Digital Strategist

Description

PRIMARY FUNCTION: Under the direction of the director of Discovery, Access & Digital Engagement, provide digital stewardship for the libraries’ special and general collections including planning, implementation, and assessment of current systems & information architecture, and guidance on new technologies and processes.  Develop strategies for managing born digital resources, how to discover them, and make them accessible to a wide audience. In alignment with the libraries efforts, support the Smith Museum of Art and Botanic Garden in creating and sustaining digital strategies for their collections. Keep current on emerging technical and governance developments on digital repositories, digital library technologies, and accessibility practices.

This leadership role will further develop established working relationships with libraries’ partners (Information Technology Services (ITS), Imaging Center, Smith College Museum) and Five Colleges creating shared projects and workflows, and communicating developments in the digital library technologies landscape. As a senior member of the extended Smith College IT community, this role works within established IT standards and practices overseen by the Information Technology Services group, participates in institutional IT planning groups and initiatives, and contributes to the development and management of cross-unit service teams.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Stewardship of digital collections:  Provide digital stewardship for the libraries, museum, and botanic garden collections including planning, assessment of current systems and information architecture and guidance on new technologies and processes.  Develop strategies for preserving and discovering digital content.  Support and assess digital asset management.

Digital content management and access: 

• Institutional Repositories: Develop infrastructure for institutional repositories, including ScholarWorks, Open Educational Resources (OER) content and other such repositories. Evaluate Institutional Repository software and workflows, guide development and assessment, and responsible for support. Manage the software, storage, and technology of institutional repositories. Work with the Discovery, Access & Digital Engagement staff to ensure that digital collections are cataloged and discoverable. Strategize with the Learning, Research, and Technology department on SCL’s OER programming. Develop, maintain and assess the necessary infrastructure to maintain Open Educational Resources as well as making them discoverable and accessible.
• Five College COMPASS: Digital Collections. Collaborate with Special Collections, ITS, Five College library committees, and technical consultants/vendors on digital library content access and delivery through the COMPASS portal.
• Born Digital Content: Develop strategies for managing born digital resources, how to discover them and make them accessible to a wide audience. 

Digital Scholarship: Member of the Digital Scholarship Team bringing staff from across libraries, museums and ITS together to address common digital scholarship opportunities and issues. In collaboration with the team and the Learning, Research and Technology staff, provide outreach and consultation to faculty and staff around development of digital scholarship ideas and projects.

Management. Supervise 1-3 staff. Lead goal setting for digital strategies and projects, responsible for budget planning and management;

Perform related duties as required.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

Education/Experience: MLS or MLIS degree from an ALA-accredited program; 5 years of relevant professional library experience; or an equivalent combination of education and experience.

Skills: Excellent communication, problem solving and analytical skills; accuracy and attention to detail; ability to organize and prioritize work effectively; ability to work independently and as part of a team; Knowledge of digital copyright and accessibility issues.  Experience working with institutional repositories, digital asset management, and preservation software, technology.  Knowledge of current metadata and cataloging practices. Some supervisory experience preferred.