Working Title:

Chair - Acquisitions, Cataloging, Metadata, eResources

Department:

University Libraries-0905

Requisition Number:

F_220164

Posting Open Date:

09/09/2022

Application Review Date: (To ensure consideration, please submit all application materials before review date):

10/10/2022

Open Until Filled:

Yes

Description of Work:

The University Libraries at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) seeks an experienced, forward-looking, and collaborative chair of acquisitions, cataloging, metadata, e-resources that will oversee acquisitions, bibliographic description, metadata programs, and records management for print, electronic, and digital assets, as well as management of electronic resource collections throughout their lifecycle. The department maintains and explores new metadata technologies, manages and promotes interoperability between and within systems, and oversees workflows across discovery systems to ensure accuracy and quality of records in order to maximize discovery and access. The department works actively to remove systemic barriers to accessing underrepresented histories and perspectives in subject headings and other descriptive practices. The ideal candidate will have extensive cataloging and metadata experience. They will be skilled in proactively building relationship in complex organizations to lead the Libraries’ efforts to ensure that students, teachers, and researchers have convenient access to the range of information they need to succeed in their work, regardless of information format, ownership, and delivery.

The Chair of Acquisitions, Cataloging, Metadata, eResources joins the UNL Libraries at a time of change and renewal, and will be engaged in the implementation of Libraries’ strategic plan across its objectives. Department chairs in the Libraries are expected to practice a range of leadership and management approaches and to pursue departmental planning and development through inclusive, multi-directional approaches and processes. The Libraries is committed to providing financial and other support for faculty professional development and travel.
Responsibilities

• Provides leadership and training for all functions, especially metadata work across the Libraries that is collaborative and broadly engaged in identifying, adopting, and supporting metadata, classification and descriptive solutions.
• Develops and leads the coordination of e-resources and metadata projects and services to support metadata standards, creation, workflows and interoperability between formats and systems.
• Coordinates all aspects of resource acquisitions, including overseeing ordering and receiving of library materials in all formats and order types—firm orders, ongoing subscriptions, demand driven acquisitions, donated materials, etc.
• Supervises directly the work of 11-15 full-time staff and faculty. Mentors pre-tenured faculty and faculty not yet fully promoted through the promotion and tenure process.
• Collaborates with the Chair of Collection Strategies and Open Scholarship and the Director of Finance and Administration to manage the library materials budget. Monitors materials expenditures and provides updates as requested.
• Collaborates with the Chair of Archives & Special Collections on strategies for description and cataloging of rare and unique collections.
• Ensures departmental efforts to advance antiracism and inclusive excellence.
• Participates in and leads the University Libraries’ role in technical services, content and collections partnerships at the local, state, and national levels, including the University of Nebraska Consortium of Libraries, the Big Ten Academic Alliance, the Center for Research Libraries, and the Association of Research Libraries.

The chair will report to the University Libraries’ Associate Dean for Collections & Resource Management and will participate collaboratively in leading and planning on the Leadership Council. Librarians in the University Libraries have faculty status; the successful candidate will be hired at the rank of Associate Professor. The administrative responsibilities of the chair are expected to be no more than .6 FTE. The individual’s remaining FTE will be in other assigned areas of responsibility, research, and/or service, as determined by the needs of the organization and in consultation with the successful candidate.

Compensation
Salary will start at $84,000 minimum. Faculty are eligible for annual merit raises, with raises also at times of promotion in rank. All faculty in the UNL Libraries currently receive professional development funding of $1,500 per fiscal year, with the opportunity to request additional financial support.
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln provides generous relocation support, including options that do not require new employees to pay expenses out of pocket.
The University of Nebraska offers an extensive benefits package that includes health, life, disability, and long-term care insurance; retirement accounts; tuition remission for employees, their spouses, and dependent children; and reimbursement accounts for health care and dependent daycare. Leave policies are designed to help employees deal with personal or family events or crises. Please refer to the University of Nebraska Benefits site for information.
About Lincoln and the University of Nebraska
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln seeks to attract and retain a high performing and diverse workforce in which employees’ differences are respected and valued to better meet the varying needs of the diverse populations we serve. The university fosters a diverse and inclusive work environment that promotes collaboration so that all individuals are able to participate and contribute to their full potential. As an EO/AA employer, qualified applicants are considered for employment without regard to race, color, ethnicity, national origin, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, disability, age, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, and/or political affiliation. See http://www.unl.edu/equity/notice-nondiscrimination.

Lincoln, Nebraska, is a city of nearly 300,000 people and the state capital, where residents enjoy a low cost of living, high-quality public schools, and more parkland per capita than most U.S. cities. See https://www.unl.edu/lincoln/.

As an EO/AA employer, the University of Nebraska considers qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, ethnicity, national origin, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, disability, age, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, and/or political affiliation. See https://www.unl.edu/equity/notice-nondiscrimination.

Minimum Required Qualifications:

• ALA-accredited master’s degree in library science or equivalent terminal degree in an appropriate area.
• At least six (6) years progressively advancing in professional and scholarly contributions in an academic library.
• Recent experience with acquisitions and/or collection management in an academic library, including familiarity with library collection budgets.
• Supervisory experience at any level. Experience may include functional supervision of staff or organizational committee/project oversight.
• Demonstrated commitment to and support for a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Preferred Qualifications:

• At least five (5) years of metadata/cataloging experience in variety of formats.
• Experience with Alma & Primo library services platform.
• Experience with non-MARC metadata formats including Qualified DC, MODS, or EAD.
• Experience with OCLC’s Collection Manager and Record Manager programs.
• Familiarity with BIBFRAME, linked data, faceted subject headings (e.g., FAST), and a general understanding of transition paths from MARC to BIBFRAME.

How to Apply:

Click “apply to this job” and complete the information form. Attach the following documents:

1. Your cover letter.
2. Curriculum vitae.

In your cover letter, please be sure to directly address all minimum required qualifications. We are open to a broad range of ways and contexts in which candidates might demonstrate how they meet these qualifications. For example, while candidates might document their demonstrated commitment, experience, and knowledge through work activities—including in positions outside of libraries—they might also speak to coursework, community service, participation in cultural or other organizations, and involvement with student groups, among other possibilities. Cover letters must also include a description from the applicant that speaks to how their commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion could be integrated into this position.

For questions or accommodations related to this position contact:

Katelyn Rife, SHRM-CP
Human Resources Specialist
katelyn.rife@unl.edu

Job Category (old):

Faculty Tenure/Tenure Leading

Job Type:

12 Month (Faculty Only)

Position funded by grant or other form of temporary funding?:

No