Library Technician

Description

OPEN PERIOD: Tuesday, February 26, 2013 to Tuesday, March 12, 2013

This position is located in the Digital Services Division, Smithsonian Institution Libraries (SIL). The employee provides a variety of technical support services for digitization activities, and is responsible for the identification, preparation, packing, and quality control inspection of material in SIL collections that are to be digitized.

The Smithsonian Institution values and seeks a diverse workforce. Join us in "Inspiring Generations through Knowledge and Discovery."

ATTENTION: Due to the large number of qualified applicants for positions of this type, this job announcement will close at 11:59 pm Eastern Time on either:  (A) The closing date listed above or (B) The date that 100 applications are received; whichever occurs first.  If the announcement closes on the date that 100 applications are received, all applications submitted by 11:59pm that day will be given consideration, including those in excess of  100.
   
We encourage applicants to apply as soon as possible to ensure their applications are submitted before the announcement closes.  We will not consider applications which are late due to the announcement closing once the above number of applications is reached.

KEY REQUIREMENTS

Pass Pre-employment Background Investigation
May need to complete a Probationary Period
Maintain a Bank Account for Direct Deposit/Electronic Transfer
Males born after 12/31/59 must be registered with Selective Service.

DUTIES:

• Prepares selected materials for imaging following established guidelines. Performs review of printed material, identifying and noting any bibliographic irregularities or special problems. Routes bibliographic problems to cataloging unit as appropriate.
• Charges books and other materials in and out, conducts inventories, and recalls materials as necessary.  Routes any circulation issues to appropriate personnel.
• Packs, ships, and receives materials coming to/from SIL locations and coming to/from scanning center.
• Performs general review of post scanning of material, checks in material and returns material to shelves or routes to appropriate personnel for other review.
• Performs quality review of images and comparisons to print material. Queues data to be loaded into ILS. Performs minimal quality review of bibliographic data indicating scanning completion.
• Does preliminary review of suitability of items for scanning and alerts appropriate SIL staff to material that needs review.
• Searches, updates, and produces packing lists from scanning workflow database.
• Scans library material using a variety of standard equipment including flatbed scanners, cameras and copiers

QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED:
Experience: One year of full-time experience at the GS-05 level that is close or similar to the work of this job. The experience includes activities such as searching, updating, reviewing, or editing bibliographic data in a professional setting using a library catalog system or similar bibliographic database; shelving and retrieving materials, compiling statistics and performing circulation tasks such as checking books in and out and using digital imaging equipment. Part-time and/or unpaid experience related to this position will be considered to determine the total number of years and months of experience. Be sure to note the number of paid or unpaid hours worked each week. Or Education: As a general rule, education is not creditable above GS-5 for most positions covered by this standard; however, graduate education may be credited in those few instances where the graduate education is directly related to the work of the position.Special Instructions for Foreign Education: If you are qualifying by education and/or you have education completed in a foreign college/university described above, it is your responsibility to provide transcripts and proof of U.S. accreditation for foreign study. For instructions on where to fax these documents, see the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.


Qualification requirements must be met within 30 days of the job announcement closing date.

HOW YOU WILL BE EVALUATED:
Your application will be evaluated first for the basic qualifications described above. The applications that meet the basic qualifications will be evaluated further against the following criteria:

• Knowledge of library operating policies, archival issues and procedures related to the physical processing and digital imaging of materials sufficient to solve a wide variety of interrelated steps of daily workflow problems in selection of materials for digitization.
• Knowledge of complex library or archival practices, techniques and services sufficient to perform a wide variety of duties within a complex system.
• Ability to use Word processing, database and spreadsheet software.
• Skill in using flatbed scanners, DSLR cameras and photocopiers

Applicants who meet or exceed minimum qualifications will be assigned to one of three category groups based on job-related criteria: Best Category - Meets the minimum qualification requirements and excels in most of the job related competencies above. Better Category - Meets the minimum qualification requirements and satisfies most of the job related competencies above. Good Category - Meets the minimum qualification requirements, but does not satisfy most of the job related competencies above to a substantive degree. This category rating process does not add veterans' preference points or apply the "rule of three", but protects the rights of veterans by placing them ahead of non-preference eligibles within each category. A selecting official may make selections from the highest quality category (Best Category) provided no preference eligible in that category is passed over to select a non-preference eligible in that category unless the requirements of 5 U.S.C. 3317(b) or 3318(b) are satisfied. Preference eligibles who meet minimum qualification requirements and who have a compensable service-connected disability of at least 10 percent must be listed in the highest quality category, except when the position being filled is scientific or professional at the GS-9 grade level or higher. Applicants who have not submitted a resume in the USAjobs system and/or have not answered all of the vacancy questions will not be considered for this position. Important Note: Your resume and supporting documentation will be compared to your responses to the occupational questionnaire or other assessment tool for consistency. If a determination is made that you have rated yourself higher than is supported by your resume, you will be assigned a rating commensurate to your described experience. Your resume should provide sufficient information regarding how your education and experience relate to this position, including the major duties and qualifications criteria listed.