Job Description
The Boston University Libraries seek an experienced, forward-thinking, and creative professional to oversee the acquisition, licensing, maintenance, and assessment of the library’s electronic resources, including e-books, journals, databases, and other digital materials. The Electronic Resources Librarian works collaboratively with other librarians and university staff to promote the library’s online resources from acquisition to discovery and delivery. The individual in this role will have a strong understanding of the full cycle of electronic resources management as well as experience in vendor communication, and in the development and use of evaluative criteria to support licensing and renewal. Reporting to the Head of Technical Services, the Electronic Resources Librarian will have primary responsibility for coordinating the sourcing, licensing, purchasing, and renewal of electronic resources working in close collaboration with subject librarians and consortia partners.
This position is critical to the effective operation of the Boston University Libraries and represents an opportunity to rethink and realign workflows and electronic resources management. This librarian in this position performs original and complex copy cataloging for all resource formats, including print, digital, and electronic.
The Electronic Resources Librarian will:
- Advance and implement the library’s approach to acquiring and licensing of scholarly electronic resources (i.e., e-books, journals, databases, and other digital materials), ensuring alignment with university practices for procurement and working within budgetary constraints.
- Coordinate the selection, evaluation, and negotiation of electronic resource subscriptions and licenses in collaboration with subject specialists and library liaisons.
- Collaborate with library staff to support reliable access to electronic resources through the library's discovery systems, which include the catalog and the library web site. Troubleshoot access issues and work with vendors and technical staff to resolve problems promptly.
- Provide leadership and expertise in the management of electronic resources configuration for Alma, Primo, EZProxy, and other ERM-related applications.
- Provide expert assistance to library colleagues who prepare and deliver support to users for electronic resources, including techniques for database searching.
- In collaboration with subject librarians and other library units, support electronic collection development by creating and analyzing usage reports.
- Monitor trends and developments in scholarly electronic resources and recommend acquisitions and cancellations based on user needs, usage data, and budget considerations, and other relevant criteria.
- Collaborate with and represent the BU Libraries to library consortia, vendors, and other institutions to leverage shared resources, negotiate consortium agreements, and stay informed about emerging trends in electronic resource management.
- Stay abreast of best practices, emerging technologies, and evolving standards in electronic resource management - including open access and open educational resources, data ethics, copyright law, and publishing systems - through professional development activities, conferences, and engagement with relevant professional organizations.
- Participate in library committees, working groups, and projects.
Required Skills
- Master's degree in library and information science or related field.
- 3-5 years of experience in electronic resources management.
- Strong understanding of scholarly electronic resources, including online journals, databases, and e-books.
- Experience in license review and vendor negotiation.
- Experience with or working knowledge of relevant standards, initiatives, tools, and services, such as COUNTER, SUSHI, OpenURL resolvers, and proxy servers such as EZProxy and SSO.
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
Preferred Qualifications
- Demonstrated ability to collect, analyze, and provide meaningful interpretation of electronic resource usage statistics in support of collection development.
- Experience using Ex Libris’ Alma and Primo applications.