George Washington University Libraries and Academic Innovation (GWLAI) seeks a collaborative and service-oriented Research Services Librarian for the Social and Political Sciences to join the Research and User Services (RUS) department. RUS is a highly collaborative unit where librarians work together and share responsibility for meeting the full range of student, faculty, and researcher needs across disciplines. This position plays a vital role in supporting interdisciplinary teaching, research, and publishing across the Social and Political Sciences with an emphasis on international affairs, political science, public policy, economics, and related fields. As an active member of the RUS team, the incumbent also provides research support, instruction, and collection development services to all areas of the university, including the First Year Writing program. GWLAI staff and librarians are champions of open access and support open scholarly communication and publishing practices, including the adoption and creation of open educational resources (OER). Librarians contribute to the scholarly community through research, professional engagement, and service.
A virtual information session for interested candidates will be held at 6 p.m. ET on Tuesday, October 29. Please register to attend.
- Support the research and instructional needs of faculty, students, and researchers in the Social and Political Sciences, with an emphasis on international affairs, political science, public policy, economics, and related fields.
- Conduct library instruction for undergraduate and graduate level courses in partnership with faculty, including partnering with GW’s first-year University Writing Program.
- Provide research consultations and services (chat, email) across disciplines.
- Participate in collaborative collection development and relationship-building with departments and research units to understand and meet their evolving needs.
- Provide expert guidance on Social Science research methods, statistical data analysis, visualization and use, text and data mining, and/or other quantitative and qualitative research methods.
- Contribute to strategic initiatives or teams within GWLAI, including efforts related to scholarly communication, open access publishing, open education, research impact and visibility, and/or data literacy and computational fluency.
Minimum Qualifications:
- ALA-accredited Master’s degree in library and information science OR other advanced degree with relevant experience by date of appointment.
- Demonstrated collaboration skills and a commitment to supporting an inclusive and equitable research community.
- Strong initiative and a results-driven approach in previous roles
- Excellent oral and written communication skills.
- Awareness of current scholarly communication and research trends, issues, and challenges facing researchers in an academic environment.
- Experience or demonstrated potential to support Social Science research methods and publishing practices.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Knowledge of, or experience working with, financial and economic data.
- A strong understanding of the research lifecycle, scholarly communication, and academic publishing.
- A robust understanding of computational and data research methods, statistical data analysis and use methods, text and data mining, or other quantitative and qualitative research methods.
- Experience with GIS, coding, data visualization, or computational research tools.
The George Washington University Libraries and Academic Innovation (GWLAI) enriches the academic experience of scholars and students and sparks innovation at GW. We enable research and teaching through access to the latest scholarship and rich archival resources, tailored support for researchers at all levels, guidance for faculty who want to explore new teaching methods and technologies in the classroom, and robust support for online education. Through innovative partnerships, dynamic workshops, and team-based approaches to project management and problem solving, GWLAI fosters collaboration and provides leadership across the university to support the shared mission of generating, making accessible, and preserving new knowledge. Having joined the Association of American Universities (AAU) in 2023, and guided by a new Strategic Framework, GW is at an exciting moment in its history and trajectory, and GWLAI is a key partner in supporting the university’s research and scholarly advancements and promoting discoveries and innovations made by the research community.