Digital Assets Librarian (Assistant Professor), Gladys Marcus Library

Company Description:

The Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), part of the State University of New York and an internationally renowned college of art, design, business and technology with a strong emphasis on liberal arts, invites nominations and applications for a Digital Assets Librarian in the Gladys Marcus Library.

The Fashion Institute of Technology, a part of the State University of New York, has been a leader in career education in art, design, business, and technology for nearly 70 years. With a curriculum that provides a singular blend of hands-on, practical experience, classroom study, and a firm grounding in the liberal arts, FIT offers a wide range of outstanding programs that are relevant to today's rapidly changing industries. Internationally renowned, FIT draws on its New York City location to provide a vibrant, creative community in which to learn. The college offers more than 45 majors and grants AAS, BFA, BS, MA, MFA, and MPS degrees, preparing students for professional success and leadership in the global marketplace.

With close ties to industry, FIT draws faculty from the city's art, business, and design elite, and from the rich academic community of the region. The college continually seeks creative faculty members who are passionate about their field and demonstrate exceptional professional capability in the core competencies of instruction design, learning enrichment, globalism, and use of technology, as well as mastery of established and emerging industry practices.

Job Description:

The FIT Library cultivates user-centered physical and virtual spaces that support and strengthen academic and creative pursuits. Our library creates a foundation for lifelong learning by teaching research and critical thinking skills that students carry beyond the classroom into careers. We build, organize, and preserve materials that support our curriculum, enhance our unique collections, and document the college's history. We investigate, assess and implement innovative services and programs that measurably facilitate and enrich the learning experience.

The Digital Assets librarian works in the realm of digitization, description, dissemination, and preservation of digital content across all library repositories. This position facilitates the discovery of and access to digital content through metadata creation according to local, regional and national standards and ensures long-term access and preservation to digital content. Collaborates closely with the Digital Initiatives Librarian and reports to the Head of Acquisitions and Metadata Services.

Responsibilities & Essential Functions: 

Digital Collections

• Manage aspects of the Library's digital assets in multiple formats and derived from campus-wide sources, including student/faculty scholarly output, event and lecture videos, instructional materials, and rare and unique materials from the Library's Special Collections and College Archives (SPARC).
• Support the development and administration of the Library's digital collections platforms (Institutional Repository, Archive on Demand, SPARC Digital, FITDIL, etc.)
• Organize, describe, digitize and preserve digital assets, including the standardization of metadata, creation of workflows and documentation of the digital asset lifecycle
• Facilitate the migration of digital assets and metadata to the Library's newly, centralized digital repository and preservation system.
• Develop, implement and maintain metadata for all varieties of digital assets, including bibliographic integrations with the Library's ILS and discovery system.
• Develop special projects for access and dissemination of visual content through internal and external collaborations, inclusive of SUNY colleges and other relevant institutions.

Digital Collection Management

• Establish, implement and monitor best practices and workflows for the Library's collaborative development of digital projects internally and campus-wide.
• Maintain policies and procedures related to development, management, and usage of the Library's digital projects and collections.
• Troubleshoot access issues with digital collections
• Serve in the roll of as administrator for content/asset management systems in the absence of the Digital Initiatives Librarian
• Support the Library's effort to develop platforms and projects utilizing.
• Open-source applications and ensure open availability of content and data.
• Conduct training of library staff on various aspects of digital collection management and retrieval.
• Coordinate outreach to garner digital assets for the Library's digital repository.

Liaison Outreach, Assessment and Collection Cultivation

• Serve as the point of contact for assigned subject areas and academic department liaisons in providing information and library services referrals. 
• Review, evaluate and assess current library resources
• Participate in the Library Liaison program by promoting services and resources with a special focus on digital initiatives; cultivate relationships and foster connections with classroom faculty
• Review and utilize data and assessment methodologies to support evidence-based changes to services and programs.

Faculty Responsibilities and Professional Development

• Serve and participate in library-wide, team-driven, and working group meetings, library governance and campus-wide initiatives and committees.
• Participate in the Library's Strategic Planning process and implement policies and procedures that support the Strategic Plan.
• Participate in curricular and pedagogical discussions by attending college-wide, school, and departmental meetings and share with Library colleagues.
• Maintain active membership in local, state, and national professional organizations and currency in the field.
• Cultivate and foster collaborative relationships with other institutions.
• Participate in the mentoring program for new librarians in other areas of the library.
• Participate in professional development activities to maintain currency in professional competencies.

Cross Unit Work and Special Assignments

In addition to regular assignments at the Library Services Desk, the Digital Assets Librarian is expected to serve at any library service desk for coverage as required and is active in library teams. Special assignments include projects related to data migration, web content development and information architecture, library outreach and grant proposals, and others as required.

The preceding description is not designed to be a complete list of all duties and responsibilities required of the position; other duties may be assigned consistent with the classification of the position.

Requirements:

Minimum Qualifications:

• MLS or MLIS from an ALA-accredited institution
• Minimum of (3) years of library experience
• Demonstrated experience in coordination of digitization and metadata projects
• Working knowledge of MARC and non-MARC metadata standards and schema (e.g., Dublin Core, METS, MODS or EAD, etc.), and currency with cataloging standards (e.g. RDA)
• Demonstrated experience with metadata in XML and JSON formats
• Demonstrated experience in the utilization of scripting languages (e.g., python) for the purposes of metadata transformation and migration.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Demonstrated experience with the Linux operating system environment, particularly Apache, MySQL, PHP/Perl/Python systems.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Demonstrated experience with principles of authority control, including selecting and applying controlled vocabularies and ontologies to local collections
• Proven ability and excellent organizational skills to produce complex, analytical and detailed work products
• Record of strong written, verbal and interpersonal communication skills; ability to present and convey concepts and information to groups with varying levels of technical comprehension
• Capacity to lead projects; ability and ?exibility to work with emerging and concurrent priorities; resourceful in problem solving and resolution
• Demonstrated ability to work independently and in a collegial, teamwork-oriented environment
• Proven commitment to providing outstanding customer service to library patrons
• Demonstrated commitment to fostering a culturally diverse educational and work environment

MENTAL REQUIREMENTS

Read Comprehend- Constant; Perform Calculations- Frequent; Communicate Orally- Constant; Reason & Analyze- Constant; Write- Frequent

WORKING ENVIRONMENT

The position is on campus, primarily in an office environment.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS

Sit- Frequent; Stand- Frequent; Bend- Occasional; Walk- Occasional; Climb- Occasional; Pull- Occasional; Push- Occasional; Lift<10- Occasional; Lift 10-20- Occasional; Lift over 50- N/A; Reach- Occasional

Additional Information:

The UCE-FIT Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) dictates the compensation, benefits, and conditions of employment.
Starting Salary: $69,475 per year with step increments per Salary Schedule 83, after one year of service and annually thereafter.
(See Successor Agreement, page 6)

• Full-Time Benefits
• Employee Holiday and Work Schedule
• Remote Pilot Program 

Days/Hours: M-F, 30 hour work week, in person; work schedule subject to change based on needs of the department.

This non-classroom faculty position will begin on or after July 3, 2023. Review of applications will begin immediately until the position is filled.

Successful completion of a background check is required for appointment to this position once an offer has been made.

Application Instructions:

In order to be considered for the position, you must submit the following documents online:

• Resume
• Cover letter
• Unofficial transcript 
• A list of three references with telephone numbers and email addresses

Returning Applicants - Login to your FITNYC Careers Account to check your submitted application material.

For more information about us, please visit FIT's website at: http://www.fitnyc.edu.

Pursuant to Executive Order 161, no State entity, as defined by the Executive Order, is permitted to ask, or mandate, in any form, that an applicant for employment provide his or her current compensation, or any prior compensation history, until such time as the applicant is extended a conditional offer of employment with compensation. If such information has been requested from you before such time, please contact the Governor's Office of Employee Relations at (518) 474-6988 or via email at info@goer.ny.gov.

EEO/ Affirmative Action Statement

FIT is firmly committed to creating an environment that will attract and retain people of diverse racial and cultural backgrounds. By providing a learning and working environment that encourages, utilizes, respects, and appreciates the full expression of every individual's ability, the FIT community fosters its mission and grows because of its rich, pluralistic experience. FIT is committed to prohibiting discrimination, whether based on race, color, national origin, sex, gender, gender identity, religion, ethnic background, age, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, military service status, genetic information, pregnancy, familial status, citizenship status (except as required to comply with law), or any other criterion prohibited by applicable federal, state, or local laws. FIT is committed to providing equal opportunity in employment, including the opportunity for upward mobility for all qualified individuals.  Applications from minorities, women, veterans, and persons with disabilities are encouraged.  Inquiries regarding FIT's non-discrimination policies may be directed to the Affirmative Action Officer/Title IX Coordinator, 212.217.3360, titleix@fitnyc.edu.

The Fashion Institute of Technology is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer and is strongly and actively committed to diversity within the community.

Apply Online