(Hybrid) Research Librarian for Social Sciences, Tisch Library, Tufts University, Medford, MA

Posted January 29, 2024

Apply on the Tufts Careers portal: https://jobs.tufts.edu/jobs/20069?lang=en-us

Salary range: Minimum $63,600.00, Midpoint $79,500.00, Maximum $95,400.00

The Search Committee will begin reviewing applications on February 13, 2024.

Tufts University’s Tisch Library seeks an innovative and collaborative colleague to join us as Research Librarian for the Social Sciences and continue our growth within the context of our 2024 strategic framework.

The Collections and Liaison Services Department supports the research needs of Tufts Arts & Sciences and Engineering (AS&E) academic departments, fostering a culture of information fluency and targeting outreach for patrons with advanced research projects. We are seeking a colleague who can complement, strengthen, and expand partnerships across the library and the university to address barriers that limit access to services, collections, programs, and spaces as Tisch strives to incorporate diversity, equity, justice, and inclusion in all its work.

The Research Librarian for the Social Sciences builds deep connections with their assigned academic departments, aligning outreach, instruction, consultation, and collection development with the evolving needs of those departments.

A successful candidate will:

Design and teach instruction sessions and offer individual research consultations that have a measurable impact on student learning and both support immediate student need and help develop transferable skills for students’ information lives outside and beyond Tufts.
Create deep, meaningful relationships with assigned academic departments, developing an understanding of the scholarly needs of their faculty and students. Participate in campus and department events, with discretion to experiment in pursuit of effective support of patron need.
Create and maintain instruction materials (e.g., research guides, websites, tutorials, handouts, and exercises) using best practices for usability, accessibility, and outcome-based learning design.
Support faculty research projects and assignment design; seek opportunities to offer integrated, scaffolded, and high-impact information fluency instruction, including proposing and leading instruction beyond one-shot sessions (e.g., credit-bearing courses as part of the Tufts Experimental College, train-the-trainer workshops for faculty, multi-part retreats for thesis writers).
Build excellent collections in support of Tufts’ goals to be both student-centered and research-focused, including monograph selection, approval plan management, database trials and analysis, and collection review projects. Help establish clear collections priorities that align with the research and learning needs of Arts & Sciences and Engineering. Work to increase and elevate collections from historically underrepresented voices.
Collaborate closely with colleagues across the Research & Learning division to co-teach, offer effective referrals, and support our cross-department work. Through committee work and projects, share knowledge of faculty and student needs in designing responsive library services.

We welcome applications from candidates that meet our minimum requirements, and we encourage you to speak to your experience and knowledge—including in positions outside of libraries—and tell us how it may connect to some of the preferred qualifications for this position, including professional or scholarly experience in specific social science disciplines.

Basic Requirements:

Knowledge and skills as typically acquired by a Master’s degree in Library/Information Science from an ALA-accredited program, or international equivalent
Social science experience, and/or library experience in instruction, research, or collections
Ability to thrive in a collaborative environment as well as take initiative on independent projects.
Interest in and willingness to adopt the Tisch Library values of Community, Curiosity & Learning, Openness, and Social Justice

Preferred Qualifications:

2 years experience providing subject liaison services (instruction, consultation, and/or collection development) in an academic library or other public service environment
Relevant subject expertise related to social sciences, e.g., related undergraduate or graduate degree and/or experience supporting social science disciplines such as anthropology, business or entrepreneurship, child studies and human development, economics, psychology, sociology, or other
Knowledge of current research practices and issues in the social sciences, e.g., data science, data management, open research, and data visualization
Experience with and/or willingness to cultivate expertise in finding, acquiring, manipulating, and analyzing quantitative and qualitative data and keeping up-to-date with data-related development
Experience leading peers in project or committee work

This full-time, full-year position is hybrid and includes work that can be done remotely as well as work that must be done on-site (e.g. classroom instruction and other programming, training, and collaboration).

Salary is based on related experience, expertise, and internal equity; generally, new hires can expect pay between the minimum and midpoint of the range.