Digital Asset Management Librarian

Description

Position summary: The Newberry seeks an innovative and user-focused librarian to manage all aspects of its digital asset management strategy and program, including: designing and maintaining production workflows; repurposing data and performing batch enhancements; overseeing a DAM system migration for a corpus of more than one million digital files, and serving as system administrator for system once deployed. The DAM Librarian will also be responsible for the production and maintenance of the Newberry's open access digital collections. The DAM Librarian works closely with the Digital Initiatives and Services (DIS) Director, Digital Initiatives (DI) Manager, DI Web Developer and Librarian, Digital Services (DS) Manager, and DS team.

Department summary: Digital Initiatives and Services works to integrate digital tools and methodologies throughout the Newberry, providing expertise, resources, and services related to: open access digital collections; internal digital asset management; digital publishing for exhibitions, pedagogy, and research projects; and participatory archives initiatives. DIS works closely with colleagues throughout the Newberry to ensure that digitized resources are easy for users to discover, use, and repurpose.

Responsibilities:

●        Serves as lead on Digital Asset Management System (DAMS) migration project, communicating and consulting with colleagues in DIS, Information Technology, Collection Services, Modern Manuscripts, and other Newberry departments.

●        Ensure compliance with standards and best practices for the organization, storage, and retrieval of digital assets.

●        Develop automated workflows for media ingest and data repurposing to DAMS, as well as for mapping and migration of content to digital collections platforms.

●        Identify problems and implement improvements for workflow efficiencies and data quality.

●        Train Newberry staff on DAMS use and procedures (includes development of documentation and effective online training sessions for colleagues with varied technical skills and system needs).

●        Track and report performance metrics; create and maintain documentation; and participate in developing DAM plans, policies, services, and platforms.

●        Serve as metadata lead for two-year IMLS Cares grant to digitize and make accessible more than 250,000 modern manuscript pages documenting Chicago’s history of social activism.  Coordinate and communicate metadata activities with project team that includes DIS, Modern Manuscripts, and Teacher and Student Programs staff.

●        Consult with colleagues and Indigenous community members and provide expertise on large-scale digital metadata revision processes. This work is in conjunction with a Mellon Foundation grant-funded project to improve the way Newberry materials related to Indigenous peoples are organized, described, accessed, interpreted, presented, and used. Project team includes colleagues in DIS, Collection Services, Modern Manuscripts, Readers Services, and The D’Arcy McNickle Center for American Indian and Indigenous Studies.

●        Serves as system administrator for DAMS once deployed, including managing user accounts, permissions, and security settings.

Qualifications:

●        MLS from an ALA-accredited institution; concentration in digital libraries preferred.

●        Minimum of two years of relevant work or other experience.

●        Excellent organization and project management skills.

●        Effective communication and collaboration, including in remote teamwork environments.

●        Strong public service orientation.

●        Demonstrated ability to apply expertise and creativity in the analysis and deployment of technology.

●        Experience creating, editing, and executing scripted data transformations.

●        Experience using Python and web service APIs.

●        Broad knowledge of library tools, systems, and resources.

●        Ability to translate big picture concerns to detailed project work.

●       Preferred, experience with SEO (search engine optimization) and usage analytics.

Schedule: Full-time, 35-hour work week; exempt status. Please note: This is a two-year term position with possibility of continued employment beyond the term. Position is available immediately as 100% remote; candidates able to transition to some onsite work in future preferred, but full-time remote candidates may be considered for the two-year term. 

Start Date – As soon as feasible in 2021.

Interested candidates should send a cv and cover letter to Judy Rayborn, Director of Human Resources, at raybornj@newberry.org. Application review will begin December 11, 2020, although applications will be accepted until position has been filled.