LibraryJobline

Job Description

Supports collections development, maintenance and curation activities primarily for the National Science Digital Library and then possibly for the Digital Library for Earth System Education (DLESE) and other IIS repositories. This position also provides K-16 educational expertise in support of the repositories including, but not limited to, educational standards associations and assessing resource appropriateness for learning. NSDL is an NSF funded project to develop an on-line library of information and services related to resources that can be used by educators (from K-12 through university) teaching STEM (science, math, engineering and mathematics), and researchers active in educational research. This position has primary responsibilities in: (1) collections integration, management, quality and vitality; (2) engagement of the NSDL community in using IIS tools and services and with assistance as needed; (3) development of metadata frameworks and crosswalk interoperability and (4) providing education standards associations to digital learning objects and support for the cataloging of such objects. This position may represent metadata issues in other realms of the library development such as discovery, collections assessment and cataloging tools, etc. The position is also responsible for training NSDL community members and program staff in areas related to metadata development, controlled vocabularies, XML support, collections interoperability and integration and providing community support in these areas. This position will consult with and report to program management and consult with the larger NSDL community in the areas of metadata framework and vocabulary development, interoperability and ongoing operations. DUTIES INCLUDE: Responsible for overall curation of the NSDL collection including existing and new incoming collections. Understands and interprets collection builder needs in order to offer appropriate solutions, coaching, advice and information regarding NSDL collection policies, technical procedures and metadata requirements. Responsible for the technical aspects of daily NSDL collections management, supporting collection developers in creating and sharing metadata and readying collections for review by the NSDL Accessioning Board (NAB). Conducts metadata and catalog tool training as necessary. Ensures integrity and validity of Open Archives Initiative (OAI) operations through user support and troubleshooting OAI providers located at NSDL and at collection developer sites. Thorough understanding of the XML response from OAI providers is required. Works with a variety of catalogers to process resources recommended to the library and ensure proper cataloging for specialized collections especially in the area of educational standards associations. Works with NSDL staff to enable collection and library interoperability by developing both semantic and programmatic crosswalks to and from other metadata frameworks. May create or assist with the creation of programmatic scripts, XSLT transformations and semantic interpretations to maintain and update metadata repositories and transform records for interoperability. Works on formal collections assessment measures and procedures to report the contents of the library in an automated fashion. Works with other TNS staff and the NSDL community to develop and design metadata frameworks and controlled vocabularies and implement them in XML. Responsible for metadata framework documentation for both technical and non-technical audiences. This includes framework versioning and public availability for all NSDL frameworks, metadata crosswalks, OAI and cataloging software (NCS) download and installation instructions. Provides other content for and maintains NSDL collections wiki and appropriate NSDL.org metadata pages. Serves as part of the software development team for developing cataloging and catalog management tools and vitality checking.

Additional Info & Requirements

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities: Good working knowledge of metadata procedures, issues, and implementation. Knowledge of a variety of metadata standards (e.g. Dublin Core, FDGC, IMS). Good working knowledge of application profiles for metadata and creation and management practices for controlled vocabularies and authority files. Strong K-16 educational background through direct teacher professional development, classroom experience, outreach or other student/teacher engagements. Knowledge of educational standards, their expressions in metadata and application in digital libraries. Good working knowledge and ability to design and write XML schemas, XML documents, create XSL scripts and run XSLT programs. Working knowledge of basic UNIX commands. Demonstrated skill in applying the software development process including versioning systems like CVS or SVN. Demonstrated understanding of the OAI-PMH (Open Archives – Protocol for Metadata Harvesting) and the skills to issue queries and understand XML responses of the protocol. Ability to write basic HTML. Ability to apply collection polices across a variety of collections. Strong skill in organizing, prioritizing, strategizing, and carrying out multiple priorities and projects. Ability to represent organization at conferences, scientific and educational meetings; ability to write and present papers. Excellent oral and written communication skills. Demonstrated organization skills. Experience with digital library catalog systems or ILS. Ability to convey technical concepts to project staff, other team members and the NSDL community at large. Ability to organize technical materials related to a development effort. Ability to listen to team members with non-technical backgrounds and implement according to their needs. Ability to work within a team environment on software development projects. Desire to learn and ability to quickly apply/integrate new techniques, tools and concepts. Willingness to take responsibility for maintenance-level processes and infrastructure components

The Community

University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR)operates the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), including its NCAR Library and several digital libraries.

HR Info

Apply at https://ucar.silkroad.com/epostings/index.cfm?jobid=0&fuseaction=app.candidateinfo&company_id=15947&version=1&source=ONLINE