Position: Special Collections Technician
Location: Library of Congress
Salary: $56,086 – $72,907

Full vacancy announcement available on USAJOBS.

Summary

The position is located in the Physical Collection Services Section of the Serial and Government Publications Division.
The position description number for this position is 345702.
The incumbent will work a full-time, flextime schedule.
This is a non-supervisory, bargaining unit position.
The salary range indicated reflects the locality pay adjustments for the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan area.

Duties

In an automated cataloging environment, the incumbent performs copy cataloging from OCLC for special collections titles as needed. Under review of senior staff, creates and revises bibliographic records, including Initial Bibliographic Control (IBC) records and performs content designation on newly created and updated bibliographic records. Creates and updates holdings and item records for special collection material. Resolves routine problems and refers difficult problems and items needing authority work to division cataloger.

Searches large in-house databases and the ILS to identify appropriate custody of acquired material and possible duplicates. Performs preliminary cataloging, identifies variant editions of special collections material (notably of comic books), and processes special collections material. Locates, identifies and resolves problems with special collections generated by inventory and special projects.

Retrieves special collection materials for library staff, researchers, or exhibits. Independently locates items not readily available on the shelf.

Writes and/or edits documents and reports. Researches items in special collections for the creation of captions for exhibits as well as descriptions appropriate for finding aids and division web pages.

Relocation expenses will not be authorized for the person(s) selected under this vacancy announcement.

Position: Group Manager, Research Library
Location: Federal Reserve Board

Originally posted on the SLA Career Center.

The Group Manager supervises a group within the Research Library, formulating and implementing library programs and services in support of the Board’s mission and functions with guidance from the chief librarian and division officers. Programs and services provided by the team include data and research materials acquisition, fielding database service requests, tracking user access for subscriptions, facilitating division data meetings and subject-specific data interest groups, and ensuring data are used within scope of contract permitted use rights and cited accurately in externally released publications and speeches. In consultation with the library management team, the group manager plans, organizes, staffs, directs, controls, and manages resources within the group to accomplish the group’s objectives. In addition, the group manager works with the chief librarian to provide strategic and operational guidance for the collection, maintenance, and dissemination of business data and information pertaining to a broad range of both division and Board-wide research programs and activities, and for identifying opportunities to increase efficiency and streamline processes through sustainable process improvement.

Position Description: The Group Manager (GM) will join the library’s management team to lead an experienced, customer-focused team of six librarians within the Board Research Library’s Data & Subscriptions Team. The members of this team acquire data and subscription services that fuel the economic research at the Federal Reserve Board, the nation’s central bank. The Group Manager will be responsible for maintaining vendor relationships and negotiating licenses for a portfolio of contracts in addition to their supervisory role. The Board Research Library has 18 staff supporting the research and policy work of more than 300 economists and hundreds of analysts. This position is particularly rewarding because the data and subscriptions the team acquires are used immediately to support research agendas and policy work that ultimately inform senior officials as they chart the course of U.S. monetary policy.

Responsibilities:

• Coaching, mentoring, and supporting the professional development of Data & Subscription Team members
• Supervising librarians by establishing priorities; assigning, directing, and reviewing work of group members; and conducting performance appraisals
• Facilitating group cohesion and a sense of shared purpose through connection to the Board’s mission and the Board and library strategic plans, and intentionally fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace
• Assisting the chief librarian with strategic direction and planning for the group and the library as a whole
• Negotiating strategically important new and renewing content licenses, as well as supporting team members through their license negotiations
• Representing the library and the Research & Statistics division on work groups and committees to coordinate library activities across the Federal Reserve System, provide updates on division data acquisitions, and facilitate subject-specific data interest groups
• Addressing database-related service requests and requests for database access in a highly responsive manner
• Consulting on data use guidelines by describing legal contract terms in ways to help Board staff understand the implications for their work
• Working with the library’s research, technical services, marketing, and technology teams to ensure smooth workflows and increased collaboration between teams internal to the library
• Serving as the Board’s expert on the development of guidelines and policies relating to the work of the group
• Coordinating the acquisition process with Board colleagues as new content licenses move through legal negotiation, procurement, billing, and data onboarding processes
• Guiding the team on best practices in documenting our work to ensure documents are easy to find and are retained according to Board policy

Qualifications – External
Required Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in library or information science from an ALA-accredited institution or degree in a related field or equivalent experience
• Minimum of 6 years of professional librarian experience
• Demonstrated ability to motivate and direct others, promote diversity and inclusion, and build effective teams
• Proven process management and organizational skills with the impeccable attention to detail needed to document the acquisitions process
• Ability to communicate clearly and confidently both verbally and in writing to build collaborative relationships with all levels of the organization and external vendor partners

Desired Qualifications:

• Prior management experience leading a team within a library or similar information organization
• Minimum of 2 years of experience negotiating licenses for library electronic resources or data licenses
• A strong understanding of the Federal Reserve Board’s mission and the academic research lifecycle to prioritize workloads in support of the Fed’s economic community
• Subject matter knowledge of business data resources (such as economics, finance, or banking subscription services)
• Basic knowledge of the federal government contracting process is helpful but not required
• Enthusiasm for leveraging new technology to improve the efficacy and efficiency of the team’s work
• Experience configuring “subscription management software” or “electronic resource management” software to manage data and research acquisition processes

Location: This role requires relocation to the Washington, D.C. area and on-site presence via a hybrid work schedule.

Position: Metadata and Access Services Librarian (Knowledge Analyst)
Location: Federal Reserve Board

Originally posted on the SLA Career Center.

This entry-level Metadata and Access Services Librarian (part of the Board’s “Knowledge Analyst” job family) will join an experienced, customer-focused team and help ensure that our research community can find and access important resources in a timely and reliable manner. This librarian will support the maintenance of metadata records within the Federal Reserve Board Research Library’s catalog, document repositories, and taxonomies. In addition, they will be responsible for providing access to data and subscription services and items in off-site storage. One exciting upcoming project for this position is assisting with the cleaning of metadata currently stored in legacy systems and its migration to state-of-the-art data catalog and subscription management software solutions. The librarian will also assist with fielding inquiries at the library’s service desk, circulation duties, and act as a back-up to the library’s technician for serials processing and print collection maintenance.

The Board Research Library has 18 staff supporting the research and policy work of more than 400 economists and hundreds of analysts. This position is particularly rewarding because the resources we manage and provide access to resources are used immediately to brief those charting the course of U.S. monetary policy, including Chair Powell, the Board of Governors, and Federal Reserve Bank presidents.

Responsibilities

• Metadata Curation and Maintenance
• Assist with maintenance of metadata records in the library’s catalogs and repositories, including monitoring the news inbox and resolving metadata error reports from automated system
• Update internal name authorities and taxonomy databases
• Support Federal Reserve Board metadata initiatives, including metadata about data asset
• Resource Access and Collection Services
• Address informational questions at the library’s service desk
• Fulfill requests for user access and removals for library subscriptions and data sets
• Survey end users for feedback pertinent to renewing resources
• Provide quality control for migration to a new subscription management software tool
• Provide back up support for physical collection, circulation, and patron account management
• Process off-site storage and retrieval requests, guided by senior staff
• Serials and Periodicals Support
• Provide backup electronic and physical serials support for Library Technician
• Process claims for all serials, under the Serials Librarian’s direction
• Troubleshoot complex access problems for e-journals, with guidance from serials librarian
• Support software applications related to serials-related materials, such as: Table of contents service, newsletter database, speeches database

Qualifications – External
Required Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in library or information science from an ALA-accredited institution or master’s degree in a related field
• Ability to solve problems independently and collaboratively
• User-focused with a strong commitment to customer service
• Strong verbal and written communication skills to build relationships with patrons and colleagues
• Impeccable attention to detail

Desired Qualifications:

• Experience working or interning in a library or other information-oriented institution
• Experience assisting users with discovery and use of library resources
• Experience creating, maintaining, and/or analyzing metadata
• Knowledge of library and/or information management systems, including: integrated library systems (ILS) or library management systems (LMS), research or document repositories, SharePoint
• Subject matter knowledge of business resources (such as economics, finance, banking, or accounting subscription services) is preferred
• Experience with Microsoft Office productivity software

Location: This role requires relocation to the Washington, D.C. area. Subject to management approval, alternative work arrangements such as part-time telework may be possible.