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Reference Services Program Manager & Social Sciences Librarian, MIT Library, Cambridge

Posted August 26, 2015

The MIT Libraries seek a forward-looking and enthusiastic professional to help shape evolving reference services in the MIT Libraries, and to engage with an active interdisciplinary community researching energy and the environment in the social sciences, through reference, instruction, outreach and resource selection. This is an exciting opportunity to provide leadership in reference service design and evaluation, and to contribute to innovations in supporting interdisciplinary research communities.

Reporting to a manager of LIRS, the Reference Services Program Manager and Social Sciences Librarian collaborates with colleagues to shape and deliver the suite of reference services offered system-wide. This includes coordinating in-person reference services in four physical library locations, participating in virtual reference and contributing to online self-help services. The Librarian will oversee operational issues, develop proposals for evidence-based service enhancements, engage in strategic planning, promote reference services through marketing, organize and implement ongoing staff training, and explore and adopt new technologies.

In their role as Social Sciences Librarian, they provide reference and instruction for interdisciplinary areas (e.g.,environment and energy, urban studies and planning). Collaborating with colleagues, the librarian supports the interdisciplinary needs of their communities, shares knowledge in support of liaison activities, and offers general reference support in social science fields. The Librarian selects and advocates for relevant resources in the social sciences.

The Librarian participates in leadership decisions as a member of the LIRS Leadership Team, participates in system-wide initiatives and on committees and task forces, and contributes professionally through research, writing, presentations, or other professional service activities.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

  • MLS/MLIS or relevant advanced degree.
  • One to three years of professional experience coordinating a service.
  • Evidence of successful coordination and collaboration across organizational boundaries.
  • Demonstrated experience in providing social science reference.
  • Evidence of potential to lead change and implement new services and work methods.
  • Facility, mastery, and independent exploration of appropriate technologies in service of user needs.
  • Demonstrated program leadership or service management skills, including time management, prioritizing and scheduling work, managing deadlines.
  • Demonstrated ability to lead teams, and use meetings and internal communication tools effectively.
  • Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, including ability to work successfully with a diverse population and colleagues.
  • Evidence of effective collaboration with faculty, colleagues, and students.

Preferred:

  • Undergraduate or graduate degree in the social sciences, environment, or energy-related discipline.
  • Demonstrated understanding of research methods, literature and information sources used within the social sciences, sufficient to provide high quality support to advanced students and researchers.
  • Experience selecting and assessing print and digital research collections.
  • Experience working with vendors of scholarly research products.
  • Teaching or instructional design experience.

SALARY AND BENEFITS:

$55,000 is minimum entry-level salary. Actual salary and appointment classification (Librarian I or II, or other) will depend on qualifications and experience. MIT offers excellent benefits including a choice of health and retirement plans, a dental plan, tuition assistance and a relocation allowance. The MIT Libraries afford a flexible and collegial working environment and foster professional growth of staff with management training and travel funding for professional meetings.

Apply online at: http://hrweb.mit.edu/staffing/.

Applications must include cover letter, resume, and contact information for three references. Priority will be given to applications received by September 21, 2015; position open until filled. MIT is strongly and actively committed to diversity within its community and particularly encourages applications from qualified women and minority candidates.

The MIT Libraries support the Institute’s programs of research and study with holdings of more than 2.9 million print volumes and 3.1 million special format items, and terabytes of MIT-owned digital content. In addition, rare special collections, Institute records, historical documents, and papers of noted faculty are held in the Institute Archives and Special Collections. Library resources and services are accessible to students and researchers through the Libraries’ website (http://libraries.mit.edu/), and library spaces are widely available for both collaborative work and quiet study. Library resources are supplemented by innovative services for bioinformatics, GIS, metadata, social science and other research data. Through a culture that encourages innovation and collaboration, the MIT Libraries are redefining the role of the 21st century library – making collections more accessible than ever before, and shaping the future of scholarly research. Library staff, at all levels, contribute to this spirit of innovation and to the mission of promoting learning, discovery and the advancement of knowledge at MIT and beyond.

The Libraries maintain memberships and affiliations in ArchivesSpace, arXiv, Association of Research Libraries, the BorrowDirect, Boston Library Consortium, DDI Alliance, DuraSpace, HathiTrust, CLIR/Digital Library Federation, Coalition of Networked Information, Coalition of Open Access Policy Institutions, EDUCAUSE, National Digital Stewardship Alliance, NISO, North East Research Libraries, OCLC Research Library Partnership, ORCID, and TRAIL. The Libraries utilize Ex Libris’ Aleph for its integrated library system and have recently deployed EBSCO’s Discovery Service. DSpace@MIT, a digital repository developed over the past ten years by the MIT Libraries, serves to capture, preserve and communicate the intellectual output of MIT’s faculty and research community. Other MIT repositories include: Dome, a second DSpace instance, providing access to a sizable image collection and other digital collections owned by the MIT Libraries; the MIT Geodata Repository for a diverse collection of GIS Data; and MIT’s DataVerse for licensed social science datasets.

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