required qualifications in your cover letter, please include examples of specific projects completed in the workplace, as part of your education, as a student, or in volunteer work.
3) The names of at least three professional references, their e-mail addresses and telephone numbers as part of the application process.

For additional information please contact:
Stefanie Buck, Associate Professor
Ecampus and Instructional Design Librarian
Oregon State University
stefanie.buck@oregonstate.edu

OSU is committed to a culture of civility, respect, and inclusivity.  As an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity employer, OSU values diversity in our faculty and staff regardless of their self-identity; to that end, we particularly encourage applications from members of historically underrepresented racial/ethnic groups, individuals with disabilities, veterans, women, LGBTQ community members, and others who demonstrate the ability to help us achieve our vision of a diverse and inclusive community.
Posting Date: February 14, 2018
Closing Date: March 19, 2018
Anticipated Appointment Date: Summer 2018

Supplemental Questions for candidates (to be submitted with resume/application)

Required fields are marked with an asterisk (*).
1. *Describe your methodology, including specific considerations, when selecting, designing and/or adapting a metadata scheme. Experiences based on coursework, volunteer work, or in a work setting are all acceptable examples. 500 word limit.
2. *Please discuss a meaningful experience you had while interacting with groups of people who are different from you. Please include a short description of the experience along with a reflection on how your own cultural influences and ways of living might have affected your experience. Experiences inside or outside the college and university setting are acceptable. 500 word limit.