{{ site.title }}

Director of Cataloging and Discovery

Director of Cataloging and Discovery

Brown University Job Location: Rhode Island Date Created: 09-13-2022

The Brown University Library is a dynamic center of scholarship and community at the heart of a world-class research university. Supporting and collaborating with a broad and diverse academic constituency, the Library is essential for Brown’s mission “to serve the community, the nation, and the world by discovering, communicating, and preserving knowledge and understanding in a spirit of free inquiry.” Integrating with Brown’s ambitious strategic plans, the Library is a site of innovation that fuels intellectual creativity. Signature Library initiatives include the establishment of the Center for Library Exploration and Research to increase campus and community impact; the Racial Justice Project to assess and counteract the legacies of historical racism in library practice; the Digital Publications Initiative pioneering new approaches to born-digital scholarship; and a revisioned special collections program that is positioning the John Hay Library as a research destination and leader in reparative and community-based collecting. We are seeking outstanding library professionals at all levels of the organization who are excited about advancing academic excellence at the highest level, and who will bring a wide array of backgrounds, experiences, and abilities to a scholarly community that is actively committed to being more diverse and inclusive. The Brown University Library seeks a creative and forward-thinking library professional to join the senior leadership team and build an efficient and highly effective Cataloging and Discovery Department. As part of the Scholarly Resources Division, the Director of Cataloging and Discovery directs the operations of the Cataloging Unit, the Discovery & Access Unit, and the Metadata Services Unit, and contributes to the strategic vision of making scholarly resources accessible and discoverable by a diversity of users. They guide the highly skilled staff who provide timely access to information resources in all formats to meet the academic needs of a broad and diverse campus community and collaborate with the senior leadership team in Scholarly Resources in organizational planning and development initiatives; they regularly review and assess department operations to maximize effectiveness and efficiency. This position serves as the primary liaison for matters related to cataloging operations and priorities. The position currently supervises a unit of four paraprofessional staff and one professional, and reports to the AUL for Scholarly Resources.   Qualifications
  • ALA-accredited master’s degree in library and information science or an equivalent combination of education and education and experience
  • 7 years experience in cataloging or metadata services;
  • Minimum 5 years of supervisory experience in a library environment
  • Experience with Ex Libris Alma/Primo
  • Experience leading teams and fostering continuous improvement.
  • Demonstrated ability to effectively engage, motivate, and coach staff.
  • Demonstrated proficiency with current and emerging cataloging rules and standards.
  • Thorough understanding of the relationship between bibliographic and authority records in an automated environment, including discovery system functionality generated from MARC and non-MARC metadata.
  • Knowledge of or demonstrated interest in BIBFRAME and LRM development and other library applications of linked open data.
  • Excellence in the following skills: verbal and written communication, interpersonal, planning, organizational, and analytical.
  • Demonstrated commitment to diversity and inclusion as well as an understanding of the contributions a diverse workforce brings to the workplace.

Learn More »

Affiliates