Digital Assets Librarian
University of Toronto Job Location: Ontario Date Created: 06-20-2018
POSITION: Digital Assets Librarian (Librarian I or II)
DEPARTMENT: University of Toronto Libraries
DATE REQUIRED: ASAP
Are you looking for challenging, meaningful work in a supportive and diverse environment? Are you looking for a career at one of Canada's top employers? Work where the world comes to think, discover and learn. Consider a career at the University of Toronto.
About the University of Toronto Libraries
The University of Toronto Libraries (UTL) system is the largest academic library in Canada and is consistently ranked among the top-10 research libraries in North America. The system consists of 44 libraries located on three university campuses: St. George, Mississauga, and Scarborough. This array of college libraries, special collections, and specialized libraries and information centres supports the teaching and research requirements of 215 graduate programs, over 60 professional programs, and more than 700 undergraduate degree programs. In addition to more than 12 million print volumes, the library system currently provides access to millions of electronic resources in various forms and over 29,554 linear metres of archival material. More than 150,000 new print volumes are acquired each year. The Libraries' data centre houses more than 200 servers with a storage capacity of 1.5 petabytes.
The Opportunity
The University of Toronto Libraries is in a period of investigation and re-imagination with regard to the processes it uses to collect and preserve digital assets. UTL is seeking a Digital Assets Librarian to support the development of digital preservation workflows and to ensure a manageable and uninterrupted flow of digital assets into the library's care. Reporting to the Digital Preservation Librarian and working closely with the Information Technology Services and Archives & Special Collections teams, the Digital Assets Librarian will focus on projects to support responsible, robust, and sustainable workflows for the acquisition and preservation of digital assets.
Duties include:
● Refine, implement, and document workflows for format migration, preservation, assessment, and access - with a focus on automation and integration with existing and emerging digital preservation systems.
● Develop and operationalize a central service to support the extraction of library assets from legacy digital media in support of UTL collection holders.
● Coordinate closely with technology and library partners on technical implementation and development of preservation workflows to ensure their smooth and consistent integration.
● Design, coordinate, and lead training for participating UTL library and archival collection holders with a focus on methods and commonly used tools for appraisal, accessioning, processing, and describing born-digital materials.
● With collection holders, develop and support the adoption of preservation standards for use across UTL (e.g. recommended metadata content and structure, deposit structures, and description).
● Liaise with university researchers, content providers, and other information providers to ensure safe and reliable transfer of digital assets into UTL's custody.
● Process digital assets awaiting ingest into UTL digital preservation systems.
● Investigate emerging technologies and potential service offerings (e.g. access tools, information risk management solutions), with an emphasis on collaborative efforts across the academic community.
Required Qualifications
* A degree from an accredited Master's level program in library and information studies
* Strong and demonstrated aptitude for technology
* Aptitude for complex, analytical work with an attention to detail, and the ability to manage multiple priorities and competing deadlines
* Highly developed oral and written skills, particularly the ability to explain complex concepts to a wide variety of users
* Excellent organizational, time management, collaborative and problem solving skills
* Ability to interact positively and productively with staff and researchers
* Sound decision-making ability
* Demonstrated capacity for self-directed development
Preferred Qualifications
* Experience with current practice in digital preservation, including platforms, tools, and metadata standards
* Experience with tools used for the accession and transfer of digital assets stored on legacy media
* Experience handling fragile and/or high-value digital media
* Experience using emulation software to provide access to institutional digital assets
* Experience with tape backup and other IT infrastructure technologies
* Experience assessing and adopting standards in an institutional context
* Experience planning and implementing new technology, standards, and workflows
* Experience with manual and automated metadata creation tools
* Evidence of productive participation in professional communities
Salary and Terms of Appointment
This is a permanent status stream appointment to be hired at the Librarian I or II rank. Rank and salary will be commensurate with experience and academic/professional qualifications.
NOTE: Librarians at the University of Toronto are members of the University of Toronto Faculty Association.
Application Materials Required: A cover letter, curriculum vitae, and contact information for three references of which at least two have supervised your work. Please send a single electronic file (MS Word or pdf) with a file name convention of [Surname, FirstName_DAL] to Library Human Resources at utlhr@utoronto.ca; or to Room 1140, 130 St. George Street, University of Toronto Libraries, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A5; or by fax to (416) 946-5543 by July 20, 2018.
The University of Toronto is strongly committed to diversity within its community and especially welcomes applications from racialized persons / persons of colour, women, Indigenous / Aboriginal People of North America, persons with disabilities, LGBTQ persons, and others who may contribute to the further diversification of ideas.
All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority.
The University strives to be an equitable and inclusive community, and proactively seeks to increase diversity among its community members. Our values regarding equity and diversity are linked with our unwavering commitment to excellence in the pursuit of our academic mission. The University is committed to the principles of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). As such, we strive to make our recruitment, assessment and selection processes as accessible as possible and provide accommodations as required for applicants with disabilities. If you require any accommodations at any point during the application and hiring process, please contact utlhr@utoronto.ca
The University of Toronto Libraries thanks all applicants but will only contact applicants selected for an interview.
University of Toronto Library System: http://onesearch.library.utoronto.ca/
University of Toronto: http://www.hrandequity.utoronto.ca/site3.aspx
Policies for librarians: http://www.hrandequity.utoronto.ca/faculty-librarians.htm
