Senior Cataloger & Metadata Specialist (Alma)

King William County Library System; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 90,000 - 125,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health Care Plan

Retirement Plan

Life Insurance

Paid Time Off

Family Leave

Disability Insurance

Training & Development

Job summary

LAC Federal is seeking a highly experienced Cataloger III – Senior Cataloging & Metadata Specialist to provide advanced cataloging, metadata remediation, and technical expertise in support of a major federal research library in the Washington, DC Area.

The role involves complex original and copy cataloging, foreign-language description, and enhancement of legacy records following migration to Ex Libris Alma, with emphasis on RDA, MARC 21, and authority control. On-site in Washington, DC.

Qualifications

• Master's degree in Library and Information Science from an ALA-accredited institution.
• Minimum of seven years of progressively responsible professional cataloging experience, including substantial experience with complex original and copy cataloging.
• Minimum of three years of advanced cataloging experience involving complex serials, foreign-language materials, or significant bibliographic metadata remediation.
• Demonstrated advanced proficiency in RDA, MARC 21 bibliographic and holdings formats, OCLC cataloging tools, and established authority-control standards.
• Professional experience using Ex Libris Alma for bibliographic and holdings record creation, editing, import/export, or metadata remediation.
• Demonstrated ability to independently perform complex original cataloging, including subject analysis, classification, authority research, and resolution of incomplete or inconsistent bibliographic information.

Responsibilities

• Perform advanced original and copy cataloging of complex monographs, serials, electronic resources, and specialized research materials using RDA, MARC 21, OCLC WorldCat, and established authority-control practices.
• Independently catalog materials in one or more foreign languages, including complex bibliographic description, subject analysis, original-script transcription, romanization, and authority verification.
• Serve as a senior technical resource for complex cataloging questions, unusual bibliographic materials, difficult authority-control issues, and nonstandard descriptive situations.
• Analyze, correct, and enhance legacy bibliographic and holdings records following migration to Ex Libris Alma, including UTF-8 encoding errors, diacritical inconsistencies, MARC 880 linkages, duplicate records, and incorrect bibliographic relationships.
• Perform complex serials cataloging and remediation, including successive-entry cataloging, title changes, mergers, splits, continuations, linking fields, ISSN verification, and holdings accuracy.
• Evaluate and upgrade older bibliographic records to current RDA and MARC 21 practices, ensuring consistency, accurate access points, and improved discovery across print and electronic collections.
• Conduct advanced authority research and metadata enhancement using LCNAF, LCSH, Library of Congress Classification, and other applicable controlled vocabularies and authority resources.
• Support large-scale metadata cleanup initiatives through record analysis, batch editing, normalization, and validation using Alma and approved metadata processing tools.
• Review complex bibliographic records prepared by other catalogers or remote foreign-language specialists, identify quality deficiencies, and recommend corrections to meet institutional standards.
• Collaborate with the Project Manager/Senior Serials Cataloger to develop and refine cataloging procedures, technical specifications, quality assurance standards, and production workflows.
• Support cataloging backlog reduction, inventory reconciliation, withdrawals, and collection maintenance by providing advanced bibliographic verification and resolving difficult record-level discrepancies.
• Contribute technical expertise to metadata modernization initiatives, including BIBFRAME readiness, linked-data practices, persistent identifiers, and improvements to bibliographic data interoperability.

Skills

RDA proficiency

MARC 21 knowledge

Metadata remediation

Ex Libris Alma

Authority research

Foreign-language cataloging

Education

MLIS/MLS from an ALA-accredited institution

Tools

Ex Libris Alma

MarcEdit

OpenRefine

Scripting tools

Job description

LAC Federal is seeking a highly experienced Cataloger III – Senior Cataloging & Metadata Specialist to provide advanced cataloging, metadata remediation, and technical expertise in support of a major federal research library in the Washington, DC Area.

The role involves complex original and copy cataloging, foreign-language description, and enhancement of legacy records following migration to Ex Libris Alma, with emphasis on RDA, MARC 21, and authority control. On-site in Washington, DC.