Librarian for Collections and Digital Scholarship, European Languages Division

Description

Reporting to the Head of the European Languages Division (ELD), the Librarian for Collections and Digital Scholarship will initiate and lead the ELD’s digital projects.  As a member of a team of librarians emphasizing collections in the humanities and social sciences in Western European and Slavic languages, this position will play a key operational role by providing collaborative support for the Division’s digital initiatives in collections and working with FAS faculty, students and other librarians on planning and developing innovative research and digital tools. This position will provide project management and direction to faculty and students and will have an important role in advancing digital scholarship and digital humanities projects at large within the FAS and beyond at Harvard. This position will also develop and manage specific humanities and social science collections that are within the purview of the European Languages Division.  The position will support the library’s commitment to world-class collections and services for research, teaching, and learning. 

  
TYPICAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
 

The digital scholarship and digital humanities initiatives responsibilities of this position include: 
 

• Provide assistance to and collaborate very closely with collections librarians primarily in HCL, as well as with liaison librarians in the Services for Academic Programs on relevant FAS digital initiatives and digital humanities projects. 

• Recommend digital tools and platforms to faculty and students, and engage in campus outreach and instruction to support the creation of impactful, effective, and sustainable digital scholarship; design and present workshops on digital tools, resources and best practices in digital scholarship; contribute to the development and expansion of sustainable digital scholarship services at Harvard.   

• Actively seek opportunities to develop partnerships and collaborations with academic and other campus departments in digital scholarship; support and serve as a resource to faculty developing digital scholarship projects. 

• Help build partnerships with library units across Harvard to establish a community of practice for digital scholarship across the university; collaborate with colleagues from the Library Digital Strategies and Innovations department on the development and implementation of library initiatives in support of current and emerging research, teaching and creative activities in digital scholarship on campus. 

 
Collection development responsibilities of this position include:

• Develop and manage specific humanities and social sciences collections that are within the purview of the European Languages Division; based on language and subject expertise select library materials; consult on preservation issues; and analyze and evaluate collections in terms of coverage, format, and distribution among Harvard's libraries. 

• Assist users with specialized reference; participate in teaching and outreach programs; may assume liaison responsibilities to academic departments or programs. 

• Continuously engage with remote resources and with cooperative initiatives for collection development and access and works in close collaboration with other collections librarians across the library system.

• Establish close working relationships with the community of information providers. 

*Basic Qualifications

• MLIS or an advanced degree in the humanities or social sciences.

• Minimum of two years of experience (including academic research experience or professional library experience) in some aspect(s) of digital scholarship, scholarly communication, digital humanities/initiatives, or related discipline, and including managing digital scholarship projects.   

• Demonstrated experience effectively collaborating and building partnerships with faculty and/or staff in a culturally diverse community.

• Reading Knowledge of at least two European languages is required; a strong reading knowledge of a third preferred. Preference for skills in Western European and Slavic languages.

• Experience with on-line integrated library catalogs, basic desktop and Internet applications required, including proficiency with MS Office (Word, Excel, Access).

Additional Qualifications

• Knowledge of current research, technologies and scholarly trends in digital scholarship, including research trends and the rapidly changing scholarly communications environment. 

• Technical aptitude; ability to evaluate, select, and implement digital scholarship tools and the ability to teach them effectively and to communicate complex issues to a diverse audience.   

• Ph.D. in the humanities or social sciences preferred.

• Record of innovation and creativity with digital scholarship and/or scholarly communication in an academic environment. 

• Familiarity with best practices around digitization, digital preservation, and accessibility in relation to digital scholarship.

• Advanced knowledge of relevant metadata standards and protocols, such as Dublin Core; experience with XML or other mark-up languages.

• Experience with some digital asset management platforms or extensible services such as DSpace, Omeka, etc.

• Knowledge of issues related to intellectual property and academic publishing would be an asset.

• Ability to take initiative, set goals, manage fluid projects and priorities in a fast-paced environment.

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, the ability to work as part of a team, flexibility and versatility.

• Expertise in the information marketplace, including non-print and electronic resources.

• Involvement in appropriate professional and scholarly organizations.

Additional Information

This position will be posted until filled however applications will be reviewed beginning May, 18 2018.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS:
 

• Requires lifting and moving materials weighing up to 40 pounds, and pushing heavily loaded book trucks.

• Requires regular travel to a satellite location one subway stop/ca. one mile away.

 
WORK ENVIRONMENT:
 

• The work associated with this position is performed in a library office setting.

Diversity Statement

At the Harvard Library, our work is enriched by our diverse campus community. Our unique and wide-ranging abilities, experiences, and perspectives are integral to achieving Harvard University’s mission of excellence in research, teaching, and learning for our patrons, our collections, and our workplace. We believe that an inclusive environment that cultivates and promotes understanding, respect, and collaboration across our diverse workforce enables our success.
 
We encourage individuals with diverse backgrounds, experiences and abilities to apply to be a part of our community of over 700 staff members.  Our work with faculty, students and researchers to explore answers to intellectual questions, enduring and new, and to seek solutions to the world’s most consequential problems, requires that we not only reflect, but also champion our diverse society.
 
A global leader, the Harvard Library is a pre-eminent research library that acquires, disseminates, and preserves knowledge. Harvard's Library holdings range from traditional print collections to rapidly expanding inventories of digital resources. It is the work of the Harvard Library to provide the University's faculty, students, and researchers—now and in the future—with comprehensive access over time to all of these materials.
 
Learn more about our contributions to the academic enterprise by visiting us at http://lib.harvard.edu/about-us and about the Harvard University community at http://hr.harvard.edu/why-harvard.
 
The Harvard Library is a proud member of the ACRL Diversity Alliance.