Faculty Services and Scholarly Communications Librarian

St Thomas University; Miami Gardens (FL); On-site; USD 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

St Thomas University in Miami Gardens is seeking a Faculty Services Librarian to support faculty scholarly and teaching needs. This full-time role includes developing training programs for research assistants and assisting faculty with research. The ideal candidate must hold an M.L.S. and J.D. with knowledge of legal databases.

Working hours are Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., with potential schedule changes. The position emphasizes effective communication and organizational skills.

Qualifications

• Strong and effective communication skills, both oral and written.
• M.L.S. from an A.L.A. accredited library school program is required.
• Experience in law libraries preferred.

Responsibilities

• Develop training programs for research assistants.
• Assist faculty with research needs and scholarship.
• Promote and manage scholarly communications program.

Skills

Communication skills

Supervisor skills

Interpersonal skills

Organizational skills

Technical skills

Education

M.L.S. from an A.L.A. accredited library school program

J.D. from an accredited ABA institution

Tools

Integrated library system

Legal databases

Job description

Job Details

Job Location: MIAMI GARDENS, FL 33054

Position Type: Full Time

Summary

Under the direction of the Law Library Director and Associate Director, this staff member will serve as Faculty Services Librarian. The Faculty Services Librarian is the primary point of contact in the Law Library for faculty scholarly and teaching needs including research support, publications assistance, training of research assistants, and providing classroom lectures as requested by the College of Law faculty.

Essential Functions

Faculty and Student Services Duties

• Develop and implement training programs for research assistants in the effective use of library databases and other resources.
• Develop coordinated research assistant program to provide faculty with “on-demand” research assistance.
• Prepare instructional material and training sessions and participate in legal research instructional programs as requested or needed by law school faculty or student organizations.
• Assist with collection development with emphasis on non-print material.
• Keep statistics on faculty requests, reference, special projects, and other assignments.
• Provide direct support to the Law School faculty for research, materials, and training requests including Canvas, Westlaw/TWEN, LexisNexis, Bloomberg Law, and other law school technologies and resources.
• Assist faculty with their research needs and scholarship using SSRN, and Scholastica. Keep apprised of new and upcoming faculty publications.
• Collect all Law School course syllabi each semester and coordinate with the Law School webmaster to make syllabi available to the STU Law School community. Collect past exams from willing faculty and likewise make available to the law school community.
• Participate in general Reference & Research services as part of regular workflow, including regular shifts at the reference desk.

Scholarly Communications Duties

• Promote and manage the development and growth of a formalized scholarly communications program including the use of Digital Commons.
• Promote STU Law faculty publications and facilitate delivery to a larger audience using tools such as Digital Commons or similar.
• Build and maintain collaborative partnerships related to digital initiatives with faculty, researchers and other campus units.
• Monitor advancements in scholarly communication, OA, IRs, and related areas and communicate implications to Law School and campus stakeholders.
• Provide guidance and training on scholarly communication/digital scholarship for the Library, Law School faculty, and students.

Interlibrary Loan (ILL) Duties

• Work closely with the Access Services Librarian to ensure proper and timely delivery of Interlibrary Loan materials requested by faculty.

Other duties

• Represent the Law Library in local, regional, and national meetings as requested.
• Serve on University and/or Law School Committees and participate in University and Law School events as requested.
• Keep informed of new trends in access services and the law profession.
• Recommend materials and services to Library Administration based upon current trends in use amongst faculty and students.

Competencies

• Strong and effective communication skills, both oral and written.
• Strong supervisory skills with the ability to manage and develop staff.
• Strong interpersonal skills including the ability to work effectively with students and faculty from a wide diversity of background and educational experiences.
• Organizational, planning, and administrative skills including the ability to work effectively on broad as well as detailed projects.
• Ability to work in a network environment including working with an integrated library system.
• Knowledge and ability to work with legal databases and common law school and educational technologies, and the ability to design library instructional tools.
• Strong technical skills, interest in technology, and the ability to troubleshoot simple technology problems, failures, or deficiencies – expertise with law school technologies such as TWEN, Lexis Classroom, Canvas is essential.
• Ability to understand library system technology that can be used to improve services, instruction efforts and workflows.
• Strong service orientation and effective problem‑solving skills.
• Be flexible with work assignments and work hours.

Supervisory Responsibility

This position has direct supervision of Law Library research assistants. This position indirectly supervises any non-professional staff, including work‑study students, engaged by Law Library public services department.

Work Environment/Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is occasionally required to stand, walk, sit; reach with hands and arms; climb stairs; push library carts full of books; and climb on stands to shelf books. The employee must occasionally lift or move library materials and supplies, up to 30 pounds.

Position Type/Expected Hours of Work

This is a full-time position. Days and hours of work are Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The position occasionally requires schedule changes with weekend/evening hours.

Travel

Travel is primarily for Professional Development. The employee will be asked to represent the Law Library in local, regional, and national meetings as requested by the Library Director.

Qualifications

Education and Experience

• M.L.S. from an A.L.A. accredited library school program is required.
• J.D. from an accredited ABA institution is required.
• Previous academic law library experience is strongly preferred.
• Three or more years of experience in law libraries is preferred.
• Previous library administration experience is preferred.