Metadata Specialist
Yale University

Location: New Haven, CT
Compensation: $64,100 - $90,000

Since its founding in 1701, Yale has been dedicated to expanding and sharing knowledge, inspiring innovation, and preserving cultural and scientific information for future generations.

Yale's reach is both local and international. It partners with its hometown of New Haven, Connecticut to strengthen the city's community and economy. And it engages with people and institutions across the globe in the quest to promote cultural understanding, improve the human condition, delve more deeply into the secrets of the universe, and train the next generation of world leaders.

Metadata Specialist

University Job Title: Metadata Librarian
Bargaining Unit: None - Not included in the union (Yale Union Group)
Time Type: Full time
Duration Type: Regular
Compensation Grade: library
Wage Ranges: https://your.yale.edu/work-yale/careers/wage-ranges to see our Wage Ranges
Work Location: Central Campus
Worksite Address: 344 Winchester Avenue, New Haven, CT 06511
Work Week: Standard (M-F equal number of hours per day)
Searchable Job Family: Library
Total # of Hours to be Works: 37.5

Position Focus:

Yale University Library (YUL) seeks a dynamic and collaborative Metadata Specialist within the Special Collections Metadata Services unit (SCMS) at Special Collections Technical Services, Beinecke Manuscript and Rare Book Library. SCMS provides a comprehensive, cross-collection, and service-centered approach to enabling and enhancing the discovery of Yale Library's special collection resources through metadata activities and services, data analysis, and special collection systems and tool management. The work of the unit necessitates a high level of collaboration with colleagues across Yale University Library, as well as broader communities building and sustaining data standards, description, and management tools for special collections.

The Metadata Specialist will develop opportunities to engage in creative experimentation with an aim to bring efficiencies and balance to expanding special collections metadata services in support of special collections at Yale. The incumbent will design, maintain, and coordinate metadata and data analysis technologies across multiple systems utilized by Yale's special collections, including developing and maintaining scripts, application profiles, metadata crosswalks, and technical specifications, to ensure sustainability and interoperability across Yale's special collections. They will also work collaboratively to assess, develop, and implement metadata strategies, such as overseeing and refining special collections metadata workflows and tools analyzing metadata needs and creating statistical reports for stakeholders throughout Beinecke Library and Special Collections at Yale.

The incumbent provides expertise and departmental support for ArchivesSpace.

The Metadata Specialist engages in regional and national communities of practice and monitors and integrates best practices at Special Collections Technical Services. They facilitate local professional awareness, documentation, and training; provide project management for cross-collection metadata and discovery projects; and may participate in YUL metadata policy and systems committees, ensuring that Special Collections Technical Services efforts align with Yale priorities and strategic goals.

The Metadata Specialist establishes a record of service, participating in regional, national, and international professional activities-both to contribute to the profession and to grow individually as a professional librarian.

This position may work a hybrid schedule based on operational needs.

DEIA Commitment in Recruitment: Yale University Library serves a diverse staff, campus, local, and global community and is deeply committed to advancing its goals for equity, inclusion, and accessibility. This commitment is reflected in our mission, strategic directions, staff values, initiatives, and scholarly activity. To support our goals for staff recruitment, retention, and development, Yale Library invites applications from candidates who have a proven commitment or demonstrated success with supporting diversity and inclusion through their work, service, research, and/or teaching.

This position will be assigned a rank of Librarian 1-3. Yale University assigns ranks to librarian positions based on a combination of professional experience and accomplishments. Librarian ranking information can be found at: http://bit.ly/YULRanksPromotions.

Essential Duties:

1. Creates and implements appropriate metadata strategies for digital projects, including analyzing metadata needs and developing workflows. Performs analysis, remediation, and normalization of metadata in the library's online catalogs and discovery layer.
2. Reviews, converts, and remediates metadata for digitized legacy collections. Provides consultation on metadata standards and applications to collection owners, faculty and staff.
3. Participates in the planning and implementation of library-wide digital initiatives and projects.
4. Manages metadata projects and ensures their timely progress and completion. Provides training and creates documentation as needed.
5. Applies programming and scripting skills in support of the technical requirements and production needs for metadata creation, conversion, enhancement, and maintenance. Develops and/or customizes applications and tools for automation and innovation.
6. Participates in the development of the infrastructure and workflows of the Library's digital repositories. Coordinates metadata activities and advises on metadata function improvement, enhancement, and troubleshooting in support of those repositories. Acts as liaison between department and Library IT staff.
7. Develops and provides technical training for staff within the department and across the library in metadata standards and best practices.
8. Engages in ongoing professional development by seeking training and learning opportunities inside and outside of Yale to keep up with new developments in the field of metadata and discovery technologies.
9. Serves on departmental and library-wide committees, and engages in regional and national professional organizations and collaborative activities.
10. Participates in the library's management, assessment, training and development programs.
11. Establishes a record of service to the Library, the University and the profession.
12. May be required to assist with disaster recovery efforts.
13. May perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications    

Required Education and Experience:

1. Master's degree from an ALA‐accredited library school. In selected instances, a post‐graduate degree in a related discipline may be required or substituted for a master's degree in library science. Demonstrated record of designing projects and bringing them to conclusion in a timely fashion.
2. Demonstrated excellent oral, written, and interpersonal communications and analytical ability; accuracy and attention to detail.
3. Experience working collegially and cooperatively within and across organizations.
4. Experience working collaboratively and independently with varied groups within a complex organization and rapidly changing, team environment. Yale University assigns ranks to librarian positions based on a combination of professional experience and accomplishments.

Librarian ranking information can be found at: http://guides.library.yale.edu/content.php?pid=481538&sid=3945968.

Required Skill/Ability 1:

Demonstrated knowledge of current national metadata content and structural standards.

Required Skill/Ability 2:

Demonstrated ability creating, editing, migrating, enhancing, and transforming metadata. Ability to develop application profiles and metadata crosswalks.

Required Skill/Ability 3:

Demonstrated skills with programming languages and/or data manipulation tools (e.g., Excel, OpenRefine, Python, XSLT).

Required Skill/Ability 4:

Demonstrated ability to work with a variety of data formats (e.g., CSV, JSON, and XML) as well as RESTFul APIs.

Required Skill/Ability 5:

Evidence of ability to assess, analyze, and solve problems creatively and collaboratively in a complex, rapidly changing environment. Strong service orientation and interest in improving both staff and patron experiences.

Preferred Education, Experience and Skills:

Experience with database design and management and SQL. Familiarity with exploratory data analysis (EDA) techniques. Experience with programming languages, such as Python, R, or Ruby. Experience conducting data analysis; working with ArchivesSpace, Integrated Library Systems, or similar; with Git and Linux virtual machines; with machine learning frameworks, such as PyTorch.

Drug Screen: No
Health Screening: No

Background Check Requirements: All candidates for employment will be subject to pre-employment background screening for this position, which may include motor vehicle, DOT certification, drug testing and credit checks based on the position description and job requirements. All offers are contingent upon the successful completion of the background check. For additional information on the background check requirements and process visit "Learn about background checks" under the Applicant Support Resources section of Careers on the It's Your Yale website.

COVID-19 Vaccine Requirement: The University maintains policies pertaining to COVID-19. All faculty, staff, students, and trainees are required to comply with these policies, which may be found here: https://covid19.yale.edu/health-guidelines

Posting Disclaimer: The intent of this job description is to provide a representative summary of the essential functions that will be required of the position and should not be construed as a declaration of specific duties and responsibilities of the particular position. Employees will be assigned specific job-related duties through their hiring departments.

Yale is a tobacco-free campus.

Application website: https://apptrkr.com/4472114

Deadline: September 9, 2023