Senior Library Assistant (Open Access)

JOB PURPOSE:

To be responsible to the Institutional Repository Officer/Open Access Officer for the performance of a range of duties associated with
support for the institutional repository/open access and the service to readers in the McClay Library.

MAJOR DUTIES:

1. Processing institutional repository (IR) submissions – e.g. editing records, enriching metadata, validating records and documents.
2. Assisting in developing and documenting IR workflows.
3. Assisting in generating and collating reports – e.g. compliance of IR submissions with funder open access (OA) policies.
4. Assisting in the administration the University’s OA publication funds - e.g. RCUK block grant.
5. Coordinating the payment of article processing charges (APCs).
6. Assisting in providing user support and developing user documentation.
7. Supervising and training Library Assistants.
8. Participating in the work of the Engineering & Physical Sciences Enquiry Desk.
9. Providing advice and guidance to readers and participating in induction activities.
10. Providing administrative assistance to the Engineering and Physical Sciences Team; and
11. Such other duties as may be required and which fall within the general ambit of the post.

Planning and Organising:

1. Must be able and willing to act on own initiative under the general guidance of a more senior member of staff.
2. Must ensure staff resources are available to meet service requirements.

Resource Management Responsibilities:

1. Supervising and training Library Assistants.
2. Must ensure that the IR metadata is of a high standard.
3. Must ensure that the IR submissions comply with funder policies and publisher policies.

Internal and External Relationships:

1. Daily contact with supervisor, work colleagues, University staff and students, and all other eligible Library users.
2. Regular contact with scholarly publishers.

ESSENTIAL CRITERIA:

1. A minimum of five GCSEs (Grade C or above) or equivalent qualification including English Language and Mathematics.
2. A minimum of 3 years’ recent [i.e. in the last 5 years] experience of working in a library.
3. A minimum of one year’s experience of working in an academic library.
4. A demonstrable interest in working with bibliographic records.
5. A demonstrable interest in supporting OA.
6. Good communication skills, both written and oral.
7. Ability to work accurately.
8. Able and willing to act on own initiative under the general guidance of a more senior member of staff.
9. Ability to work as part of a team, understanding the impact your work has on others.
10. Ability to work quickly and accurately under pressure.
11. Ability to relate well to library users with politeness and courtesy.
12. Demonstrable aptitude for staff supervision.
13. Demonstrable interest in library work and in assisting users.
14. Able and willing to undertake evening and weekend duty.
15. The Library consists of a number of different branches across various sites and candidates must be willing to work in any part of the Library system.
16. All Senior Library Assistant posts require some element of manual work – e.g. shelving, shelf-tidying.

DESIRABLE CRITERIA:

1. ‘A’ levels.
2. A qualification in Library Studies/work (e.g. City & Guilds, Diploma or Degree).
3. A qualification in computing (at least ECDL).
4. A minimum of one year’s experience of Cataloguing, Periodicals or working with bibliographic records.
5. Experience of working with an institutional repository or in supporting open access (OA).
6. Recent experience of a range of library functions/services.
7. Some appreciation of the work of researchers and academics.
8. Understanding of new developments in scholarly publishing.