Metadata Librarian II, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA

The Children’s Hospital Of Philadelphia (CHOP) Research Institute is recruiting a new team to build a data and informatics program called “Arcus” that will link clinical and biological data and provide world-class computational tools to solve the most challenging problems in child health. Recognizing the central role of data to the future of pediatric research, CHOP leadership and the Board of Directors committed to a funding plan, and Arcus was launched in July 2017.  The Arcus team integrates with major scientific initiatives in the Research Institute Strategic Plan: Lifespan, Rare Diseases, Novel Devices and Therapeutics, and Precision Health.  We seek mission-oriented professionals with interest and expertise in the areas of biomedical science, library science, data education, data science, cloud computing, data privacy, and security.

The Metadata Librarian II is responsible for metadata services that support the unified discovery of CHOP research and clinical data from multiple sources and facilitate new research initiatives and discoveries. As a member of the new Library Science team, the incumbent will investigate, implement, and maintain the standards and workflows necessary to establish a new digital archive and catalog of CHOP-generated biomedical data, objects, and collections. The Metadata Librarian II will establish long-term metadata strategy and collaborate on related strategies for preservation and discovery. The incumbent will incorporate data standards and descriptive practices from the biomedical field into cataloging practices as appropriate.

The successful candidate will work with clinical, research, and informatics domains across CHOP to learn about the requirements of different data sources, content types, researchers and research practices. The incumbent will also collaborate with fellow Library Science team members on preservation and discovery solutions and with technical staff on the establishment of systems support for metadata workflows.

Job Responsibilities

• Coordinate the implementation and continuous improvement of metadata workflows and practices that support the description, discovery, and linking of biomedical data collections and objects generated at CHOP.
• Independently manage a portfolio of tasks with general instruction, guidance, and supervision from direct supervisor as well as distributed team.
• Establish, document, and maintain metadata standards and tools including data dictionaries and application profiles and utilizing relevant ontologies, thesauri, and controlled vocabularies.
• Support integrated discovery of distinct and disparate collections through metadata that extends relationships across resources and systems.
• Implement metadata submission procedures in collaboration with technical staff, including entry, validation, and review.
• Identify opportunities for automated metadata processing of catalog content and coordinate with Library Science and technical staff on the establishment of related systems support.
• Review object processing to resolve cataloging issues, ensure accuracy and adherence to standards, and identify improvements to automated and manual cataloging practices.
• Collaborate with the Digital Archivist on the implementation of technical and administrative metadata standards and practices that support digital preservation goals.
• Coordinate with Information Analysts on the design of data dictionaries and descriptive practices for active data stores and biomedical research projects.
• Monitor library and biomedical fields for relevant developments in metadata standards and processes.

Required Education and Experience

• Required education: Bachelor’s Degree in library science, information science, or related discipline
• Required experience: At least three (3) years of relevant experience in a research, academic, medical, or related setting

Preferred Education, Experience & Cert/Lic

• Preferred education: Master’s Degree in library science, information science, or related discipline

Additional Technical Requirements

• Knowledge of issues and trends in the application of metadata for organizing, managing, and discovering digital resources and/or research data
• Demonstrated expertise in descriptive principles and content standards, controlled vocabularies, authority control, and ontologies
• Experience developing and validating crosswalks to support metadata transformations and data exchange
• Experience with tools and/or scripting languages for metadata manipulation such as OpenRefine, XSLT, and Python
• Knowledge of authority data and identifier standards including LC/NAF, ORCID, ISNI, DOI
• Experience working with a digital asset management system or digital repository
• Aptitude for working on large-scale data projects
• Demonstrated commitment to ongoing professional development
• Ability to plan, organize work and use time effectively and efficiently
• Excellent writing/speaking skills
• Demonstrated commitment to ongoing professional development
• Appreciation of diversity and affinity for interacting with people of varying backgrounds and perspectives
• Experience with descriptive standards and practices for medical data and resources preferred.
• Experience with linked data, RDF, OWL, and related applications preferred
• Experience developing metadata application profiles or ontologies preferred
• Working knowledge of triple-stores, SPARQL queries, or JSON-LD preferred