The New York University Division of Libraries seeks a Discovery Systems Technology Specialist to join the Knowledge Access Design and Development (KADD) department. The incumbent will play an active role in the support and development of BobCat, which is a major part of NYU Libraries’ web presence and a primary means by which students and scholars conduct research and access our collections. By serving as primary administrator of key underlying software and workflows, including Ex Libris’s Primo application, the incumbent will help ensure comprehensive access to NYU collections and those of our consortial partners. The incumbent will be a point person for understanding system functionality, interpreting documentation, managing upgrades, and providing expert advice on possible migrations or platform changes as well as integration with other systems. He or she will also participate in a user experience team, ensuring that Web analytics, user feedback, and usability assessment inform implementation decisions.
NYU’s discovery environment supports over 40,000 students and over 10,000 faculty members around the world, as well as researchers unaffiliated with NYU. This work is critical to the Library’s mission to advance learning, research and scholarly inquiry in an atmosphere dedicated to the open exchange of knowledge.
Key Responsibilities:
- Administer, develop, and evaluate metadata-driven applications that underlie BobCat, the primary discovery portal for the NYU Division of Libraries.
- Receive, submit, and respond to feature requests and bug reports; consult with vendors and open-source community members as needed; implement fixes or enhancements.
- Advise and consult colleagues on discovery system capabilities and strategies for mapping and searching across metadata schemes and across diverse collections and materials.
- Contribute to the user-centered assessment and configuration of the BobCat portal and develop strategies and plans for system upgrades and migrations.
- Participate in the design of usability studies.
- Collaborate with other library technologists on software integration and testing.
- Contribute to planning and development of specialized discovery portals.
Qualifications:
Required Education & Experience:
Bachelor’s degree in computer science, information science, library science, or related field. Experience with integrated library systems and/or metadata discovery systems, with emphasis on application administration, batch metadata processing, and XML parsing; knowledge of metadata standards such as MARC and Dublin Core; knowledge of library technology protocols such as OpenURL, OAI-PMH, Z39.5-, and SRU/W; experience writing scripts in common scripting languages (Perl, PHP, bash, Python, or Ruby preferred); experience with Linux/Unix server environments; experience with usability and assessment of library services; experience in developing and implementing complex processing workflows; experience performing data analysis on a variety of data formats. Excellent communication and interpersonal skills; excellent planning and organizational skills; ability to handle multiple tasks simultaneously and establish appropriate priorities.
Priority will be given to candidates with experience in the following areas:
Experience with one or more of the suite of Ex Libris products (Primo, Aleph, MetaLib, SFX); knowledge of database architecture and SQL; experience with Lucene-Solr indexing; experience with Selenium (or other automated testing tools), Jenkins (or other CI service), and Git (or other version control system).
New York University Libraries:
Libraries at New York University serve the school’s 40,000 students and faculty and contain more than 5 million volumes. The Division of Libraries supports NYU’s role as the first true Global Network University by collaborating with and providing services to our 11 global academic centers and our Abu Dhabi and Shanghai portal campuses. The Division is a member of the Association of Research Libraries and the OCLC Research Library Partnership. The Division participates in a variety of consortia and collaborates closely with the New-York Historical Society and the Brooklyn Historical Society. For the NYU Libraries Mission and Strategic Plan go to http://library.nyu.edu/about/Strategic_Plan.pdf.
To Apply:
Application and resume must include a cover letter that reflects how your experience fits the position description.
For more information about working at NYU and to apply, visit our website at: www.nyucareers.com
Click on search positions and then search by position title or by posting number 20095522.
NYU’s Division of Libraries embraces diversity and is committed to attracting qualified candidates who also embrace and value diversity and inclusivity.
NYU is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.