Job Summary
The University of Kentucky seeks collaborative, experienced, and innovative applicants with proven leadership and vision skills for the position of Head of the Science Library and eScience Initiatives. The successful candidate will manage the Science Library services, resources, and facilities in addition to leading the Science Library team of librarians and staff.
The candidate will serve as an academic liaison in one or more STEM-related disciplines including active participation in information literacy, assessment, outreach initiatives, collection development, and research and data support services. The candidate will work collaboratively with other STEM librarians and foster partnerships with faculty, students, and researchers on campus.
The candidate will serve as a leader in eScience initiatives for UK Libraries and related areas including supporting university researchers and working collaboratively with the Director for Digital Scholarship to advance UKnowledge as the university institutional repository. In collaboration with the Director of the UK Libraries Research Data Center, the candidate will coordinate efforts of faculty and staff in the development, implementation, and assessment of research support services for faculty, students, and research centers in the sciences.
Responsibilities
Reporting to the Director of Branch Libraries, responsibilities include:
- Responsible for daily management of the Science Library facility
- Supervise Science Library personnel, currently including 2.0 FTE faculty librarians, 2.0 FTE library staff and student workers. May include additional personnel in the future.
- Coordinate public services offered by the Science Library
- Serve as a multidisciplinary academic liaison meeting the information needs of students, faculty/staff and other patrons through reference, information literacy, and collection development
- Participate in leadership of university eScience and research data management initiatives for the library system
- Provide data management training and facilitation, in-depth research consultation, and support for the writing and management of research grants
- Participate in outreach and campus engagement that build partnerships and cultivate relationships with key university units involved with STEM subjects
- Participate in shared governance of the University of Kentucky by serving on library, departmental/college, and university committees as appropriate
- Pursue professional development and service activities in order to meet the library requirements for tenure and promotion
Required Qualifications
- ALA-accredited Master’s degree in Library and Information Science
- A minimum of five years successfully managing library professionals and/or paraprofessionals in an academic or research library environment
- Significant experience serving as an academic liaison to one or more STEM-related disciplines
- Experience with and/or knowledge of eScience/data management issues and solutions
- Ability to manage multiple projects efficiently
- Demonstrated evidence of a flexible, energetic, creative, and results-oriented leadership style that promotes trust, autonomy, and accountability
- Excellent communication skills (verbal, written, interpersonal) and the ability to establish strong rapport with multiple constituencies in order to effectively collaborate and build partnerships inside and outside of the library and university
- An understanding of the current research, information sources and scholarly trends in STEM disciplines, including knowledge of emerging issues and technologies in science librarianship
- Evidence of continued commitment to the profession that can result in meeting University of Kentucky promotion and tenure requirements
Preference will be given to candidates with:
- Graduate course work or an additional degree in in a discipline relevant to STEM programs, preferably the sciences, and a deep understanding of the research, literature, and information sources in that area
- Demonstrated leadership and collaboration skills and ability to work across organizational boundaries
- Experience as a head or director of a library department, program or unit
- Expertise in leveraging existing and emerging technologies to broaden the reach of a library
- Information literacy experience incorporating user-centered techniques such as active learning for STEM students
- Experience in library assessment procedures and practices, including but not limited to information literacy
- Experience leading eScience and research data management activities
- Knowledge of e-science resources, open access, and trends that support data gathering and management, visualization, competitive analysis, and other emerging technologies, especially as they support research and teaching
Position is a full-time, 12-month, tenure-track position.
About the University of Kentucky
The University of Kentucky is a public, land grant university of approximately 28,000 students, 2,000 faculty and 12,000 staff dedicated to improving people’s lives through excellence in education, research and creative work, service, and health care. With over 200 academic programs across 16 colleges and professional schools, the University plays a critical leadership role by promoting diversity, inclusion, economic development, and human well-being.
Located in the beautiful bluegrass region of central Kentucky, the University of Kentucky Libraries includes the main William T. Young Library, Medical Center Library, Special Collections, Agricultural Information Center, Fine Arts Library, Design Library, Education Library, Transportation Library, Lexmark Library, Engineering Library, and Science Library. UK Libraries also manages the Kentucky Digital Library for the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Combined library holdings total more than four million volumes. The system has a faculty of 60 and a support and professional staff of 108 and serves a student body of 28,000. UK Libraries uses the Voyager integrated library system. UK Libraries memberships include the Association of Research Libraries, LYRASIS, ASERL, and the Center for Research Libraries. UK is a regional depository for government publications.
Apply
To apply, interested applicants must complete a UK Online Academic Profile at https://ukjobs.uky.edu/postings/42603 and attach two documents: a cover letter (Cover Letter) and curriculum vitae (Resume). If you have any questions, contact HR/Employment, phone (859) 257-9555, press 2. The application deadline is November 30, 2014. The University of Kentucky is an equal opportunity employer committed to building a culturally diverse intellectual community and strongly encourages applications from women and underrepresented minorities.
