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Library Assistant (Discovery Services), Simmons College Library, Boston, MA

Posted December 6, 2016

Simmons College Library is seeking a Library Assistant in the Discovery Services area.  This full-time, pre-professional position is open to students enrolled in SLIS who have taken three or fewer classes. Salary is $31,500 and includes a generous benefits package, including tuition remission for up to 2 classes a semester. It is our expectation that between three and six months after completing the program you will transition out of this position.

This position will work under the coordinated direction of the Head of Library Discovery Services and the Discovery Services librarians. Responsibilities may include participating in the functional work areas of acquisitions, cataloging/metadata, e-resource management, systems/web applications, serials management, interlibrary loan, course reserves, and collection management. The Library Assistant will also coordinate the hiring, scheduling, training, and supervision of student workers and engage in Library-wide planning and projects.

Services and the Discovery Services librarians. Responsibilities may include participating in the functional work areas of acquisitions, cataloging/metadata, e-resource management, systems/web applications, serials management, interlibrary loan, course reserves, and collection management. The Library Assistant will also coordinate the hiring, scheduling, training, and supervision of student workers and engage in Library-wide planning and projects.

Key work activities:

  • Participate in Interlibrary Loan (ILL) management activities.
    • Fulfill Library borrowing and lending requests, particularly those transactional issues and problems which cannot be handled by a student worker.
    • Provide excellent customer service and assist users in resolving issues.
    • Participate in identifying, developing and implementing enhancements to ILL systems and procedures in order to streamline workflows and improve customer service.
  • Participate in acquisition activities and assist with purchasing/subscribing,receiving, tracking, and documenting all materials in all formats.
    • Search and obtain relevant ordering and receiving information.
    • Communicate with requestor/selector to resolve questions.
    • Work with vendors to determine and/or verify order, payment, and delivery procedures.
    • Process invoices, and create bibliographic and order records.
    • Reconcile receipts with order records.
  • Participate in cataloging activities and assist with technical processing and cataloging of materials and resources.
    • Create and/or edit catalog and metadata records for library materials, including books, e-books, journals, and physical and streaming media.
    • Support the maintenance of authority records database.
    • Resolve cataloging problems.
    • Process, label, and barcode materials to shelf-ready state.
  • Participate in E-Resources and Digital Assets management activities.
    • Retrieve and prepare E-Resources usage statistics and cost-per-use data.
    • Activate and troubleshoot E-Resources.
    • Input data to and retrieve reports from E-Resource management platform.
    • Support development and maintenance of digital institutional repository, including uploading materials and inputting metadata.
  • Participate in the delivery of Library Services
    • Assist with the hiring, training, management, scheduling and supervising of student workers.
    • Communicate with library staff on issues of Discovery Services.
    • Assist with the production of reports and participate in the analysis of financial and statistical data for annual reports and other assessment projects.
    • Provide training to library staff as appropriate.
    • Staff Reference Desk as needed.
    • Participate in Library-wide initiatives as appropriate.

Work Schedule:

  • Generally Monday – Friday, 8:30am-4:30pm, with flexibility for classes and availability for scheduled nights and weekends shifts.

Qualifications:

Required

  • Bachelor’s degree and current enrollment in the Simmons SLIS program.
  • Completion of LIS415 (or relevant experience) and no more than 2 additional SLIS courses.

Preferred

  • Keen interest in Library technical services and a high aptitude for technology systems.
  • Competent numeracy skills and strong knowledge of Microsoft Excel.
  • Excellent customer service and communication skills.
  • Experience with an ILS and Microsoft Office Suite.
  • Interest in emerging technology for digital access.

Instructions to Applicants: Please submit a resume and cover letter with your application.
For more information, and to apply for this position, visit http://bit.ly/2gYOFyq  
Review of resumes will begin January 9th

As a College committed to diversity, Simmons encourages applications broadly.  Simmons is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to continuing to develop a more diverse faculty, staff, student body and curriculum.

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