Head of Access Services

BASIC FUNCTION:

The Access Services Department is responsible for the delivery of research materials in print and electronic format to faculty, students, and the broader library community. The incumbent is responsible for managing and staffing the daily operations of circulation, electronic and print course reserves, interlibrary and consortium lending, document delivery and stacks maintenance. The Access Services Librarian ensures that all functions of the department are performed to meet the goal of providing users with access to the information they need, as efficiently and effectively as possible.

SUPERVISORY ACCOUNTABILITY:

N/A

PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTABILITIES: CORE COMPENTECIES

• Responsible for orienting and training others and assigning and reviewing their work.
• May also be responsible for acting in a lead or senior capacity over other positions performing essentially the same work or related technical tasks and reporting to a higher level on a formal basis.
• Internal contacts include students, staff, faculty, and administrators. External contacts include vendors, local firms, agencies and external libraries, consortium students, visiting scholars, and the general public.
• Manages and coordinates activities of the University libraries for the execution of established goals, objectives, priorities, performance standards, and policies related to all aspects of access services.
• Manages staff, preparing work schedules and assigning specific duties; coordinate department activities through delegation of assignments to staff.
• Evaluates library operational effectiveness in order to develop and implement new or improved methods. Devise and implement evaluation methodologies.
• Assist in promoting access services; conduct demonstrations or orientations, instruct new borrowers, troubleshoot circulation-related issues, communicate with individual patrons and other libraries in resolving difficulties in completing requests.
• Recommends the hiring of new employees; Interviews, trains, supervise, and evaluate assigned staff, student assistants and interns.
• Provide backup supervision for student workers in Founders Reference in the absence of the assigned supervisors.
• Determine staffing requirements, and interview, hire and train new employees, or oversee those personnel processes.
• Identify, evaluate, plan, and implement cost efficient, effective workflows and new technologies.
• Ensures in collaboration with reference librarians/bibliographers, the replacing of worn, defective, or missing items in the general collection. Also, digitize items for the restricted course reserves database or for Blackboard.
• C oordinate Access Services related matters with the Washington Research Library Consortium (WRLC), Enrollment Services, the Registrar, and Alumni Relations.
• Ensure compliance with copyright regulations and maintain contractual arrangements with the Copyright Clearance Center.
• Maintain statistics, and provide financial information and other data needed for administrative reports, planning, and collection development and management. Prepare periodic reports in areas of responsibility.
• Recommend additional equipment and resources for the department.

CORE COMPENTECIES

• Experience with online integrated library systems, such as Innovative Interfaces, Inc.; electronic reserves, and document delivery systems.
• Ability to use online systems, including the OCLC Interlibrary Loan sub- system, ILLIAD, or related systems. Experience with scanning and imaging technology.
• Knowledge of issues relating to digitization and resource sharing in the academic environment.
• User-centered service philosophy and ability to be innovative and flexible.
• Demonstrated familiarity with information technologies and a high degree of computer literacy.
• Knowledge of office and administrative practices and principle
• Ability to deal tactfully and effectively with a diverse clientele.
• Ability to work collegially as a team member in a changing environment. Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Ability to communicate effectively orally and in writing with a diverse population. Must be detailed oriented and organized.
• Ability to exercise discretion and ensure a high-level of confidentiality.
• Skill in operation of computers, related software applications (MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Access). Knowledge of standard office equipment.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS:

ALA Accredidted MLS and two (2) years of progressively responsible experiece in an academic, research, or corporate setting. Experience with one or more aspects of Access Services; circulation, reserves, and resource sharing.