Library Systems Administrator

Description

The General Library System’s Library Systems and Applications Services group invites individuals to apply for our Library System Administrator position. This position administers and supports the many library systems central to our mission within a friendly, good-humored, and supportive network of colleagues across the UW-Madison and UW System libraries.

The Library Systems Administrator is an experienced, service-oriented professional responsible for the administration and support of our many library systems. These include, but are not limited to, Alma, Primo, ILLiad, Link Resolver, EZProxy, our Database Library and our UW-Madison Library Catalog. This individual will be part of a close-knit team of professionals and will bring strong analytical, technical, and troubleshooting skills in support of a complex array of library applications and workflows. In addition, they will actively work with campus service providers and colleagues across UW System campus libraries to support patron accounts and access to library resources. The Library Systems Administrator must be familiar with core library systems and possess the ability to leverage and integrate them to meet emerging needs. The Library Systems Administrator reports to the Director of Library Systems and Applications Services.

The Libraries at the University of Wisconsin-Madison are dedicated to the practices of social justice, diversity, equality, and respect among our staff, students, collections, and services. We strive to overcome historical and divisive biases in our society and embrace diverse points of view as assets to the fabric of our community. All positions will be called on to contribute to building this environment.

This position works closely with system librarians, application developers, system administrators, end user support staff, and colleagues both at UW-Madison and across UW System.

The Library Technology Group is notable for its collegiality and culture of excellent service to our patron communities both within and beyond the University.

Principal duties:

The Library Systems Administrator will work closely and collaboratively with library and technical staff, library services platform vendors, application developers, researchers, and campus and UW System partners to further the discovery, delivery, maintenance and preservation of library and other data. They will have a thorough understanding of the functional, operational and service needs of the library as well as a creative, dynamic perspective on provisioning data and services through our various systems. They will have a strong commitment to system integrity, support, documentation, and continuity of operations, actively coordinating and communicating with vendors and others in pursuit of problem resolution.

Specific responsibilities include:

90% - Library System Administration

• Configure, test, upgrade and customize library systems software including Alma, ILLiad, Primo, Aeon, and Generation Fifth Library Archival System.
• Provide support for UW-Madison and UW-System libraries and end-users for these systems.
• Process and monitor patron integration workflows between source systems, Alma, and ILLiad.  
• Working closely with other technical staff, troubleshoot patron account and access issues related to account provisioning to ensure consistency with source systems, appropriate access to resources, and compliance with authorization policies and vendor licenses.
• Provide technical support and troubleshooting to maintain compliance with vendor licenses.
• Serve as a resource person in support of our Primo discovery environment, actively analyzing and configuring normalization rules, mapping and code tables, and the user interface.
• Maintain the various processes for integration of Library Services Platform data and external systems such as ILLiad, the University of Wisconsin-Madison Library Catalog, UW System Shared Financial Systems, Generation Fifth Library Archival System, Aeon and others.
• Provide escalation level support for our library technology help desk.

5% - Committee Work  

• Participate in Library and/or campus committees as appropriate.

5% - Professional Development  

• Professional development: Attend conferences; stay current with industry publications, trends, and best practices.

Degree:

Bachelor's degree from an accredited academic university required.
Masters of Library and Information Studies or Masters of Information Systems preferred.

Experience:

Required

• One to two years of experience working with a Library Services Platform/Integrated Library System.
• Knowledge of library services and operations and supporting data in areas such as Acquisitions, Circulation, Cataloging, Patron Management, or Electronic Resource Management.
• Experience working with and troubleshooting issues that arise in complex technical systems.
• Ability to clearly communicate and provide written procedures and documentation to various stakeholders, including non-technical stakeholders.

Preferred

• Experience with Alma system administration.
• Experience with patron access and data issues.
• Project management experience.
• Demonstrated experience with organizing and prioritizing support tasks in a systems support environment.
• Experience with or knowledge of integrating third party applications and services with library systems.
• Understanding of authentication processes using LDAP, Shibboleth or similar.
• Ability to think critically about how to leverage the data services environment at a large research library to serve the mission of the University.