Electronic Resources Manager, University Libraries Boston University, (Boston, MA)

Posted October 24, 2025

Job Description:

The Boston University Libraries seek an Electronic Resources Manager to oversee the licensing, acquisition, discovery, and management of the library’s electronic resources, including e-books, e-journals, databases, and other digital materials. The Electronic Resources Manager works collaboratively with other librarians and university staff to promote the library’s online resources from acquisition to discovery and delivery. This librarian will assume a leadership role in overseeing a team responsible for e-resource acquisition, access, and troubleshooting. The individual in this role will have a strong understanding of the full lifecycle of electronic resources management as well as experience in vendor communication. The Electronic Resources Manager will negotiate license agreements, oversee the creation and maintenance of orders for library content, and ensure user discovery and access for a robust and expansive electronic resources collection.

Reporting to the Head of Technical Services, the Electronic Resources Manager will have primary responsibility for coordinating the licensing, acquisition, discovery, access maintenance, and assessment of electronic resources while working in close collaboration with subject librarians and consortia partners. The librarian in this role will train, supervise, and evaluate the electronic resources staff in the department. The Electronic Resources Manager works with colleagues in Library Technology & Discovery Services, subject liaison librarians, and other library departments to maintain and promote access to electronic resources in all formats. This librarian serves as a forward-thinking leader within and beyond Technical Services on all matters of electronic resource acquisitions and access.

The Electronic Resources Manager will:

Licensing and Acquisitions: Negotiate terms and conditions for electronic resources licenses in coordination with the BU Libraries Collections Council. Develop training materials for electronic resources staff and create documentation to supplement licensing best practices, such as model license agreement templates and license terms checklists. Build and maintain strong relationships with vendors, publishers, and consortial negotiation partners to secure favorable license terms. Provide leadership for annual reviews of continuing resources in electronic and print formats, establishing a calendar of expected milestones in alignment with vendor and subscription agent renewal dates. Monitor year-over-year cost increases for continuing resources, working in collaboration with the Collections Council to maintain fiscal year target costs. Support collection development efforts by compiling quantitative and qualitative metrics, including COUNTER and non-COUNTER usage data; produce analytical reporting for collection assessment.
Management and Supervision: Supervise a team of four staff members. Evaluate work performance of electronic resources staff, address performance issues as they occur, and support continuous professional development. Perform routine quality control on staff outputs, assuring that all work meets expected standards and conforms to accepted best practices. Provide training for all technical services staff who contribute to the management of continuing resources in electronic and print formats. Develop training materials and documentation on continuing resource management workflows for staff. Provide leadership and mentorship to electronic resources staff, identifying professional opportunities where appropriate and ensuring that staff’s knowledge and abilities are in line with current practice in the field.
Access and Discovery: Support reliable access to electronic resources, providing leadership and expertise in the management of library systems including Alma, Primo VE, and EZproxy. Monitor and triage electronic resource access issues, taking lead role in overseeing service queues, delegating troubleshooting assignments, and working directly with content providers to resolve issues related to access and discovery in a timely manner. Manage automated knowledgebase holdings updates, ensuring accuracy of discovery systems and responding to linking issues as needed. Provide expert assistance to library colleagues who prepare and deliver support to users of electronic resources. Oversee the receipt, processing, binding, and maintenance of print serials collections.
Collaboration and Professional Practice: Stay abreast of best practices, emerging technologies, and evolving standards in technical services through professional development activities, conferences, and engagement with relevant professional organizations. Pursue professional engagement for self and staff through projects, publications, and by attending and participating in national conferences and meetings to connect the Boston University Libraries with best practices and emergent issues in higher education administration and library service development. Participate in library committees, working groups, and projects.

Required Skills

Master’s degree in library and information science or related field.
Minimum three years of professional experience working in electronic resources management, metadata, serials/continuing resources, or acquisitions.
Experience with vendor communication/relations, negotiation, and/or management of license agreements.
Strong understanding of scholarly electronic resources, including online journals, databases, and e-books.
Experience with or working knowledge of relevant standards, initiatives, tools, and services, such as COUNTER, SUSHI, OpenURL link resolvers, and proxy servers such as EZproxy and authentication methods such as SSO.
Excellent oral, written, and interpersonal communication skills.

Preferred Qualifications:

Two or more years of supervisory experience.
Experience using Ex Libris’ Alma and Primo VE.
Experience working with subscription agents on annual serial renewals.
Familiarity with trends in scholarly publishing such as open access (OA) support models, transformative agreements, read and publish subscriptions, and subscribe to open.
Familiarity with the licensing and acquisition of datasets to support research in STEM and digital humanities disciplines.

How to Apply

For consideration, please submit a cover letter, CV, and list of professional references. Review of applications will begin on November 7, 2025. The position will remain open until filled.

To apply for this position, see the Boston University careers page here: https://jobs.silkroad.com/BU/External/jobs/316001