Metadata Librarian

Description

Job #JPF01838

University of California, Riverside Library

APPLICATION WINDOW

Open date: November 28, 2023

Most recent review date: Thursday, Feb 1, 2024 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)
Applications received after this date will be reviewed by the search committee if the position has not yet been filled.

Final date: Friday, Mar 1, 2024 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)
Applications will continue to be accepted until this date, but those received after the review date will only be considered if the position has not yet been filled.

POSITION DESCRIPTION

Position Overview
The University of California, Riverside (UCR) Library seeks applications from an innovative, dynamic, and collaborative Metadata Librarian, who will join our user-focused team in developing and implementing creative and sustainable metadata for digital collections that support the University’s world-class research and instruction. UCR’s collections are managed and discovered both locally and through UC’s consortially hosted digital asset management system (DAMS).

Located an hour’s drive to the east of Los Angeles, an hour west of Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley, an hour east of ocean beaches, ninety minutes north of San Diego, and an hour south of mountain ski resorts, UCR is located in an area of dramatic landscapes and rich cultural traditions. The University is a dynamic, aggressively developing land grant research institution dedicated to preparing its diverse student body to be successful competitors in the world marketplace of ideas.

Over the past few years, UCR has accumulated numerous accolades for its achievements. In 2022, it received the following rankings:
• No. 1 public university in the U.S. for social mobility four years in a row – U.S. News & World Report
• No. 1 for Hispanic enrollment among selective universities – Urban Institute
• No. 2 in the country for financial aid – Business Insider
• No. 2 in Entomology research in the world – Center for World University Rankings
• No. 3 in Hispanic STEM graduates in the nation – National Science Foundation
• No. 4 for Pell Grant student performance – Washington Monthly
• No. 9 among public universities for sustainability – Princeton Review
• No. 11 most diverse medical school – U.S. News
• Top 12 public university – Forbes "America's Best Value Colleges"
• No. 14 public university – CNBC "Colleges That Pay Off the Most"
• No. 20 public university – Princeton Review Best Schools for Making a Public Impact
• No. 31 in the world in plant and animal sciences – U.S. News & World Report

In addition, it has attracted faculty with some of the highest academic honors, including:
• 2 Nobel Prize Winners
• 2 Guggenheim Awards
• 4 UC University Professorships
• 11 Fulbright Scholars
• 28 National Academies Members

The UCR Library is a critical partner in preparing UCR’s students to be globally competitive while simultaneously preparing them to be transformative leaders in the Inland Empire and beyond. The mission of the UCR Library is no less than to bring the world’s information resources to the UCR community and to ensure that UCR students, faculty, and staff have the skills to fully exploit those resources to change the world for the better.

The UCR Library is a team of intensely collaborative, forward-thinking colleagues dedicated to providing exemplary services to our students, faculty, and community members in a rapidly evolving information environment. The successful candidate will be technologically-sophisticated; committed to problem-solving in local, regional, national, and international arenas; able to develop innovative solutions to complex problems; and a dynamic and effective leader.

The UCR Library is comprised of two facilities housing more than 4,900,000 volumes, 1,740,000 electronic books, 120,000 print and electronic journals, and 2,300,000 microforms. The Library provides services to more than 27,000 students and nearly 2,000 faculty and other academics in an institutional environment planning for and experiencing extensive growth. The successful candidate will join an enthusiastic staff of 100, including 36 FTE librarians and 65 FTE staff personnel as well as students, in building a research library of excellence within a dynamic and diverse university ranked among the top 50 in the nation. The UCR Library is a member of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL). Among the unique collections of the UCR Library is the Eaton Collection of Science Fiction and Fantasy, the Water Resources Collections & Archives, the Rupert Costo Library of the American Indian, the Paul Chou Collection of Chinese history and culture, the George Brown Papers, the Tomás Rivera Papers, and the Inland Empire Memories Initiative. Information about the UCR Library is available at http://library.ucr.edu.

The UCR Library is an integral part of the University of California library system. With collections totaling 40.8 million volumes, including 4.3 million digitized contents contributed to HathiTrust, UC’s more than 100 libraries are surpassed in size on the American continent only by the Library of Congress collection. In addition, UC’s California Digital Library (CDL) provides the core of the University's digital collections. CDL also assists UC to share resources and holdings more effectively, and provides leadership in applying technology to the development of library collections and services. Organizationally situated within the UC Office of the President, the CDL operates in close collaboration with all UC campuses and their libraries.

Responsibilities
The Metadata Librarian creates, modifies, and enhances metadata for library resources in all formats (print and non-print) and in multiple languages with the goal of creating accurate and sustainable metadata and metadata workflows. Providing leadership in the design and implementation of library projects in which metadata is an essential component, the Metadata Librarian will train staff, conduct metadata analysis, and coordinate complex resource description. Under the general direction of the Director of Metadata & Technical Services, the Metadata Librarian will ingest, update, and maintain metadata for digital collections in the content management system. The Metadata Librarian collaborates with a team of colleagues working on digitization, description, and discovery of content.

● Coordinates and oversees creation, application, and maintenance of non-MARC descriptive, administrative, structural, and preservation metadata for library resources,

● Defines strategies for the creation, harvest, enhancement, remediation, and transformation of metadata, creating best practice guidelines, policies, and procedures,

● Ingests, updates, and maintains metadata in the digital asset management system (DAMS),

● Contributes to reparative descriptive work for digital and non-digital resources,

● Evaluates, recommends, and as appropriate develops metadata specifications, including schema, data elements, thesauri, crosswalks, normalization techniques, and style sheets to ensure high quality discoverability of digital resources in diverse formats including text, image, multimedia, and research data sets,

● Consults with data providers to establish appropriate parameters for project-based metadata creation,

● Coordinates metadata ingest and dissemination to diverse systems within the institution and with outside entities such as the California Digital Library (CDL),

● Analyzes metadata and digital objects originating from various sources for quality, consistency, and completeness to facilitate data ingest and coherent aggregation with other data,

● Assesses current and emerging metadata standards to determine applicability for adoption by the UCR Library,

● Identifies and evaluates new technological platforms to support the management, discovery, and display of library digital collections,

● Advises library leadership of new methodologies, technologies and approaches to digital assets metadata,

● Serves as an expert partner for faculty, students, project teams and library colleagues in the selection and implementation of metadata research, scholarship and creative activities,

● Collaborates with software developers to identify, develop, and/or customize applications that support metadata creation, repurposing, and automation,

● Collaborates with department’s other librarians to explore and leverage Linked Data and BIBFRAME functionalities in Ex Libris’ Alma and PrimoVE

● Serves as a back-up to the Discovery Librarian in configuring and optimizing PrimoVE to achieve excellent user experience,

● Serves as an active member of key strategic working groups such as the Descriptive Metadata Working Group, the Digital Scholarship Program, and the Digitization Services Steering Committee,

● Participates in library-wide activities, administrative committees, special projects and library programs; represents the UCR Library on University of California standing committees and ad-hoc groups, as assigned.

UC professional librarians are academic appointees and are represented by an exclusive bargaining unit; The University Council-American Federation of Teachers (UC-AFT). This position is in the bargaining unit.

Appointment at rank of Assistant Librarian to Librarian - Potential Career depending upon qualifications and experience. Advancement through the librarian ranks at the University of California is through a series of structured, merit-based evaluations, occurring every two to three years.

See Table 26B Represented Librarian Series (https://www.ucop.edu/academic-personnel-programs/compensation/index.html) for the salary range for this position. A reasonable estimate for this position is $61,920 - $108,349. Excellent retirement system, health, and vacation benefits.

Department: https://library.ucr.edu/

QUALIFICATIONS

Basic qualifications (required at time of application)

● ALA-accredited Master’s Degree or equivalent experience or degree in one or more fields relevant to the position

● Experience in creating, editing, and transforming digital assets’ metadata in an academic or research library, archive, or comparable environment

● Demonstrated understanding of data modeling techniques and awareness of trends and best practices

● Experience working with Dublin Core, Encoded Archival Description (EAD), Metadata Object Description Schema (MODS), Metadata Encoding & Transmission Standard (METS), or other XML-based standards

● Familiarity with MARC transmission standards

● Familiarity with metadata transformation and remediation tools such as Oxygen XML Editor, MarcEdit, and OpenRefine

● Excellent problem-solving skills in a complex and rapidly changing environment

● Excellent organizational skills and effectiveness in balancing multiple assignments and projects

● Strong interpersonal skills with ability to work successfully in an intensely collaborative environment with a broad range of people from culturally diverse backgrounds

● Commitment to professional growth and development

● Demonstrated high level of initiative and creativity

● Effective oral and written communication

Preferred qualifications

● Two or more years of experience as a librarian or in an equivalent professional position

● Familiarity with archival collections, materials, and processes or workflows

● Familiarity with, and the ability to become proficient in, command line execution in one or more of the following systems: Windows, Mac, UNIX/Linux

● Familiarity with, and the ability to become skilled in one or more of the following programming and scripting languages: Python, Perl, PHP, Java, Ruby

● Working knowledge of traditional cataloging principles, controlled vocabularies, and BIBFRAME

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS

Document requirements

• Curriculum Vitae - Your most recently updated C.V.

• Cover Letter

• Statement of Research (Optional)

• Statement of Teaching (Optional)

• Statement of Past and/or Planned Future Contributions to Advancing Diversity and Inclusive Excellence - In a “Statement of Past and/or Planned Future Contributions to Advancing Diversity and Inclusive Excellence”, we ask applicants to describe their past and/or potential future contributions to promoting a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment, which is a key requirement of the role of every faculty member and administrator at UCR. There are numerous ways to contribute, and a commitment to this part of our mission can be reflected through research, teaching, supervision, mentoring, community engagement, service, and any of the other varied activities that are a part of an academic career.

• Misc / Additional (Optional)

Reference requirements

• 3-5 required (contact information only)

Please provide contact information for a minimum of three references.

Apply link: https://aprecruit.ucr.edu/JPF01838

Help contact: jennifer.rodriguez@ucr.edu

ABOUT UC RIVERSIDE

The University of California, Riverside is a world-class research university with an exceptionally diverse undergraduate student body. UCR is a member institution of the American Association of Universities (AAU) as well as the Alliance of Hispanic Serving Research Universities (HSRU). Its mission is explicitly linked to providing routes to educational success for underrepresented and first-generation college students. A commitment to this mission is a preferred qualification.

The University of California is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

As a University employee, you will be required to comply with all applicable University policies and/or collective bargaining agreements, as may be amended from time to time. Federal, state, or local government directives may impose additional requirements.