ISAP Librarians & Editors

Thusa Batho Labour Solutions; Pretoria; On-site; ZAR 50 000 - 200 000; Full time

Job summary

A national information institution is seeking five skilled ISAP Librarians & Editors to manage and promote a leading national database of South African literature. Responsibilities include overseeing editorial standards, managing indexing quality, collaborating on content development, and preparing detailed reports. Candidates should have strong editorial skills and a relevant degree. This position offers the opportunity to contribute significantly to the enhancement of academic and cultural representation in South African scholarship.

Qualifications

• Strong editorial, indexing, and metadata skills with exceptional attention to detail.
• Knowledge of library classification systems, controlled vocabularies, and metadata standards.
• Analytical ability to compile performance statistics and write clear reports.

Responsibilities

• Oversee the indexing of articles from South African journals.
• Collaborate to secure eligible titles for indexing.
• Monitor indexing quality, completeness, and turnaround times.

Skills

Editorial skills

Indexing skills

Metadata management

Organisational skills

Project management

Communication skills

Education

Degree in Library and Information Science

Tools

Indexing software

Metadata creation tools

Job description

Overview

A national information and heritage institution is seeking five highly skilled ISAP Librarians & Editors to manage, edit, and promote a leading national indexing database of South African periodical literature.

The role involves overseeing editorial standards, indexing quality, metadata control, and the processing of scholarly and general-interest periodical content for inclusion in the ISAP database. Successful candidates will contribute to editorial workflows, system enhancements, and the strategic development of the programme.

Key Responsibilities

1. Editorial & Indexing Management

• Oversee the indexing of articles from South African scientific journals, specialist publications, and general periodicals.
• Define, enforce, and maintain indexing standards, including controlled vocabularies, classification systems, keyword assignment, and abstracting.
• Review, edit, and validate index records to ensure accuracy, consistency, and adherence to metadata standards (e.g., authorship, titles, subjects, abstracts).
• Manage end-to-end editorial workflows: receipt of periodicals, material selection, indexing, quality assurance, and ingestion into the ISAP database.
• Liaise with technical / IT teams for metadata transfer to external systems (e.g., Sabinet Online) and ensure efficient export mechanisms.

2. Collection & Content Development

• Collaborate with Legal Deposit and Periodicals units to secure eligible South African titles for indexing.
• Monitor emerging journals, new titles, and special series relevant to South African scholarship.
• Support collection development decisions to increase the coverage and representation of South African academic and cultural content.
• Advocate for proactive inclusion of new publications aligned with the ISAP mandate.

3. Quality Assurance & Reporting

• Monitor indexing quality, completeness, accuracy, and turnaround times.
• Implement review mechanisms and contribute to continuous improvement initiatives.
• Maintain detailed statistics and performance metrics (e.g., number of indexed records, subject coverage, processing timelines).
• Prepare monthly and quarterly progress reports for management.
• Stay updated with international best practices (e.g., MARC21, RDA, linked data, metadata interoperability).

4. Metadata Standards & Schema Development

• Evaluate and recommend metadata schemas, controlled vocabularies, classification approaches, and indexing frameworks.
• Develop or adapt local metadata application profiles and internal best-practice guidelines to enhance consistency.

Requirements

Technical & Professional Requirements

Essential Skills & Knowledge

• Strong editorial, indexing, and metadata skills with exceptional attention to detail.
• Knowledge of library classification systems, controlled vocabularies, and metadata standards (e.g., MARC21, RDA).
• Familiarity with tools and software used for digital indexing, metadata creation, and workflow tracking.
• Ability to work with digital periodicals, online publications, and modern indexing workflows.
• Strong organisational and project-management skills; able to manage multiple tasks and tight deadlines.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills; able to liaise with staff, management, and external partners.
• Analytical ability to compile performance statistics and write clear, informative reports.
• Leadership or team-coaching experience—ability to train, guide, and motivate indexing staff or freelancers.

Preferred Qualifications

• A degree in Library and Information Science, Information Management, Knowledge Organisation, Digital Curation, or related fields.
• Experience in bibliographic indexing, metadata management, academic publishing, or library cataloguing.
• Understanding of South African scholarly publishing and research content is an advantage.