The Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library seeks a dynamic, collaborative information professional to manage the library’s serials collection of over 6,500 electronic journal titles. The Serials Librarian is responsible for the management of the library’s journal subscriptions, including budgeting, licensing, discovery, usage assessment, and user education. This position reports to the Associate Director, Library Operations, is a collaborative member of the Library Operations team, and supervises the Serials Manager, a full-time staff position.
The rank of the successful candidate will depend on the candidate’s skills and experience. Possible ranks include Librarian II and Librarian III.
Specific Duties and Responsibilities:
- Manages daily operations in the Serials Department and the overall successful availability of all journals.
- Manages the serials portion of the collections budget, and ensures serials subscription costs stay within budgetary limits. Approves and tracks invoice payments throughout the fiscal year.
- Assesses and analyzes the serials collection on an ongoing basis to inform yearly renewal and selection decisions.
- Activates and maintains serials records in the Alma library services platform.
- Establishes and maintains positive relationships with vendors to negotiate license agreements and pricing of serials subscriptions, and to establish and ensure consistent access to serials holdings across multiple platforms. Collaborates with the Acquisitions Librarian in vendor negotiations as needed.
- Collaborates with collections librarians and staff at Gelman Library and Burns Law Library on shared subscription negotiations, shared collection decisions, negotiation of license agreements with vendors.
- Collaborates with, trains, and supervises the Serials Manager to maintain seamless on-site and off-site access to electronic journals through link checking and access troubleshooting, link resolver and user authentication management, IP range management, and holdings record management.
- Markets journal collection titles to users and educates users about access options and troubleshooting tips.
- Creates and maintains documentation of serials-related policies, procedures, and workflows.
- Participates in the Library’s instructional program as a Librarian Instructor, partnered with a Clinical Instructor with first and second-year medical students.
- Collaborates with the Metadata and Scholarly Publishing Librarian to ensure an accurate reflection of serial title changes in the online catalog.
- Participates in the Collection Development committee and has selector responsibilities for assigned liaison departments.
- Supports authors through education and consultations on journal selection, predatory publishing, open access publishing, and securing funding for article processing charges.
- Maintains current knowledge of trends in librarianship, especially electronic resources, their impact, and management issues. Provides leadership within the library on serials resources and their management.
- Participates in library-wide committees.
- Other duties may be assigned to reflect candidate strengths and interests and/or unit needs, and after discussion with the supervisor.
Minimum Qualifications:
- Master’s in library or information science from an ALA-accredited school (or equivalent) or another Master’s degree or higher with relevant experience conferred by the start of employment.
- 1-2 years experience working in a library setting.
- Excellent oral (presentations, training workshops) and written (training materials, requested analyses, documentation, reports) communication skills.
- Demonstrated organizational and analytical skills.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Coursework or experience with electronic serials or electronic resources management through library automated systems (such as Alma).
- 2-3 years experience in either a health sciences library or an academic library.
- Experience analyzing collections, budgets, workflows, and troubleshooting access issues.
- Experience negotiating publisher/vendor licenses.
- Strong data analysis skills and ability to use spreadsheet software such as Microsoft Office Excel or Google Sheets for analysis and reporting.
- Experience working with SUSHI and COUNTER usage statistics.
- Experience with serials workflow from identification of items to patron access for electronic serials.
- Experience supporting Open Access initiatives.
The George Washington University (GW) is the largest research university in the nation’s capital. Located in the heart of Washington, D.C., GW offers undergraduate and graduate programs in many disciplines including medicine, health sciences, public health, and nursing. Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library (Himmelfarb) serves the students, staff, and faculty of the School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Milken Institute School of Public Health, and School of Nursing. Himmelfarb’s collections consist of over 6,700 electronic texts, 6,500 journals, and 125+ databases in addition to print collections of approximately 75,000 items.
Learn more about working at Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library.
Benefits:
The comprehensive benefits package includes 22 days/year paid annual leave; 12 days/year paid sick leave; paid winter break and 7 other holidays; medical, dental, and vision; 401(A) retirement plan, 4% base, and GW will match 150% of the first 4% of your 403(B) contributions, up to a maximum of 6% of your eligible compensation; tuition assistance; and paid parental leave. For benefits details, please visit GW Benefits.
Remote Work Eligibility:
This position is eligible for a hybrid work schedule of two (2) days/week of remote work and three (3) days/week of on-site work.
Application Procedure:
We recognize that your experience and skills may not match up 100% to the job, but if you are interested and think you can succeed in this role, please apply! Himmelfarb Library supports staff with professional development and growth. When applying, highlight your experiences, including transferable skills, that address the job responsibilities and demonstrate your ability to thrive in this position and within the broader Himmelfarb Library and university communities.
To be considered for this position, please complete an online application and upload a cover letter, a current CV, or a resume, and provide the names and complete contact information for at least three (3) professional references. Review of applications will begin on March 15, 2024, and continue until the position is filled. Only complete applications will be considered. Employment offers are contingent on the satisfactory outcome of a standard background screening.
The university is an Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer that does not unlawfully discriminate in any of its programs or activities based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or expression, or any other basis prohibited by applicable law.