What are the responsibilities and job description for the Assistant Director of Technical Services position at Rhode Island College?
The Assistant Director of Technical Services is primarily responsible for managing and leading cataloging and metadata services and acquisitions for library collections. General responsibilities include original and complex cataloging, authority control, collection data analysis and reporting, collection development, and budget reporting. Oversees the Library’s use of the HELIN Consortium’s automated acquisitions and metadata modules, including technical training and supervision of staff.
Primary Purpose
The Assistant Director of Technical Services is primarily responsible for managing and leading cataloging and metadata services and acquisitions for library collections. General responsibilities include original and complex cataloging, authority control, collection data analysis and reporting, collection development, and budget reporting. Oversees the Library’s use of the HELIN Consortium’s automated acquisitions and metadata modules, including technical training and supervision of staff.
Essential Duties
- Supervises, mentors, and develops departmental staff by providing training and setting an atmosphere that promotes teamwork.
- Administers operations for cataloging library materials in all formats, developing and implementing comprehensive plans, policies, and procedures, and regulating work flow and workloads.
- Provides leadership in managing access to and maintaining accurate information about library materials in all formats.
- Performs original and complex adaptive cataloging of monographs, e-resources and all other formats.
- Works with the Special Collections Department and Digital Initiatives Unit to provide recommendations and support for metadata creation for digital collections.
- Establish, oversee, and evaluate procedures for the ordering of library materials, including books, non-book materials, and electronic resources.
- Using established purchasing procedures, select appropriate vendors for various library materials; negotiate discounts; monitor and evaluate vendor performance; communicate with publishers and other vendors regarding matters related to the acquisition of library materials.
- Establish bibliographic profiles to enable vendors to provide shelf-ready materials.
- Supervise and train support staff assigned to assist in any aspect of library acquisitions, including technical training related to the use of the library consortium’s automated acquisitions module.
- Advise faculty in support of library collection development activity, and on the means by which library materials may be acquired most efficiently.
- Prepare and send allocation emails to Library liaisons soliciting purchase requests and process orders received.
- Establish, oversee, and evaluate all workflow related to purchasing of materials, supplies and equipment for the library. Assist all library departments in determining their supply needs, and determine the best method of fulfilling all requests for supplies and equipment.
- Establish, oversee, and evaluate the Library’s shelf-ready materials program, including selection and evaluation of vendors, establishment of profiles for vendor processing of materials, inspection, and evaluation of such materials, and staff training in the receipt and processing of shelf-ready materials.
- Create, update, and maintain spreadsheets of financial records for all library expenditures; report financial information to the Director of the Library monthly or as needed.
- Work with library liaisons and other library personnel to update and weed the physical collections on a regular basis.
- Responsible for donor contacts, relations and acknowledgement of gifts. Establish, oversee, and evaluate policies and procedures for all transactions involving gifts of library materials in accordance with federal tax guidelines and College Development requirements.
- Create and revise the technical documentation and procedural manual for the library’s acquisitions and metadata modules.
- Provides cataloging/collection statistics to the Library Director and assist in the development of analytic reports for external agencies, such as IPEDS and ACRL.
- Manages special cataloging projects.
- Conducts performance evaluations for professional staff and student workers.
- Monitors and evaluates trends and developments relevant to academic libraries, particularly in the areas of metadata standards, cataloging practices, and authority control Participate in Library Director’s Council meetings.
- Participate in Library-wide and HELIN Consortium committee and task force work.
- Participate in local, regional, and national organizations as appropriate.
- Act as subject selector for the selection of books for one or more academic subject areas.
- Coordinate and facilitate the use of various college development funds for the purchase of library materials.
- Provide back-up coverage on the Borrowing Services Desk and the Reference Desk.
- Perform other duties and responsibilities as assigned by the Director of the Library.
- Mastery of traditional cataloging rules, standards, and practices.
- Working knowledge of cataloging metadata standards, schema, and practices, such as AACR2, RDA, MARC21, LCSH, NACO, and CONSER.
- Demonstrated ability to apply RDA standards to perform original and adaptive cataloging of various format types using an Integrated Library System.
- Willingness to explore and apply metadata schemes to organize and provide access to digital collections.
- Foundational understanding of one or more metadata schemes such as Dublin Core, MODS, EAD, and/or EAC-CPF.
- Demonstrated ability to adapt to and effectively implement changes in cataloging/metadata standards and/or technologies.
- Experience managing projects, balancing priorities, and setting and meeting deadlines.
- Commitment to enhancing services through teamwork and responsiveness to colleagues and patrons.
- Knowledge of current issues and trends in cataloging and metadata.
- Knowledge of copyright compliance issues.
- Demonstrated ability to troubleshoot technical problems and proactively learn new technical skills.
- Demonstrated ability to contribute to and adapt to new workflows for efficiency and effectiveness.
- Proficiency with Microsoft Office.
- Working knowledge of one or more romance languages.
- Excellent time management and organizational skills; adaptability and flexibility; and an attention to detail, accuracy, timeliness and dependability.
- Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to effectively communicate with a wide range of constituencies in a diverse community. Ability to communicate effectively orally and in writing.
- Work independently and foster a cooperative spirit within a large and/or small team of diverse cultures, while working with multiple deadlines and frequently changing priorities.
Education:
- Master’s degree in Library Science from an ALA-accredited program or Master’s Degree with related experience.
Experience:
- A minimum of three years of experience in acquisitions and cataloging, including experience with substantial original cataloging, and supervision of staff
- Experience using a bibliographic utility and an integrated library system
- Experience classifying materials in LC classification system
Physical Requirements:
- This position requires frequent lifting of heavy cartons of books and supplies and pushing loaded book trucks.
- Purchasing experience in a public institution using purchasing regulations; experience in an academic library, or through comparable service in an organization providing information to large numbers of people.
- Experience in academic libraries.
- Experience using OCLC WorldShare Management System (WMS).
- Experience with batch loading or bulk editing of local bibliographic and metadata records.
- Collection development experience.
The employee is not exposed to known adverse environmental conditions.
