Digital Collections Librarian

Reporting to the Digital Initiatives Librarian, the Digital Collections Librarian is responsible for managing the numerous and varied digitization projects pursued by the Digital Collections unit. He/she will direct a staff of students and part-time employees carrying out scanning, application of metadata and overall digital asset management and collaborate with curators and librarians in the six special collections within the University of South Carolina Libraries as well as other librarians and external partners. This position will sustain and expand the Libraries’ data asset management capabilities. Serving as an expert on non-MARC metadata, the Digital Collections Librarian will direct and coordinate the integration of metadata into production of digital collections. The Digital Collections Librarian will also assist in supporting external digital collections initiatives of interest and value to the University Libraries (such as, but not limited to, the Digital Public Library of America, and the South Carolina Digital Library).

About the University:

The University of South Carolina, founded in 1801, is the flagship campus of an eight-campus, fully accredited, state-system. The University is one of only 40 public universities to earn the Carnegie Foundation’s top-tier designations in research activity and community engagement. The University of South Carolina - Columbia has strong undergraduate and graduate programs and other highly regarded professional schools including: medicine, law, education, engineering, social work, pharmacy, public health, arts and sciences, nursing, and business administration. About 32,000 students are enrolled with more than 8,000 students in graduate and professional programs.

University Libraries serves the graduate and undergraduate programs of all schools and colleges, with the exceptions of the School of Law and the School of Medicine. Holdings include more than 4.9 million volumes, 20 million manuscripts, 475,000 e-books, and four distinct special collections. University Libraries is a member of the Association of Southeastern Research Libraries, the Association of Research Libraries, and the Center for Research Libraries. The City of Columbia is the state capital with a metropolitan area population of nearly 800,000. The city is a state center of financial, transportation, and industrial development, and it has a rich historical and cultural tradition. Columbia is located within easy driving distance of both mountains and coast.

Essential Job Functions:

• Manage and coordinate assigned projects for the Libraries’ Digital Collections
• Train and supervise student, temporary, grant-funded, and intern staff in processes and procedures, workflow management, scanning, metadata creation, and digital preservation
• Plan, track, and document projects throughout the digital lifecycle including capture, presentation, and other digital asset management activities
• Collaborate with Library Technology Services colleagues to support Digital Collections hardware and software; develop and fine-tune workflow automation; and effectively communicate problems/enhancement requests as well as engage in discussions about the management of digital objects
• Collaborate extensively with other special collections departments in the University Libraries
• Calibrate and maintain digital imaging equipment such as overhead and flatbed scanners
• Review scans and metadata records created by staff for quality and adherence to metadata standards
• Participate in the design of workflows to facilitate access and preservation of the digital materials in the collections
• Serve as primary resource for best practices in digitization by staying current on digital library trends, developments, applications, and industry standards in order to ensure the libraries adopt appropriate changes in digital collection management activities
• Maintain awareness of trends in metadata and resource discovery; share and apply that knowledge