Digital Scholarship/ Special Projects Librarian – Limited Term

St. Catharines, Main Campus
Full time
Job requisition id: JR-1016629

This position is part of the BUFA (Employee Group)

One of Canada’s leading comprehensive universities and a Top Employer in Hamilton-Niagara, and named one of Canada’s Best Employers compiled by Forbes and Statista, Brock University is an inclusive, welcoming campus community that offers a wide range of unique career opportunities for those with passion, energy and expertise. We’re looking for team members who want to help us continue to deliver an exceptional student experience, perform impact-driven research and generate life-changing breakthroughs for our world. Ignite new possibilities for your career. Break through at Brock.

Post End Date:

Note to all candidates: This posting will close at 12:01 am on the date listed .October 26, 2023

Please Note: This is a Limited Term Appointment. 12-month Duration.

About Brock University

Located at the centre of Canada’s beautiful Niagara Peninsula, Brock offers an exciting work environment with strong undergraduate, graduate and interdisciplinary programs and a vigorous research culture. Brock offers all the benefits of a young and modern university in a safe, community-minded city, with beautiful natural surroundings. With over 19,000 students and more than 100 undergraduate and graduate programs in seven diverse Faculties, Brock excels at providing exceptional experiential learning opportunities and highly rated student and campus life experiences. The university, including the library, has a number of concrete initiatives that are aimed at improving equity and inclusion for all members of the Brock community. Once such example is the recently struck President’s Committee on Human Rights, Equity, and Decolonization.

Brock University’s main campus is situated atop the Niagara Escarpment, within a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve, overlooking the City of St. Catharines, in the heart of Niagara wine country and is a short drive from Toronto, Niagara Falls, and Buffalo, New York. Niagara is an exceptional location to call home for the next stage of your career.

More information on Brock University can be found on the University’s website at https://www.brocku.ca/.

About Brock University Library

Brock University Library includes the James A. Gibson Library; the Map, Data & GIS Library; Archives & Special Collections; as well as the Makerspace within the new Brock LINC facility. With six departments, a staff of 54 including 20 professional librarians, and an annual budget of over $11 million, the Library provides services and resources to support over 600 faculty and a growing student body.  

Our progressive and talented community of librarians and staff are committed to student success, collegiality, and collaboration. Our values of Innovation, Integrity, Inspiration and Inclusivity guide all that we do. The Brock Library strategic plan contains four strategic pillars highlighting student success; the research lifecycle; community engagement; and strengthening capacity. Internally in the library, the IDEA+D committee has the mandate to identify, develop and deliver Library initiatives that increase awareness and promote understanding of inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility (IDEA) and Decolonization issues.

The Library has recently implemented a new organizational structure intended to align with the Library’s and the University’s strategic plans. Candidates should be comfortable working in an evolutionary environment in which the organization continues to grow and change in alignment with strategic directions.

For further details about the Library, visit https://www.brocku.ca/library.

About the Opportunity

Brock University Library invites applications for the full-time, 12-month limited-term appointment position of Digital Scholarship/ Special Projects Librarian from qualified candidates who have demonstrated interest in and understanding of open publishing, digital scholarship, and/or the research lifecycle.

The successful candidate will join the Research Lifecycle Department, a researcher-centered department that offers expertise in various stages of the research lifecycle, including research data management, evidence synthesis, scholarly communication, and digital scholarship. This department includes one service point, the Map, Data, GIS Library, which provides specialized support and access to relevant maps, data, and GIS materials, programming, and more.

Reporting to the Head, Research Lifecycle, the Digital Scholarship/ Special Projects Librarian will support open publishing on campus by providing direct assistance to individual researchers, maintaining awareness of trends in scholarly communication, and administration of infrastructure such as the institutional repository and open journal systems. Responsibilities include provision of digital scholarship services and supporting special projects of strategic importance to the department.

The successful candidate will:

• Contribute to the open publishing infrastructure on campus using Brock’s instance of Open Journal Systems;
• Contribute to the administration of Brock University’s Institutional Repository;
• In collaboration with the Scholarly Communications Librarian, promote a culture of open scholarship on campus;
• Provides services to support digital scholarship including consultations, project support, instruction, workshop development and delivery;
• Collaborate with campus partners and continuously learn about digital scholarship trends, tools and methods currently available on campus and beyond;
• Provide recommendations about existing digital scholarship initiatives and services, in consultation with the Head, Research Lifecycle;
• Develops and promotes educational content (tutorials, guides, etc.) that supports digital scholarship on campus;
• Collaboratively support departmental goals and activities;
• Engage in ongoing professional development and apply useful developments into practice.

Qualified candidates will possess the following:

• A Master’s degree from an ALA-accredited library program or equivalent;
• Knowledge of and/or expertise in at least one of the following areas:
  • The research lifecycle and related library services,
  • Current and emerging conversations in open scholarship,
  • Digital scholarship methods and tools (such as multi-modal web exhibit platforms, data visualization, data management);
• Demonstrated ability to learn new systems, tools, or platforms to support library processes/ services;
• Evidence of creative and flexible approaches to setting and achieving professional goals;
• Demonstrated ability to work well in both team-based and self-directed environments;
• Familiarity with inclusivity, accessibility, reconciliation, and decolonization initiatives in Canadian academic libraries;
• Excellent interpersonal, oral, and written communication skills.

Qualifications Considered an Asset:

We want to emphasize that these qualifications are considered an asset. They are not required, and we are committed to helping our future colleague develop these skills.

• Educational or relevant experience in digital scholarship methods, tools or library services;
• Education or relevant experience in open access publishing;
• Experience conducting reference interviews in an academic setting.

This position has an anticipated start date of January 1, 2024.

Compensation:

Brock University offers a competitive salary and an attractive benefits package. It is anticipated that this appointment will be made at the rank of Librarian I or II. Salary and rank will be commensurate with experience and qualifications. The position is included in the Brock University Faculty Association (BUFA) and is governed by the BUFA Collective Agreement.

Application Instructions:

Applicants are invited to apply by submitting a curriculum vitae and a cover letter through the online application system (Note: file maximum of 5MB per attachment upload).

We appreciate all applications received; however, we will contact only those candidates selected for an interview. Preliminary interviews, if held, will be conducted online. Interviews will be one day in length and consist of a public presentation on a given topic as well as meetings with relevant stakeholders.

All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority.

Our Commitment

Brock University is actively committed to diversity and the principles of employment equity and invites applications from all qualified candidates. Women, Indigenous (First Nations, Métis, Inuit) peoples, Black people, people with disabilities, members of visible minorities/racialized groups, and Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and additional sexually and gender diverse (2SLGBTQI+) persons are encouraged to apply and to voluntarily self-identify as a member of a designated group as part of their application. Candidates who wish to be considered as a member of one or more designated groups should fill out the Self-Identification Form and include the completed form with their application.

All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however Canadian citizens and permanent residents will be given priority.

We will accommodate the needs of the applicants and the Ontario Human Rights Code and the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) throughout all stages of the selection process, as outlined in the Employment Accommodation Policy https://brocku.ca/policies/wp-content/uploads/sites/94/Employment-Accommodation-Policy.pdf. Please advise: talent@brocku.ca  to ensure your accessibility needs are accommodated through this process. Information received relating to accommodation measures will be addressed confidentially.

We appreciate all applications received; however, only candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.  

Learn more about Brock University by visiting www.brocku.ca