Digital Initiatives & Scholarly Communications Librarian

The Digital Initiatives & Scholarly Communication (DISC) Librarian is responsible for providing leadership in library digital collections and platforms, scholarly communication, and open access. The individual is responsible for managing and promoting the use of our institutional repository (IR) and coordinating associated services. They collaborate with library leadership and staff to iteratively develop and implement a digital strategy across library platforms. They work collaboratively to manage and continually improve upon the library's digital presence, unique digital collections, our IR, the library website, and more. In addition, this position supervises the Digital Services Specialist in their efforts to improve integrations, user experience, and accessibility across the library's platforms.

The DISC Librarian serves as the campus educator on open access publishing, open education resources, open licenses, copyright, and fair use. They assess and consult on emerging trends, requirements, and best practices in open access publishing and copyright. They collaborate across campus to assess needs and to offer consultation, instruction, and outreach strategies to support campus open scholarship and publishing efforts.

The DISC Librarian helps lead the distributed campus Digital Liberal Arts (DLA) Team members in establishing and implementing annual planning, goals, outreach, and infrastructure development to support DLA programming, in partnership with the DLA Librarian & Program Manager. This individual leads the management of DLA's digital presence to support the program's goals and strategies. 

​​The person in this position applies strong organizational skills, including project management, evaluation, and assessment. This person engages in both independent and collaborative problem-solving and decision-making. The position reports to the Associate Library Director for Collection Development & Discovery.

This position works the standard business hours of 8:00am to 4:30pm and offers a hybrid schedule with up to two work from home days a week any day with the exception of Tuesday.

About the Department: 

Macalester's DeWitt Wallace Library staff create a learning environment that supports inquiry, discovery, creativity, and innovation. Committed to inclusive access, lifelong learning, user-centered services and collections, and meaningful campus partnerships, we foster curiosity, information literacy, and research skills in a welcoming environment. We value diverse ways of knowing, clear and honest communication, equity, collaboration, professional growth, staff wellbeing, and the shared goal of supporting a liberal arts education.

Digital Initiatives and Systems (30%)

• Leads and develops ongoing strategic planning, policies, and procedures for the institutional repository and digital initiatives.
• Participates in the selection, implementation, integration, assessment, and migration of digital platforms, tools, and services supporting scholarship.
• Manages the institutional repository and supports library workflows for digital projects and Macalester's unique digital collections, with an emphasis on promoting faculty and student publications and scholarship.
• Guides researchers on repository services and options, with support for publication, preservation, and funder compliance.
• Provides creative, positive leadership and communication around digital initiatives in collaboration with key campus and community partners.

• Maintains and monitors the functionality of the library's online presence, including the library website, unique digital collections, and open educational resources.
• Explores and provides guidance on the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies on scholarship, copyright, and OER.

Scholarship, Copyright, & Open Education (25%)

• Serves as the library’s primary expert and educator on copyright, fair use, and open licenses, playing a key role in initiatives that require a detailed understanding of copyright and Creative Commons licensing.
• Leads the library’s OER publishing program, supporting instructors in open educational practices, including the discovery, creation, dissemination, adoption, and evaluation of OER.
• Educates the campus community, both inside and outside of the curriculum, about modes of open access scholarly publication, digital scholarship, copyright, and intellectual property issues, and their impact on scholarly inquiry and instruction. 
• Provides consultation to researchers in the areas of open scholarship, open education, open data, open access publishing practices, and platforms.
• Provides training to campus community authors in OER authoring tools and OER creation best practices and serves as a connector to the broader community of OER practitioners and resources.
• Works closely with the Serials & Electronic Resources Librarian on efforts to evaluate OA publishing models that responsibly steward library resources and provide a sustainable and equitable future of scholarly communication.

 Digital Liberal Arts (DLA) (10%)

• Develops infrastructure and strategy that bolsters programming, organization, and sustainability of DLA efforts in collaboration with and in support of the DLA Librarian and cross-campus team.
• Collaborates with the DLA Librarian, in coordination with the distributed DLA Team members, on implementing annual goals, planning, and outreach.

• Provides oversight of maintenance and revisions to the DLA web presence and platforms, in coordination with the Digital Services Specialist.
• Assists DLA Librarian in establishing and maintaining an ongoing repository of DLA projects and/or descriptions and representations of the projects. 
• Supports campus-wide initiatives with the expanding role of digital scholarship, digital literacies, and digital humanities in the curriculum.

Departmental and Campus Liaison Responsibilities (10%)

• Outreach and Engagement: Takes initiative to identify and meet information needs and service expectations, in communication and conversation with stakeholders.
• Teaching & Learning: Designs and implements strategic and pedagogically appropriate instruction for library users through a variety of methods, including the potential to teach credit-bearing courses.
• Collection Development: Develops and manages collections to support research and instruction in subject areas by assisting library representatives and departments in selecting materials that support our curriculum.
• Reference and Research Services: Provides in-depth, specialized research consultation and reference for library users.
• Scholarly Communication/Information Science: Stays abreast of developments in scholarly communication and information science; serving as experts, educators, and leaders for the campus and beyond.

Leadership and Professional Development (10%)

• Demonstrates a commitment to access, equity, diversity, and inclusion.
• Contributes to fulfilling the mission of the college and library, and upholding library guiding principles. 
• Helps foster teamwork throughout the organization on campus and beyond.
• Participates in cross-functional work groups according to interests, skills, and library needs.
• Continually considers and explores new ways to improve the library. 
• Contributes to assessment activities throughout the organization, including report writing, data compilation, and analysis of operations, programs, and services. 
• Provides service to the college through participation on campus groups or projects.
• Shares professional expertise and experience with others in order to contribute to the growth of the profession and to serve as representatives of the library and college. 
• Stays abreast of developments in the field and is engaged in personal professional development.
• Contributes to the development and completion of annual library and personal performance goals.

Team Leadership (10%)

Hires, trains, develops and manages the effectiveness of team member(s) to meet college and department goals. Provides informal feedback on an ongoing basis and formal feedback in the annual performance review process to develop talent. Collaborates with HR on employee processes.

Other Responsibilities (5%) 

Completes other responsibilities as assigned. Participates as an active member of the team. Participates in department and college activities and supports implementation of shared goals and initiatives. Provides backup support to other members of the team.

Required:

• Master’s Degree in Library and Information Science from a program accredited by the American Library Association (ALA) or from a program in a country with a formal accreditation process as identified by ALA.

• 2 years in-depth experience managing library digital collections and platforms, scholarly communication, and/or open access.
• Demonstrated commitment to advancing equity, inclusion, and diversity. 
• Knowledge of best practices, real-world applications, trends, and emerging technologies related to digital initiatives, institutional repositories, copyright, and/or open access. 
• Demonstrated proficiency with library digital collections and platforms, and experience with digital scholarship applications.  
• Demonstrated ability to adopt, implement, and teach new technologies and systems. 
• Demonstrated problem-solving skills. 
• Excellent organizational, time, and project management skills. 
• Strong teambuilding, relationship building, and teamwork skills. 

Preferred:

• 3+ years in-depth experience managing library digital collections and platforms, scholarly communication, and/or open access.
• Supervisory experience.
• Experience and interest in teaching, supporting, and promoting scholarly endeavors at the college level. 
• Experience with DigitalCommons, ContentDM,  and/or Pressbooks.

Compensation:

The annual wage for this position will be $67,320 to $70,380 depending on experience.

Benefits: 

At Macalester, we are proud to offer excellent comprehensive employee benefits. Here are some highlights:

• 10% employer contributions to the retirement plan. 
• Outstanding vacation and sick time packages, plus an additional 10 holidays.
• Generous employer contribution to Health Savings Account.
• Tuition assistance which pays between 75% - 100% of eligible tuition for employee dependents at select institutions.
• Free primary care for most services through Nice Healthcare when enrolled in a Macalester health plan.
• Access to the athletics fitness facility, wellness coaching, and activities.

These are just some of the great benefits Macalester has to offer! To see our full benefits packages and options, please visit our Benefits Page.

Satisfactory completion of a criminal background check is a condition of employment.

Application Guidelines:

For best consideration, please submit your resume and a cover letter highlighting your experience and interest in this position through the Macalester Employment Opportunities webpage by June 1st. No applications will be received after this date.

Jaclyn Howard

Talent Acquisition Manager

jhoward3@Macalester.edu

Founded in 1874, Macalester College provides students with the inspiration, insight, and experience to become successful and ethical leaders. Located in flourishing St. Paul, Minnesota, Macalester enrolls over 2,000 students from across the country and around the world. Macalester is a preeminent liberal arts college recognized for its student service and celebration of internationalism.

At Macalester, we look at our employees through a whole-person, holistic lens. With comprehensive benefits and well-being programs, we provide and enable our community members to grow and care for themselves, their families, and one another. Our whole-hearted fidelity to community-building and social justice exemplify these ideals.  Macalester College continuously prioritizes a culturally diverse and pluralistic community. We value individuals of all backgrounds and lived experiences. 

Our rich blend of people holding varied identities enhances our strong commitment to multiculturalism and global citizenship. We seek candidates who reflect and strengthen our campus environment. Macalester invites and encourages everyone to apply who would add depth to our community including those from all sexual orientations, races, ethnicities, national origins, genders, religions, abilities, and ages.