Team Leader for Processing and the Center for Primary Research and Training

Department: Library Special Collections

Rank and Salary: Assistant Librarian – Librarian ($68,885 - $108,349)

Position Availability: Immediately

Application deadline for first consideration: August 30, 2024

 

 

The UCLA Library seeks a creative and collaborative professional to lead its innovative user-centered and mentorship focused processing program.

 

Position Duties

Reporting to the Director of Library Special Collections (LSC), the Processing/Center for Primary Research and Training Team Leader oversees the Center for Primary Research and Training (CFPRT) and Library Special Collections’ processing program (LSC). The Lead collaborates across LSC and the Library to enhance, develop, and implement a flexible and iterative user-centered processing program that incorporates mentorship opportunities for students through the CFPRT. The CFPRT recruits UCLA students with subject and language expertise into a team-based approach to archival processing and provides them with valuable hands-on experience, training, and mentorship through archival and primary source theory and practice. This work enhances the students’ educational experience, provides deep engagement with primary sources, and positions them to more fully integrate primary source materials into their research and teaching. The CFPRT was launched in 2004 with a generous lead gift from The Ahmanson Foundation.

 

The Team Leader oversees a nimble processing team responsible for the arrangement and description of archival materials in all formats across LSC’s collecting areas. The incumbent develops and supervises a team of professional processing staff and leads the daily work of undergraduate and graduate students to complete projects that enhance their academic experience and advance the goals of the department and the Library. The Team Leader works within Library Special Collections and guides efforts to institute policies, procedures, and technologies  that facilitate efficient access to materials while centering ethical and anti-racist descriptive practices per the department’s commitment to advancing equity, diversity and inclusion.

 

The successful candidate will be committed to promoting and enhancing diversity through engagement with and promotion of the UCLA Principles of Community. The Team Leader works closely across Library Special Collections to ensure user-driven approaches to expanding processing.

 

Specific duties and responsibilities include:

• Develops and leads a team of professional processing staff and CFPRT scholars; overseeing work, providing feedback, and developing staff specializations as appropriate.
• Collaborates with staff to create processing plans, determine appropriate levels of processing, set goals, establish timelines, and evaluate outcomes.
• Identifies, develops, and applies strategies that facilitate an access-driven approach to the arrangement, description, and preservation of special collections materials across formats.
• Collaborates to develop procedures and workflows and to set priorities that support an efficient, user-centered processing program.
• Collaborates to develop techniques, training, and strategies that enable a sustainable approach to processing digital archives.
• Reviews finding aids, catalog records for archival collections, and other description to ensure quality and compliance with national and local standards and practices.
• Works closely with other LSC staff to establish processing priorities and to increase processing capacity.
• Works with campus and community partners to envision, plan, and carry out collaborative projects that ensure ethical and responsible description and processing.
• Coordinates public programming and outreach activities featuring students and their work, and organizes relevant learning opportunities for the students.
• Collaborates with Development and the LSC Director to identify priorities for philanthropic funding and on donor cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship; and participates in the development and execution of grant funded projects.
• Collaborates with the administrative staff to manage supplies, storage, and workspaces.
• Contributes to outreach efforts such as events, exhibits, social media, and other programming.
• Participates in departmental and library-wide committees.
• Other responsibilities as assigned.

 

Basic Qualifications

• ALA-accredited Master’s Degree in Library or Information Science required at the time of hire; OR Master’s degree (or other advanced degree) in Information Sciences or related field at the time of hire and work experience in a library setting.
• Demonstrated knowledge and experience overseeing and reviewing processing staff work.
• Demonstrated experience applying efficient and iterative processing techniques in arranging, describing, and preserving archival collections of varying size and complexity, with consideration of holistic stewardship frameworks.
• Demonstrated experience processing digital archives.
• Expert knowledge and demonstrated experience applying library and archival standards and vocabularies, including EAD, MARC, DACS, RDA, and LCSH.
• Experience managing databases and archival content management systems, such as ArchivesSpace.
• Knowledge of preservation and conservation needs of and interventions for special collection materials and spaces.
• Understanding and ability to stay abreast of privacy, confidentiality, copyright and use policies associated with special collections materials.
• Demonstrated experience in generating reports to track and assess processing, user and community engagement, and curatorial goals and priorities.
• Ability to initiate and maintain cooperative working relationships with co-workers, supervisors, and managers, and to represent LSC in a professional manner to relevant constituencies. Ability to work harmoniously and as a team player, thrive in a team-based environment, and foster teamwork among others.
• Strong project management skills, with an ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills, organizational skills, and time management skills.

 

Applicants with all the above basic qualifications and any of the following preferred qualifications or professional experiences are strongly encouraged to apply: 1) Demonstrated supervisory experience that includes training and leading the work of librarians, staff and student assistants. 2) Familiarity with the Guidelines for Efficient Archival Processing in the University of California Libraries, OCLC’s Total Cost of Stewardship toolkit, and other models that promote ethical and iterative approaches to description and access; 3) Experience collaborating with Development to identify priorities for philanthropic funding and to provide information for donor cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship; 4) Knowledge of current issues and trends regarding digital archives, digitization, and digital scholarship; 5) Experience working with donors and with Deeds of Gift; 6) Reading and writing knowledge of additional languages relevant to our holdings, particularly diasporic languages spoken in Los Angeles; 7) Demonstrated experience developing public programming or other outreach initiatives; 8) Evidence of professional engagement at local, state or national level.

 

General Information

Professional librarians at UCLA are academic appointees. Librarians at UCLA are represented by an exclusive bargaining agent, University Council – American Federation of Teachers (UC-AFT). This is a represented position. They are entitled to appropriate professional leave, two days per month of vacation leave, one day per month of sick leave, and all other benefits granted to non-faculty academic personnel. The University has an excellent retirement system and sponsors a variety of group health, dental, vision, and life insurance plans in addition to other benefits. Relocation assistance may be provided.

 

Appointees to the librarian series at UC shall have professional backgrounds that demonstrate a high degree of creativity, teamwork, and flexibility.  Such background will normally include a professional degree from an ALA-accredited library and information science graduate program.  In addition to professional competence and quality of service within the library in the primary job, advancement in the librarian series requires professional involvement and contributions outside of the library, and/or university and community service, and/or scholarly activities.  Candidates must show evidence or promise of such contributions.

 

As a University employee, you will be required to comply with all applicable University policies and/or collective bargaining agreements, as may be amended from time to time. Federal, state, or local government directives may impose additional requirements.

 

Application Procedures

Anyone wishing to be considered for this position should apply here: https://recruit.apo.ucla.edu/JPF09664

 

Applications must include:

• a cover letter describing qualifications and experience;
• a current resume/vitae detailing education and relevant experience;
• the names and contact information for three professional references, including a current or previous supervisor; and
• a Statement of Contributions to Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) -  Equity, diversity, and inclusion are key components of The University of California’s commitment to excellence. Thus, teaching, research, professional, and public service contributions that promote equity, diversity, and inclusion are encouraged and given due recognition in the evaluation of each candidate’s qualifications. Please provide an EDI statement addressing your understanding of the barriers facing marginalized communities, and your awareness of and commitment to promoting an inclusionary library and campus environment. Describe your past, and/or future contributions to equity, diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism.

Candidates are invited to review the following:

• UCLA EDI statement (https://equity.ucla.edu/edi-ucla/)
• Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Statement FAQs (https://ucla.app.box.com/v/edi-statement-faqs)
• UCLA Library ARI and EDI efforts: https://www.library.ucla.edu/about-ucla-library/anti-racism-initiative

 

UCLA welcomes and encourages diversity and seeks applications and nominations from women and minorities.  UCLA seeks to recruit and retain a diverse workforce as a reflection of our commitment to serve the people of California, to maintain the excellence of the university, and to offer our students richly varied disciplines, perspectives, and ways of knowing and learning.

 

Description of Unit

Library Special Collections (LSC) builds and stewards special collections resources, services, and operations. The department consists of four teams: Curatorial; Processing/Center for Primary Research and Training (CFPRT); Collection Management (CM); and Public Services, Outreach, and Community Engagement (PSOCE).

 

• The Curatorial Team is responsible for collection development and acquisition of materials in support of research and teaching.
• The CFPRT makes collection material discoverable and accessible through ethical and iterative processing in a pedagogical model.
• The CM Team develops and implements policies and processes to ensure responsible stewardship of collections.
• The PSOCE Team integrates public-facing operations for LSC including reference and instruction, programmatic events, and activities.

 

The entire staff of approximately 30 FTE work together holistically to build, preserve, and provide access to the outstanding rare and unique holdings of the UCLA Library. LSC works closely with our colleagues within the Distinctive Collections portfolio to steward a range of international resources in support of UCLA’s mission for the betterment of our global society.

 

Description of Institution and Library

As one of the world's great public research universities, UCLA integrates education, research, and public service so that each enriches and extends the others. From its beautiful neighborhood campus in a uniquely diverse and vibrant city on the Pacific Rim, teaching and research extend beyond the classroom, office, and lab through active engagement with communities, organizations, projects, and partnerships throughout the region and around the world.

 

UCLA’s diverse community of scholars encompasses nearly 30,000 undergraduates pursuing 125 majors, 13,000 graduate students in fifty-nine research programs, and 4,000 faculty members including Nobel Laureates; Rhodes Scholars; MacArthur Fellows; winners of the Fields Medal, National Medal of Science, Pritzker Prize, and Pulitzer Prize; and recipients of Oscars, Emmys, Tonys, and Golden Globes. UCLA ranks tenth in the Times of London Higher Education World Reputation Rankings, twelfth in the Academic Ranking of World Universities by Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and fifth in the U.S. by Washington Monthly. The National Research Council ranks forty of its graduate and doctoral research programs among its top ten.

 

To enable these accomplished students, faculty, and staff to create, disseminate, and apply knowledge for the benefit of global society, the UCLA Library is re-envisioning how it is acquired, synthesized, and shared across academic audiences and with the public.  It was among the first academic libraries to develop subject-specialist librarians and to launch a program to enhance students’ research skills. Its Special Collections pioneered the acquisition by public institutions of rare and unique books, children’s literature, pulp and detective fiction, works by or about women and minorities, screenplays, architectural plans, and Los Angeles-related materials and today leads the way in collecting archival resources in digital format such as emails and manuscripts.  It has launched innovative data management services and an affordable course materials initiative that have served as models for other libraries.

 

The Library serves UCLA students, faculty, and staff whenever and wherever they need its resources and expertise. Reconfigured, high-tech spaces and services in its ten campus libraries enable users and librarians to explore and work with print and digital materials collaboratively or individually, pursue new lines of inquiry, and develop new pedagogical approaches as well as novel forms of scholarship.  More than 3.5 million people visit annually, while an additional 3.4 million visitors enter online through its virtual front doors.

 

Whether on campus or online, the Library forms the intellectual heart of UCLA, a hub for cutting-edge discovery, scholarship, and instruction.

 

Equity, diversity, and inclusion are core values of the University of California and key components of the University’s commitment to excellence.  The University of California is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.  All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age or protected veteran status.  For the complete University of California policy on discrimination, harassment, and affirmative action see:  [University of California – Policy Discrimination, Harassment, and Affirmative Action in the Workplace at https://policy.ucop.edu/doc/4000376/DiscHarassAffirmAction

 

Under federal law, the University of California may employ only individuals who are legally authorized to work in the United States as established by providing documents specified in the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986.  Employment is contingent upon completion of satisfactory background investigation.

 

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