Research Data Librarian

Description

Research Data Librarian

Digital Scholarship Services
University Library System
University of Pittsburgh

The Research Data Librarian is a full-time Librarian position in the ULS Digital Scholarship Services unit, responsible for providing support and expertise to faculty, students, and researchers engaged in research data management planning, data acquisition, data sharing, and long-term data stewardship. This position emphasizes collaborating with faculty and graduate students in the sciences and social sciences, but may support data practices and literacies in a wide variety of disciplines and with other populations. The Research Data Librarian will also work within ULS to coordinate data education, curation, and consultation activities. The position facilitates and is supported by the library’s existing cross-organizational Research Data Management team, made up of liaison librarians, archivists, and staff working in areas that contribute to data management. In this forward-facing and highly collaborative position, the Research Data Librarian draws on a broad knowledge of research data management and stewardship, communicates clearly and effectively with researchers and colleagues, and monitors and creatively responds to emerging researcher data needs. Through consults, training, advocacy, and collaborative initiatives, the Research Data Librarian supports data practices across many phases of research and learning. The position reports to the Digital Scholarship Librarian.

Responsibilities:

• Educating members of the campus community about data management practices and theory, consulting with individuals and teams, and performing outreach in order to position the library as a collaborator in managing research data 
• Promoting the value of responsible data practices and reproducibility, emphasizing foundational considerations of privacy, ethics, attribution, and documentation when working with data
• Supporting data literacies alongside the other members of the Digital Scholarship Services unit, particularly for research that makes use of data-intensive processes or which has specialized data management needs
• Coordinating research data management support within ULS by leading the library’s cross-organizational Research Data Management team, made up of liaison librarians, archivists, and staff working in areas that contribute to data management
• Coordinating with the ULS Metadata and Discoverability unit to provide metadata and ontology support for datasets
• Working with the Office of Scholarly Communication and Publishing to foster Open Scholarship initiatives, focusing on research transparency, reproducibility, availability, and openness
• Assisting researchers in meeting data management and sharing requirements of funders and publishers, for example through applications such as DMPTool
• Supporting preparation and deposit of datasets in repositories, including D-Scholarship@Pitt, the ULS-hosted institutional repository for the University of Pittsburgh
• Building and maintaining relationships with other University units supporting research data management, including the Health Sciences Library System, Center for Research Computing, Pitt Information Technology, Office of Research, and others

Librarians at the University of Pittsburgh are members of the faculty and are expected to demonstrate continuous professional development in addition to performing their specific responsibilities.  This expectation includes such activities as participating in and contributing to departmental, library and campus-wide committees or working groups as well as the profession at a regional, national, and/or international level, maintaining a broad awareness of current and emerging issues that affect their particular areas of expertise, participating in relevant publishing and presentation opportunities, and pursuing knowledge of professional trends and developments that can be applied to evolving research, services and collections.

Qualifications

Required:

• Master’s degree or higher in library or information science or other relevant discipline
• Academic background or relevant experience in the sciences or social sciences
• Knowledge of research processes and the role of data within contemporary research and scholarship
• Familiarity with foundational concepts of metadata, data formats, and systems for managing and sharing research data 
• Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively, to communicate well with various people in different contexts, to teach concepts and practical skills, and to successfully manage projects

 The University of Pittsburgh Library System

The University of Pittsburgh's University Library System (https://www.library.pitt.edu/) is a member of the Association of Research Libraries and contains over 4.7 million print and electronic volumes, including access to over 300,000 journals and 570 databases. The University Library System (ULS) consists of 14 libraries and employs 75 faculty librarians and 103 staff. In addition to the ULS, the University of Pittsburgh includes libraries for the health sciences and law school.

The ULS stands at the center of intellectual life at the University of Pittsburgh, fostering connections and knowledge creation and dissemination that help faculty, students, and researchers from around the world to excel in research, scholarship and creative expression. It supports and enhances faculty and student productivity through its extensive collections, innovative Open Access publishing, and user-centered focus.

The ULS has recently enacted a major organizational realignment and is currently aggressively hiring in many areas of strategic priority, including research support, digital scholarship and creation, entrepreneurship and innovation, as we are repositioning our services to respond to and anticipate changes in research, teaching, and learning. We are also in the midst of a top-to-bottom renovation of Hillman Library, the central library of the University of Pittsburgh campus which saw 1.9 million visitors in FY17.  The reinvented Hillman (https://library.pitt.edu/hillmanreinvention) will be a light-filled home to spaces, from vibrant to serene, for digital making and exploration, showcasing unique collections, advancing academic study, and fostering energetic, collaborative exchange.

This is an exciting time to join the Pitt library system and contribute to envisioning the library of the future.

The University of Pittsburgh

Founded in 1787, the University of Pittsburgh (https://www.pitt.edu/) is one of the oldest institutions of higher education in the United States. Today Pitt is an internationally recognized center of learning and research, strong in the arts and sciences and the professions. Pitt serves approximately 32,000 students, including more than 9,000 graduate students, in the 16 schools at the Pittsburgh campus and the four regional campuses. Pitt attracts, on average, more than $700 million in research funding every year.  It is also one of the nation’s top producers of Fulbright students and scholars for the 2017-18 academic year (according to the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs), and is among only 16 institutions in the country to be named a top producer in both the Fulbright U.S. Student and Scholar programs.  In 2018, for the second consecutive year, the Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education College Rankings named Pitt as the best public university in the Northeastern United States.

The City of Pittsburgh

The city of Pittsburgh is located in the foothills of the Allegheny Mountains in Southwestern Pennsylvania.  Consistently ranked as one of the most livable cities in the United States, Pittsburgh is recognized for its natural beauty and unique blend of cultural, education, and technological resources.  Additional information on the city of Pittsburgh can be found at: https://www.visitpittsburgh.com/

Salary

Commensurate with experience.  Comprehensive benefits package including one month vacation per year; Medical plans; TIAA/ Vanguard; and tuition assistance.
Successful candidate will meet the criteria for appointment at the rank of Librarian I or II, and will be hired on an initial 3-year renewable contract. For further information, please see: https://pi.tt/NESLibrarianApptReview

To apply

Submit letter of application and CV with the names/addresses/phone numbers of three professional references via email to:  Sharon McMasters, Personnel Coordinator  (sam989@pitt.edu)

Visa sponsorship is not offered with this position.

Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until position is filled; primary consideration will be given to those received by June 28, 2019.

The University of Pittsburgh is an Equal Opportunity Employer -- Minorities/Women/Vets/Disabled