Description
Seattle University’s Lemieux Library and McGoldrick Learning Commons invites applications for an experienced, flexible, and innovative library faculty member to serve in the position of Scholarly Communication Officer. This 12-month non-tenure-track position, at a rank of Assistant or Associate Librarian, is available April 1, 2018.
Lemieux Library Faculty are uniquely positioned to meaningfully contribute to the transformation of the scholarly communication system and to lead change across campus. With this position, Lemieux will focus and accelerate its engagement with scholarly communication issues to benefit the Seattle University community while leveraging our investment in the bepress™ Digital Commons subscription. Towards this end, the position’s scope is intentionally broad, encompassing the diverse areas that comprise the scholarly communication landscape today – institutional repositories, library-based publishing, copyright in making and sharing scholarship, digital scholarship, open access, open education, measuring research impact, meeting funder mandates, and research data management. Liaison and Library Faculty responsibilities round out the incumbent’s portfolio.
Responsibilities for scholarly communication
- Assess the scholarly communication awareness and needs of Seattle University students and faculty and identify ways to meet them.
- Develop a vision and roadmap to take the newly launched institutional repository to the next level.
- Develop, implement, and manage a plan to identify and ingest content into the institutional repository, especially content that is not currently open.
- Discover, devise, market and assess implementable strategies for involving the Seattle University community in both understanding and participating in scholarly publishing and the scholarly publishing landscape.
- Work collaboratively with campus colleagues, including the Center for Faculty Development, Copyright Policy Coordinator, Office of Information Technology, Office of Sponsored Programs, and the Office of University Council, to advance scholarly communication awareness on campus.
- Provide guidance and education on the use of rights-protected materials in scholarly communications and digital scholarship, campus and Library projects, and online learning environments and classrooms.
- Provide first-line support for users who have questions about or problems with the institutional repository; e.g. create research guides related to scholarly communication, the institutional repository, copyright, and open access.
- Work collaboratively with other Liaison Librarians, Library Coordinators, faculty, and students on scholarly communication, institutional repository, copyright, and open access resources and services relative to their assigned liaison areas.
- Assist in implementing and maintaining open access work at Seattle University with activities that include formulating and managing a plan to open relevant content that is behind paywalls; doing outreach and coordinating events related to open access, such as group events for repository deposit and talks and presentations about open access; and answering specific questions and solving problems about open access for students, faculty, and staff.
- Keep abreast of tools, methodologies, and best practices for monitoring and increasing researchers’ impact, to provide community input and facilitate campus decision-making about supporting scholarly impact and return on research investment.
- Maintain an understanding of the academic drivers and economic principles that underlie scholarly publishing worldwide, to evaluate and provide guidance about opportunities, benefits, and challenges of broader and more open dissemination of scholarship and data.
- Maintain working knowledge of how open educational resources (OERs) are used, created, and supported, to establish or advance relevant campus programs.
- Participate in Orbis Cascade Alliance and other regional and national working groups related to scholarly communication.
This individual may supervise research assistants, interns, or student workers.
Liaison Responsibilities
- Serve as liaison to one or more academic programs with responsibilities to maintain subject expertise, develop collections, provide specialized research services and instruction, and create resource guides.
- Provide outreach, foster communication, and market library services.
- Educate and inform students and faculty on scholarly communication issues, such as open-access initiatives, digital publishing, and copyright.
Library Faculty Responsibilities
- Contribute to library wide initiatives by serving on library, campus, inter-institutional and consortia committees, participating in strategic planning initiatives, and cooperating closely with other library units.
- As a member of the Library Faculty, participate in the process to define and to exercise the rights and responsibilities associated with faculty governance consistent with the cultures of the university and the library.
- Engage in research, scholarly publication, professional development, and service activities in areas appropriate to academic librarianship and the disciplines served as outlined in the Committee for Librarian Evaluation and Promotion documents.
- Continuously assess and improve library operations and services through data collection and analysis.
Experience and Qualifications
Minimum qualifications: MLS from an ALA-accredited program or non-U.S. equivalent.
In addition, candidates must provide evidence of:
- Interest in scholarly communications issues and trends in higher education and a basic understanding of bibliographic standards and conventions.
- Commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and student success.
- Commitment to contributing to a supportive, collegial work environment.
- Experience in solving problems independently and collaboratively.
- Ability to manage multiple priorities and meet deadlines.
- Effective oral and written communication skills.
- Willingness to accept and support the mission of Seattle University and its commitment to the vision and values of Jesuit and Catholic higher education.
Desirable Qualifications:
- Work experience in a university setting and with institutional repositories.
- Demonstrated knowledge of copyright issues in an academic library.
- Demonstrated knowledge of the scholarly publishing landscape, including legal issues, open access and author rights.
- Experience with or training in project management techniques.
- Demonstrated ability to work with diverse constituents with a variety of levels of skill and understanding.
- Experience with using automated tools, such as design software, video production and social media, for communication, outreach and marketing.