Senior Library Specialist - Ricker Art & Arch Library

Senior Library Specialist - Ricker Art & Arch Library
Architecture & Art
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Job Summary
This position serves a critical role in the technical and public service and facilities management activities of the Ricker Library of Architecture & Art, a 64 hour-per-week unit. This position involves daily management of operations, oversight of the unit's collection management activities, and the coordination of facilities and IT, and is the contact person for the library in these areas.
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Public Services
Circulation

1. Manages circulation/referencedesk schedule and staffing.
2. Answers phone calls andpatron inquiries. This work includes offering directional as well as referenceassistance.
3. Carries out shelving asneeded.
4. Interprets and explainslibrary circulation policies.
5. Authorizes specialpermission loans.
6. Works shifts at thecirculation desk and assists patrons with circulation transactions; coversshift gaps as needed.
7. Develops policies andsupervises management of manual charges for 4000+ non-circulating items,located in Ricker's Closed Stacks, Reference Room, and Vault locations, whichincludes books, serials and other formats.
8. Exercises discretion in granting exceptions to generalpolicies and procedures based on need or circumstance.

Reference/Information services

1. Through effectivereference interview techniques, elicits the reference and information needs ofusers and identifies appropriate information resources (materials and/orpersonnel) for their research needs.
2. Provides one-on-oneinstruction for library users on the effective use of print and electronicmaterials in Ricker, including the use of scanner technology.
3. Provides formal andinformal instruction on the use of bibliographic tools, such as JSTOR, BHA,Art bibliographies modern, and AVERY Index to Architectural Periodicals.
4. Provides assistance andguidance in the use of the collection to patrons, explains the arrangement ofthe UIUC Libraries' collections, and answers complex questions regardingRicker's holdings.
5. Provides assistance andguidance through the use of the OPAC.
6. Maintains knowledge ofthe resources on Ricker's website and other web sites throughout the UIUCLibrary system.
7. Makes appropriatereferrals of users with intensive reference and instruction needs to subjectspecialists.
8. Assists with librarytours as needed.
9. Explains Libraryrecords and interprets Library policies to patrons; authorizes override of itemloan periods as appropriate for special circumstances.
10. Assists patrons withpreparation of interlibrary loan requests for materials not held locally.
11. Searches and overseesdata entry into unit's non-Alma databases (used primarily for discovery andbibliographic control of reference, uncatalogued, gift and new books).
12. Assists in providinguser education sessions to classes.
13. Oversees unit in the absence of the librarian.

Collection Maintenance

1. Maintains and providesoversight on all monographs and serials currently held in Ricker Library,ensuring best practices for workflows and accuracy are followed. Thesematerials are in multiple languages.
2. Develops andcoordinates collection management projects for monographic and serial holdingsin Ricker Library.
3. Processes all new monographsarriving in Ricker Library from Acquisitions. If necessary, notifies requestorsof the arrival of items.
4. Oversees, maintains,and advises on the reference and special (subject-based) collections.
5. Serves as the librarystaff liaison with faculty and students on the status of librarymaterials.
6. Searches OCLC and otherbibliographic sources to ascertain title changes and cessation of serials inall Western European languages.
7. Identifies, evaluates,and advises subject specialists on claims for monographic orders.
8. Identifies and adviseson the transfer of materials to and from the Central Bookstacks and Oak StreetHigh Density Facility.
9. Evaluates and preparesmaterials in need of repair or preservation.
10. Serves as the contactperson for preservation and conservation repairs.
11. Approves Conservation repair proposals.
12. Creates Preservationand Conservation projects and processes the materials in coordination with eachdepartment.
13. Manages all aspects ofthe missing report lists, including supervising student employees on complexsearching for lost and missing books
14. Screens for errors andreconciles problems with unmatched or missing labels and materials. Works withACS to establish uniform labeling procedures and resolve problems.
15. Serves as stacksmanager, scheduling and overseeing shifting projects as needed as well asregular shelf reading and inventory work.
16. Supervises and/orsearches for materials not on the shelves and orders needed replacements.
17. Identifies and recommends for transfer to RickerLibrary volumes from other UIUC Library locations (e.g., Main LibraryStacks).

Bibliographic Record Management

1. Diagnoses bibliographicand holdings problems in the online catalog or the Alma modules and performsItem Holding Record maintenance on monographs and serials requiring holdingscorrections.
2. Processes serialsbinding, updates the cataloging records and submits claims and corrections toAcquisitions and Content Access Management for titles to be held in RickerLibrary, Central Bookstacks, and Oak Street High Density Facility.
3. Performs qualityassurance checks and corrects bibliographic and holdings records for incomingbound serials to Ricker Library.
4. Coordinates withAcquisitions and Content Access Management to resolve the more complex holdingand cataloging corrections for monographs and serials.
5. Identifies and reportsproblems connected with the Primo and Alma clients, as well as online researchresources.
6. Vets new cataloging formonographs and monographic continuation volumes as received; verifiesconsistency of subject tracings with items already owned.
7. Verifies notes andlinks to earlier editions / earlier volumes, verifies correctness of callnumber assignments.
8. Searches for the correct bibliographic records formonographs and serials, using utilizing OCLC to supply cataloging records forcomplicated entries including uniform titles and corporate bodies.

Acquisitions

1. Suggests new materialsto be ordered based on knowledge of the collections, consultation ofbibliographic sources, and observed user needs.
2. Conducts preorderingsearches for materials in Western European languages using a wide range ofbibliographic tools (Primo, OCLC, domestic and international library catalogs),books in print sources (domestic and international), and publishers' material(print and online) to determine author and title information, publication data,availability, and price for use in ordering materials. Researches potentialorders and performs complex bibliographic searches to determine if materialsunder consideration are already available in alternate form or edition orpreviously appeared in another language, as part of an encyclopedia series, oras a journal special issue.
3. Preordering searches insecondhand catalogs (print and online) in Western European languages forordering out-of-print material.
4. Monitors publication ofstanding order monographic continuations; identifies and initiates claims forstanding order titles not received.
5. Firm orders requestedand replacement monographs as well as unreceived serial issues ineligible forclaiming.
6. Provides training and ongoing support to library facultyand graduate students in acquisition policies and procedures.
7. Processes gift book donations under the direction of theLibrary Head and drafts gift letters. Conducts workflow processes to send giftbook candidates to Melanie Rusk to be processed for the UIUC collection.

Administration and Management

1. Supervises the LibrarySpecialist, including hiring, training, and evaluation.
2. Supervises the GraduateHourly Evening/Weekend supervisors, including hiring, training andevaluation.
3. Provides ongoing,constructive feedback to unit's LS regarding the Library Specialist's jobperformance and ways to improve performance.
4. Approves the LibrarySpecialist's and graduate hourly supervisors' timesheets, time off requests,sick leave.
5. Coordinates with theHead of the unit on projects for the graduate hourly workers.
6. Supervises stacksmaintenance projects conducted by student assistants.
7. Oversees and developsrecommendations for student wage budget, in consultation with the LibrarySpecialist.
8. Serves as a resource tounit's other LS in resolving complex questions or concerns regardingscheduling, circulation, reserves, student assistant wage budget; and/orsupervising undergraduate student assistants; explains policy and historicalbasis for current procedures.
9. Reviews and/or vets theupdating and development of new procedures for circulation and/or reservesprocessing that are initiated by unit's LS.
10. Liaise with LibraryFacilities on equipment, physical space planning, and problem solving in RickerLibrary and coordinating these activities with the unit Head and librarystaff.
11. Serves as primarycontact person for all facilities concerns in Ricker, including security, HVAC,lighting and equipment.
12. Coordinatesdistribution of library keys to staff and sets policy regarding keydistribution.
13. Providestroubleshooting for all IT issues. Primary contact person for all IT issuesincluding creation of Alma accounts, printers, scanners and libraryworkstations.
14. Resolves problems byevaluating new and unusual situations and adapts policy and procedures insolving problems.
15. Identifies emerginguser trends and advises on the development or revision of library policies andprocedures to support traditional and emergent services to users.
16. Develops and administerspolicies and procedures with regards to circulation and customer service inconjunction with the unit Head for efficient operations for Ricker.
17. Coordinates libraryemergency procedures relating to Ricker.
18. Coordinates the collection and reporting of statisticaldata including circulation statistics and library user counts for the LibraryAdministration.

Additional Physical Demands
PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS
Physical requirements involve unloading and loading of boxes (around 50-60 lbs. each) filled with library materials.
WORK ENVIRONMENT
The job is performed in an office and in a reading room environment. There may be occasional discomfort due to crowded conditions of the workspace. Work with materials requires sorting, manipulating, fixing labels, and transporting of materials within the library. Some materials are dusty, musty, or cumbersome to transport. Job involves a large amount of work at PCs.
Minimum Qualifications
1. High school diploma or equivalent.
2. Any combination totaling two (2) years (24 months) from the following categories:
A. work experience in a library or equivalent setting.
B. college course work in any field as measured by the following conversion table:

• 30 semester hours equals one (1) year (12 months)
• Associate's Degree (60 semester hours) equals eighteen months (18 months)
• Bachelor's Degree (120 semester hours) equals three (3) years (36 months)

3. A total of two (2) years (24 months) work experience in a library or equivalent setting performing progressively more responsible work consistent with the next lower level of this series.
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Ability to apply methods, practices and policies developed for the library setting, and the skill necessary to synthesize, supervise and train others in these aspects.
• Organizational skills for managing a public service unit, as well as the good verbal and written interpersonal skills to interact with a diverse community of coworkers and users.
• Ability to work independently, to analyze and adapt to varied and changing operational situations is essential.
• Competence with and the initiative to learn, computer-based skills used in the performance of the different duties of the job is essential.
• In-depth knowledge of digital and print resources is critical to success in this position.
• Ability to work with and, when judged necessary, to develop and implement new Library knowledge management systems and infrastructure desirable, including the structure and functions of reference tools and online indexes, classification systems, circulation policies, and related facets of librarianship.
• Knowledge to perform complex searching and validation and correction of catalog records.
• Knowledge sufficient to assess the condition of older or fragile items in collection and be able to identify those items requiring immediate attention and repair.
• Ability to handle bibliographic information, records, and queries in English and several modern European languages.
• Working knowledge of all aspects of unit operations, sufficient to oversee and assess work completed in unit.
• Ability to make recommendations to head librarian on student wage budget.
• Competency to manage unit personnel (training, work assignments, scheduling, evaluations) and to define unit procedures for operating and ability to analyze workflow.
• Ability to interpret and verify complicated bibliographic records and has an eye for detail.
• Knowledge to interpret complicated bibliographic and holdings records and to understand and recognize application of policies and best practice cataloging to create such records.
• Knowledge and skills to conduct advanced reference interview with end users and to help them find answers to complex questions relating to scholarly art and architecture resources; requires in-depth knowledge of both general (e.g., Alma, Primo, WorldCat, JSTOR) and art and architecture specific (e.g., Avery, ABM, BHA, Art & Architecture Source) tools.

Appointment Information
This is a 100% full-time Civil ServiceNon-Exempt Senior Library Specialist position, appointed on a permanent basis. Theexpected start date is...