Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Research Librarian For Visual Arts

The University of California, Irvine Libraries seek a creative, knowledgeable, and user-oriented Research Librarian for Visual Arts to plan and deliver innovative reference and instruction services, and to develop and manage excellent electronic, multimedia, and print collections in art, art history, and film and media studies.

The Research Librarian for Visual Arts will provide liaison and outreach to faculty and students in the School of Humanities and the Claire Trevor School of the Arts. The School of Humanities offers undergraduate degrees in Art History and Film & Media Studies and these two departments jointly offer a Ph.D. in Visual Studies (http://www.humanities.uci.edu/visualstudies/).  The Claire Trevor School of the Arts offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in Studio Art, as well as a minor in Digital Arts and an MFA in Art with a Concentration in Critical and Curatorial Studies.  More information about the School and its programs can be found at:  http://www.arts.uci.edu/.      

The successful candidate for this position will be a member of the Reference Department, reporting to the Head of Reference.

Duties and Responsibilities 

In the area of collection development, the Research Librarian for Visual Arts will be responsible for the selection, assessment, and management of collections and resources in art, art history, and film and media studies.  The incumbent will serve as liaison to the faculty and students in these subject areas to insure that their information needs are being met, as well as to promote the Libraries’ services and resources. The incumbent will also explore how the Libraries can assist faculty with art-related digital humanities projects and research. The incumbent will be responsible for monitoring budgets and making collections decisions that support the teaching and research needs on campus.  The incumbent will provide subject-based instruction and research consultations and develop and update subject web pages in support of research in art, art history, and film and media studies. 

In the area of reference, the Research Librarian for Visual Arts will provide specialized and general reference service at the Langson Library Reference Desk, supporting information needs in the arts and humanities as well as business, social sciences, and education.  The incumbent will provide approximately ten hours of reference service weekly, including responding to in-person, telephone, and electronic inquiries.  The incumbent will provide specialized research consultations in art, art history, and film and media studies, and promote services that support the research and teaching needs of the visual arts students and faculty.  The Research Librarian will also maintain sufficient knowledge to provide effective general reference assistance.  Occasional weekend and evening shifts may be required.

In the area of instruction, the Research Librarian for Visual Arts will provide specialized instruction services to students and faculty in art, art history, and film and media studies.  The incumbent also participates in the Libraries’ instruction program for students enrolled in lower-division writing courses.
 Qualifications

Required:
  • Graduate degree in library science from an ALA-accredited institution or an equivalent combination of relevant advanced degree and library experience.
  • Educational background in art, art history, or film and media studies; or experience performing reference, instruction and/or collection development for the visual arts.
  • Ability to assist and instruct users and students in specialized resources.
  • Strong interest in working with students and faculty.
  • Commitment to user-centered library services.
  • Strong interest in library information technology, instructional technology, electronic resources, multimedia resources and services, especially in the subject areas of art, art history, and film and media studies.
  • Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
  • Ability to work effectively in a team and in a dynamically changing environment.
  • Ability to work effectively with diverse constituencies.
  • Ability to meet the University of California criteria for advancement and promotion. 
Preferred:
  • Experience assessing, evaluating, and negotiating digital resources in the visual arts.
  • Skill in developing, organizing, and maintaining web-based information resources.
  • Experience working with digital arts and/or digital humanities issues and projects.
  • Experience managing or leading projects.
  • Knowledge of scholarly communication issues and trends within the visual arts disciplines.
The Reference Department

The Research Librarian for Visual Arts will be based in the Langson Library and will be a member of the Reference Department, which consists of Langson Library Reference and Ayala Science Library Reference. Langson Library’s services and collections support research and teaching in the arts, education, humanities, social sciences and business and management.  The Department provides reference services including research consultations and virtual reference. The Reference Department operates in a team-based environment and the staff consists of 9 librarians and 7 FTE career staff.

The Libraries

The UCI Libraries are committed to innovation and excellence and are in a major period of change.  The Libraries consist of the Langson Library, the Ayala Science Library, the Library Gateway Study Center, and the Grunigen Medical Library.  These buildings contain over 3,600 public seats for study and research and provide more than 600 public access computers.  The UCI Libraries have a staff of approximately 140 FTE plus approximately 30 student assistant FTE.  The library collection consists of over 3.4 million volumes and over 86,000 journals and serial titles and an aggressively expanding electronic resources collection.  The UCI Libraries are a member of the:  Association of Research Libraries (ARL), California Digital Library (CDL), HathiTrust Digital Library, Center for Research Libraries (CRL), Coalition of Networked Information (CNI), Digital Library Federation (DLF), Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR), Scholarly Publishing & Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC), Pacific Rim Digital Library Alliance (PRDLA), and International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA).

University of California, Irvine

The University of California, Irvine, is nestled in over 1,500 acres of coastal foothills, five miles from the Pacific Ocean, between San Diego and Los Angeles.  Founded in 1965, UCI has more than 28,000 undergraduate and graduate students and about 1,100 faculty.  Nearly 67% of UCI students identify themselves as Asian American, African American, Chicano/Latino, or Native American.  The University offers graduate degrees in more than 100 academic disciplines and interdisciplinary programs in addition to the M.D. and J.D.  UCI’s academic programs are ranked nationally among the top universities; several doctoral programs are ranked in the top ten.

Librarians at the University of California Irvine are academic appointees and receive potential career status at the time of their initial appointment.  Librarians periodically receive administrative and peer review for merit increases based on the following criteria: 1) professional competence and quality of service within the Library; 2) professional activity outside the Library; 3) university and public service; and 4) research and other creative activity.

Salary & Benefits:  Salary commensurate with qualifications and experience.  Preferred appointment level is $47,544 - $70,956 (Assistant Librarian I – Librarian I).

Librarians are entitled to two days per month of annual leave, thirteen paid holidays, and one day per month sick leave.  The University has an excellent retirement system and offers a variety of group health, life, and disability insurance plans.  Benefits are equal to approximately 40% of salary.

Consideration will be given to applicants with a wide range of years of experience, including qualified early career librarians. 

Deadline for Applications:  Applications received by ­­­­­­­March 1, 2013 will receive first consideration, but applications will continue to be accepted until the position is filled.

To ApplyElectronic applications are preferred.  Qualified applicants who wish to be considered for this position should send their application materials including: cover letter; complete résumé; and the names, e-mail addresses, and phone numbers of three references, with a statement of each reference's professional relationship to the applicant, to: 

E-mail: libhr@uci.edu 
Library Human Resources
UC Irvine, P.O. Box 19557
Irvine, CA 92623-9557
Confidential fax:  (949) 824-3270

Upon application, candidates should be in possession of proof of their legal right to employment in the U.S.  In compliance with the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, verification of legal right to work will be required between the time of final selection and hiring, and is absolutely essential in ultimately being hired.

This position description is listed on the UCI Libraries Web site at http://www.lib.uci.edu/about/jobs/librarian-vacancies.html with links to additional Web sites featuring campus and community information.
The University of California, Irvine is an equal opportunity employer
committed to excellence through diversity.

No comments: