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Head of Digital Scholarship Services Librarian, Librarian I or II

Head of Digital Scholarship Services Librarian, Librarian I or II

Michigan State University Job Location: Michigan Apply By: 04/18/2022 Date Created: 03-21-2022

Position Summary The Michigan State University Libraries seeks an energetic, creative, knowledgeable, and user-oriented librarian for the position of Head of Digital Scholarship Services. The successful candidate will lead a team of innovative and collaborative professionals in the Libraries’ Digital Scholarship Lab and work closely with campus partners across disciplines in digital scholarship to facilitate and raise the visibility of collaborative interdisciplinary work. The Digital Scholarship Lab was established in 2017 as a campus partnership with the College of Arts and Letters in part to support the well-established and growing digital humanities program at Michigan State University. The Lab contains state-of-the-art computing and infrastructure to support a wide variety of digital scholarship projects and activities, including the 360, an immersive visualization room; a dedicated suite for VR work; and capacity for advanced digitization projects. The lab is co-located and works closely with the Hollander Makerspace, fostering a broad community of innovative teaching and learning. In the four years of its existence, the Digital Scholarship Lab has attracted faculty and students from every college of the university and has hosted events from design charrettes and immersive filmmaking to senior projects in VR and university wide XR symposiums. The Lab has also played an important role as an incubator for digital projects in many forms and supports research teams and grant proposals in digital scholarship. It is an important part of the infrastructure of digital scholarship at MSU and a center for engagement for digital scholars at MSU, regionally and nationally. Scope of the position: The Head of Digital Scholarship Services is responsible for planning, implementing, and managing an active, comprehensive digital scholarship program that engages faculty and students in a variety of ways through teaching, learning, research, and outreach to the community. Within the MSU Libraries, the Head of Digital Scholarship Services reports to the Associate Dean of Teaching, Learning and Research Engagement and partners with librarians and staff on initiatives and services. The Head leads a team of 4 FTE librarians, including 3 digital scholarship librarians and a data services librarian, 1 FTE staff and numerous student workers. The Head also works closely with our partners in the College of Arts and Letters on programmatic directions and partnership in digital humanities teaching and research.  Externally, the Head collaborates with faculty, administrators, staff, and students in all disciplines across campus as well as with other campus units as a partner and thought leader for the digital scholarship infrastructure at Michigan State University. Responsibilities:
  • Developing, managing, and assessing programs and services of the Digital Scholarship Services including strategic planning and daily operations in support of digital scholarship programs, including teaching, research consultation and support, data services, and outreach.
  • Supervising and mentoring staff of the Digital Scholarship Lab, particularly in the area of developing and maintaining technical and research expertise.
  • Fostering digital scholarship projects that support faculty, researchers, and students in their own teaching, research, and scholarly activities.
  • Building awareness and support for the Digital Scholarship Lab programs and services by providing information and education to internal and external constituencies.
  • Advocating and collaborating with constituencies on issues related to digital research, outreach, and publishing both directly and through the assistance of subject liaisons across all library departments.
  • Working closely with other public service units to ensure open communication and consistent implementation of Libraries policies and procedures.
  • Keeping abreast of the latest trends and best practices in the field of digital scholarship and digital humanities.
  • Encouraging experimentation and risk-taking in digital scholarship projects as part of professional growth and innovative services.
  • Participating actively and collaboratively on library and university committees, task forces, and project teams as appropriate.
  • Actively seeking opportunities to participate in professional organizations to meet MSU Libraries’ criteria for advancement and promotion.
Librarians are appointed as regular faculty in the continuing appointment system and are engaged in professional development and scholarly activities related to their position in addition to serving on library and university committees as elected or assigned. The MSU Libraries Strategic Plan guides our current and future work. The candidate will enthusiastically partner with our diverse campus to develop our welcoming multicultural environment. More information on MSU and the MSU Libraries’ dedication to diversity, equity, and inclusion is available at: http://www.inclusion.msu.edu/about/index.html. Michigan State University Libraries serve more than 5,700 faculty, 39,000 under-graduates, and 11,000 graduate and professional students on a park-like campus of over 5,000 acres. Minimum Qualifications
  • Master’s degree in library science from an ALA accredited institution.
  • Three years of progressively responsible professional experience in an academic library.
  • Ability to successfully supervise, mentor, and train librarians and staff.
  • Excellent technology skills, knowledge of current digital scholarship trends, and ability to evaluate and apply new technologies.
  • Experience providing consultations as well as teaching or leading workshops on digital scholarship tools and/or methods to faculty and students.
  • Demonstrated ability to build and engage an active research and teaching community, including working collaboratively and building partnerships across disciplines.
  • Ability to work creatively, collaboratively, and effectively and to promote teamwork, diversity, equality, and inclusiveness within MSU Libraries and the campus.
  • Excellent oral, written, and interpersonal communication skills.
Desired Qualifications
  • Experience applying for and managing grants.
  • Experience working with donors.
  • Experience working with vendors in the digital scholarship arena.
  • Experience successfully supervising librarians and staff.
  • Active presence in the digital scholarship, digital humanities, or related community.
Closing Date Monday, April 18th, 2022 Special Instructions to Applicants Minimum $75,000. Salary is negotiable. MSU provides generous fringe benefits. Interested applicants should provide a letter of application, CV/resume, and names, addresses and email addresses of three references (2 must be present/past supervisors) to http://careers.msu.edu, posting #767740.

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