Job Board

LPC maintains a list of jobs that incorporate library publishing roles. To be included in this list, the position must be located administratively in a library or report directly to a library-based supervisor. The primary function(s) of the position must directly engage in the creation, dissemination, and/or curation of scholarly, creative, and/or educational works. Administrative positions that do not directly engage in these functions may be included if they include supervisory responsibility primarily for employees who are performing these functions. All job postings must include a salary or salary range. If you’d like to add a posting, please contact us.

December 20, 2019

Publishing & Open Repository Specialist

  • University of Tennessee
  • Knoxville, TN
View Original Post

Reporting to the Scholarly Communication Librarian, the Publishing and Open Repository Specialist plays a central role in the UT Libraries’ open access and publishing activities. The specialist is responsible for leading, growing, and improving the publishing partners program. As the individual supporting library-hosted journal publishing services, a service that is growing, this individual is responsible for developing, documenting, and implementing policies, procedures, and publishing guidelines. The specialist develops training materials and provides consultations and workshops on best practices for journal editors. This position is responsible for reviewing partners’ practices to make sure they are meeting library-established publishing guidelines. This position defines and encourages adoption of interoperability standards for partners, such as Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs), and increases the visibility of partner journals by creating metadata for indexing services. This position develops and implements assessment efforts to evaluate the journal publishing service and utilizes this data to improve and grow this service in conjunction with all library scholarly communication activities.

In addition to leading the journal-hosting service, the specialist serves as the liaison to collection managers in the institutional repository, TRACE, supporting faculty and staff who submit materials to it. In this role, the specialist provides communication and outstanding customer service to a diverse group of faculty and staff submitting materials to the repository. The specialist is responsible for staying up-to-date on best practices in scholarly journal publishing and other scholarly communication issues through development and training. This position works with the Scholarly Communication Librarian and other teams in the Libraries on projects involving open access journals, open educational resources, open access books, and other open scholarship initiatives.

Responsibilities & Duties

Journal production:

  • Leads and coordinates all aspects of journal production for journals hosted by the Libraries.
  • Completes production work related to journal publishing and hosting including submitting content, creating metadata, designing and documenting workflows, monitoring and ensuring the quality of data input, and tracking projects through the publication process.
  • Oversees the retention, publication, and management of all library-hosted journals, including select annual or recurring conference proceedings.
  • Develops and implements policies and procedures to support journal hosting and publishing in the libraries, e.g. develops Memoranda of Understanding between the Libraries and editorial boards of hosted journals.
  • Assess journal hosting services in order to both improve and promote the services.
  • Coordinates with editors to establish, maintain, and update journal sites. This includes working with the Libraries’ Marketing and Communication team to design journal covers and associated graphic elements.
  • Ensures editors are following established best practices through the creation and implementation of training materials, instructional workshops, and consultations.
  • Consults with editors on copyright and open licensing options.
  • Advises editors on how their journal can be indexed by major indexing services and creates metadata for inclusion in the Directory of Open Access Journals
  • Stays current with scholarly journal publishing best practices through training and development efforts.

Repository Collection Manager Liaison:

  • Responsible for the creation of new collections in UT’s open-access repository, TRACE.
  • Acts in a liaison role with collection managers (usually faculty and staff outside the Libraries) to maintain existing collections, to establish new collections, and provide guidance through the process of depositing materials into the repository.
  • Works with teams across and outside the Libraries with the migration and preservation of files to and in the repository, especially theses and dissertations.
  • Develops training materials and provides training through workshops and consultations to collection managers on how to use the repository system including how to input appropriate metadata for materials deposited.
  • Responds to all questions regarding the use of the repository from submitters, collection managers, and the public.
  • Liaises between repository system customer support and campus users and provides critical communication for library departments working with and supporting the repository.

Project Management:

  • Coordinates activities related to design and production of a wide range of academic publishing materials between the library teams, vendors, and university community.
  • May assist in training and distributing work to other staff members, including student employees and library staff and will identify work that needs the input of these individuals and any required training or skill development needed to execute the work.
  • Organizes meetings and training materials for editors and authors.
  • Contributes to unit goals by accomplishing related duties as required.

Library and departmental activities:

  • Updates library website and documentation as needed, taking the lead on providing online information about journal publishing services.
  • Contributes to the planning and assessment of departmental and program efforts in general and leads planning and assessment efforts related to journal publishing services.
  • Participates in professional development, library committees, planning activities, and departmental and library-wide meetings and initiatives.

Rights reversion for published books:

  • Communicates with faculty, staff, and librarians to identify authors who have published books and may be eligible for reverting copyright of those books back to themselves.
  • Reviews standard author publishing agreements for copyright terms in these cases and consults with the Scholarly Communication and University Council as needed to make these determinations.
  • Assists faculty authors and librarians in openly licensing such books, creating metadata, making them open access in digital repositories, and promoting their availability.
  • Develops knowledge of current copyright agreements and standards through training and development to conduct this work.

Required Qualifications

  • Bachelor’s Degree in English, Communication, Writing, or related field
  • A minimum of 3 years of experience in scholarly publishing, open repositories, or a related area, providing excellent customer service to a diverse, academic clientele.
  • Excellent customer service skills supporting a diverse clientele. Strong and effective written and oral communication skills.
  • Project management skills, including the management of complex projects and coordination of efforts with many team members.
  • Demonstrated ability to work effectively both independently and as part of a team.
  • Knowledge of academic publishing practices, such as journal or book publishing, and open access publishing in particular.
  • Knowledge of institutional, disciplinary, and/or OER repositories. Knowledge of DOIs.
  • Knowledge of copyright and open licenses, such as Creative Commons.
  • Knowledge of metadata standards as applied in academic journal publishing and/or institutional repositories.
  • Ability to create and maintain procedural and technical documentation.
  • Ability to learn publishing software and platforms.
  • Ability to develop materials to aid in teaching and training, such as slides and worksheets.
  • Ability to apply best practice standards to publishing workflows.

Preferred Qualifications

  • Master’s degree from an American Library Association (ALA) accredited Library Science or Information Science degree
  • At least 1 year of experience working in an academic library.
  • Skills and experience analyzing and explaining copyright agreements to faculty, researchers, or other academic authors.
  • Skills using Pressbooks, InDesign, Open Journal Systems, bepress, or similar software programs and platforms.
  • Knowledge of best practices in academic publishing.
  • Ability to create instructional assessments and develop student learning outcomes.

Application Procedures

A background check is required prior to hiring. In order to be considered for candidacy, you must submit a cover letter addressing the above qualifications and a current resume.  

For assistance or questions about using the UT online application system, contact University of Tennessee Human Resources:

105 Student Services Building, Knoxville, TN 37996-0213

Office Hours are 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

(865) 974-8847

All qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for employment and admissions without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, pregnancy, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, physical or mental disability, or covered veteran status. Eligibility and other terms and conditions of employment benefits at The University of Tennessee are governed by laws and regulations of the State of Tennessee, and this non-discrimination statement is intended to be consistent with those laws and regulations. In accordance with the requirements of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, The University of Tennessee affirmatively states that it does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, or disability in its education programs and activities, and this policy extends to employment by the University. Inquiries and charges of violation of Title VI (race, color, and national origin), Title IX (sex), Section 504 (disability), ADA (disability), Age Discrimination in Employment Act (age), sexual orientation, or veteran status should be directed to the Office of Equity and Diversity (OED), 1840 Melrose Avenue, Knoxville, TN  37996-3560, telephone (865) 974-2498.  Requests for accommodation of a disability should be directed to the ADA Coordinator at the Office of Equity and Diversity.