Liaison Librarian for Earth Sciences, UT Libraries

The University of Texas Libraries (UTL) seeks a librarian to join its active and evolving liaison program. The Liaison Librarian for Earth Sciences will be responsible coordinating library engagement, research, and learning services for a geographically distributed community, including the Jackson School of Geosciences and its Bureau of Economic Geology and Institute for Geophysics; the Department of Geography; and the Department of Marine Science and its Marine Science Institute, which is in Port Aransas, Texas. The position reports to the STEM & Social Sciences Engagement Team Lead; as an active member of that team, they will collaborate with colleagues to programmatically leverage our expertise, resources, and relationships to advance student success and deepen research collaborations between UTL and our campus community.  This position will work from our main campus in Austin and is not responsible for day-to-day operations of branches or the supervision of branch staff.

Responsibilities

• Research Support, Scholarly Communication & Digital Initiatives: Provide research support to students and scholars at all stages of the research lifecycle. Consult on data management, data sharing/preservation, and scholarly publishing. Advance scholarly communication and Open Science awareness and engagement across campus communities.

• Collection Stewardship: Engage in collection development/management activities related to earth sciences, in collaboration with the Scholarly Resources Department’s STEM Collections Coordinator. Select and acquire new resources (monographs, serials, maps, data sets, etc.) in both digital and physical formats. Steward and manage gifts and Jackson School library endowment funds. Promote collections, particularly materials unique to UT, through digital projects, UTL communication venues, and collaborative initiatives.

• Teaching & Learning: Plan and conduct classes, create learning objects, and initiate or engage in other activities to advance information/digital literacy among students. Support faculty in selecting and gaining access to course materials, including OERs. Develop and maintain subject-specific guides and instructional materials.

• Engagement & Outreach: Establish and maintain relationships within the community of marine and geoscience students and scholars and serve as their primary library contact. Work collaboratively with the staff in the Walter Geology Library and the Marine Science Institute Library.  Attend, participate in, and plan engagement forums/activities/events within UTL, the UT campus, and beyond. Work across organizational boundaries and complex stakeholder groups to advance UTL services and initiatives. Leverage virtual tools to engage and maintain relationships with constituents on the Pickle and Marine Science campuses. Communicate the impact of your work internally and externally.  

• Professional Development & Service: Actively participate in the work of UT, UT Libraries, and related professional and scholarly communities, particularly by serving on committees, leading or participating in strategic projects or initiatives, and presenting or publishing. Maintain awareness and develop skills related to evolving job responsibilities.

• Other related functions as assigned. 

Required Qualifications

• Master of Library Science, or equivalent degree. 

• A minimum of four years of professional library experience. A second Master’s degree and/or professional work in a related discipline may count towards those years of service.

• Experience working with faculty, post-docs, or graduate students.

• Experience providing research support in an academic library setting, especially to scholars.

• Demonstrated proficiency with information resources and tools important to scientists.

• Enthusiasm for providing collaborative, user-centered services to students and scholars.

• Excellent interpersonal, communication, and presentation skills. 

• A proactive, self-starter approach to work and a willingness to respond to tasks and opportunities with initiative, flexibility, creative energy, and leadership.

Relevant education and experience may be substituted as appropriate.

Preferred Qualifications

• Degree in an earth science discipline or related discipline.

• Experience working as a liaison librarian to scientific disciplines.

• Experience working across organizational boundaries and managing complex stakeholder groups.

• Demonstrated ability to be successful in the design and promotion of innovative programming and services.

• Experience designing learning objects (tutorials, LibGuides, etc.), teaching library-related skills to graduate students, and a strong commitment to innovative and collaborative instruction.

• Experience working with geospatial/scientific data and software such as ArcGIS and RStudio.

• Demonstrated awareness of trends in library data services and work experience in areas such as research data management and data curation.

• Demonstrated awareness of trends in scholarly communication and Open Science, particularly in areas such as: OA publishing, author rights, publication metrics and publisher/funder sharing requirements.

We want to emphasize that the preferred qualifications are not required and that we are committed to helping our future colleagues develop these preferred skills.
 

Salary Range

$62,000 + depending on qualifications

Working Conditions

• Standard office and library conditions.

• Repetitive use of a keyboard at a workstation.

• Weekend and evening work occasionally required.

• Overnight/weekend travel occasionally required.

Work Shift

• Monday - Friday, usually between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m., with occasional evening/weekend work. 

• Flexible work arrangements available to allow for some remote work, but regular, on-campus work is required.

• Occasional travel, in and outside of Austin, is required.

Required Materials

• Resume/CV

• 3 work references with their contact information; at least one reference should be from a supervisor

• Letter of interest

During your application, you will be asked the following questions.

• What makes you interested in STEM librarianship, and earth science librarianship in particular?

• Tell us about a recent time you provided research support to a scholar or collaborated with a scholar on a project. What was the need or problem and how did you help?