STEM Librarian

The University of Miami Libraries (UML) seeks an intellectually curious and highly collaborative librarian for the position of STEM Librarian located in Richter Library’s Learning and Research Services unit, a department providing primary support for the College of Arts and Sciences and five other schools and colleges (Communication, Education, Engineering, Graduate School, and Nursing) at the University of Miami. The STEM Librarian serves as UML’s liaison to the College of Engineering and selected departments and interdisciplinary centers in the College of Arts and Sciences, including Chemistry, Computer Science, Mathematics, and Physics. The STEM Librarian plays a key role in advancing the UML’s support for an ambitious program of scientific learning and research articulated in the University’s Roadmap To Our New Century (see, e.g., STEM @ UM) and the College of Engineering’s strategic planning process, especially the “Excellence in Basic and Applied Science and Engineering” initiative. In addition to providing support for faculty researchers and teachers, the STEM Librarian assists undergraduate and graduate students as they seek to gain knowledge and skills necessary to conduct research and communicate its results to broad audiences.

Serving as a member of a diverse and engaged team of liaison librarians, information specialists, and peer research consultants (undergraduate and graduate students), located in Richter Library on the Coral Gables campus, the STEM Librarian contributes to developing a library that serves as the “heart of learning” at the university by fostering meaningful relationships with faculty and students and supporting the learning and research needs of the university’s scientific community. The STEM Librarian also collaborates actively with liaison librarians who support scientific research in the Miller School of Medicine and Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science; librarians who offer services through the Digital Scholarship Lab; and university colleagues in academic service units participating in the Learning Commons.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Performance:

Reporting directly to the Head of Richter Library Learning and Research Services (a unit comprised of liaison librarians, full-time staff, and student employees), the STEM Librarian is responsible for:

• Initiating and fostering congenial and collaborative working relationships with students, teaching faculty and researchers in the assigned disciplinary areas to ensure ongoing dialogue about evolving learning and research needs of the university’s scientific community.
• Offering consultative and instructional services for undergraduate students, graduate students, teaching faculty, and faculty researchers in order to advance information and digital literacies and provide expert support throughout the entire research cycle.
• Developing a particular focus on supporting the research needs of graduate students in STEM disciplines and collaborating with other science-related liaison librarians to improve library services in this area.
• Engaging in resource selection in assigned disciplinary areas and contributing to UML’s collection development initiatives including support for open access.
• Collaborating with librarians with functional expertise in data services, GIS, and digital humanities to provide coordinated support for increasingly data- and technology-intensive learning, teaching and research activities at the University.
• Collaborating with the Digital Media Lab and College of Engineering’s Johnson & Johnson Printing Center of Excellence Collaborative Laboratory to create science education programs involving 3D modeling and printing.
• Developing and sharing knowledge of scholarly communications related to the assigned disciplinary areas.
• Collaborating with other liaison librarians, especially colleagues in Architecture, Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, Nursing, and Medicine, to provide coordinated library services for interdisciplinary and multi-disciplinary learning, teaching and research activities at the University.
• Maintaining familiarity with research trends in the relevant disciplines and advising UML leadership about the ways these trends may inform or necessitate changes in library services and support.
• Contributing actively to the development of UML Learning and Research Services by sharing professional expertise, knowledge and ideas with the community of liaison librarians and functional specialists who support students and faculty.
• Maintaining familiarity with current and emerging approaches to scientific education, e.g., the use of flipped and active classrooms, and ways to incorporate information and digital literacies into such environments, while working collaboratively with teaching faculty.
• Supervising and training student employees, when appropriate.

Service:

• Serving on University and Library committees, task forces, and teams as appropriate.
• Networking, collaborating and actively participating in local, regional, national, or international organizations.
• Representing and promoting the University of Miami Libraries in professional organizations, as appropriate.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

• ALA accredited master’s degree or equivalent and experience with library instruction/information literacy and information/reference service in an academic or research library setting.
• Educational background in the sciences and/or experience providing library services to support scientific learning and research.
• Demonstrated understanding of current and emerging trends in the assigned disciplinary areas.
• Knowledge of electronic resources and information technologies related to the assigned disciplinary areas.
• Familiarity with or capacity to learn about and support the interdisciplinary needs of scientists and engineers.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Demonstrated interpersonal skills with the ability to work independently and collaboratively and to establish and maintain strong relationships with a diverse community of faculty, students, and colleagues.

Preferred:

• Advanced degree in a STEM discipline.
• Experience working in a team-based environment.
• Strong working knowledge of scholarly publishing and open access issues in the sciences, including familiarity with citation analysis and bibliometrics.

Context:

The University of Miami (www.miami.edu) is one of the nation’s leading research universities in a community of extraordinary diversity and international vitality. The University is a privately supported, non-sectarian institution located in Coral Gables, Florida, on a 260-acre subtropical campus with operations at three additional locations throughout the greater Miami region: Medical campus (downtown Miami); Marine and Atmospheric Science campus (Virginia Key); and South Campus (Richmond Facility). The University comprises eleven degree granting schools and colleges, including Architecture, Arts and Sciences, Business Administration, Communication, Education, Engineering, Law, Medicine, Music, Nursing, and Marine and Atmospheric Science.

The University of Miami Libraries (www.library.miami.edu) rank among the top 50 research libraries in North America with a collection of 3.75 million volumes (including 910,300 e-books) and 104,330 current serial subscriptions (including 102,726 electronic journals). UML comprises six libraries across the University’s three campuses. UML locations on the Coral Gables campus include: the Otto G. Richter Library (the central, interdisciplinary library); the Paul Buisson Architecture Library; the Judi Prokop Newman Business Information Resource Center; and the Marta and Austin Weeks Music Library. The downtown Miami campus hosts the Louis Calder Memorial Library. The Virginia Key campus hosts the Rosenstiel Marine and Atmospheric Science Library. Libraries at the School of Law and the Department of Ophthalmology in the Medical School are administered independently.

The University of Miami Libraries provide support and services for 10,917 undergraduates, 5,501 graduate students, and 14,025 full and part time faculty and staff. UML employs 79 professionals (including 51 librarian faculty), 83 support staff and 42 FTE student employees. UML is a member of and contributor to the Association of Research Libraries, Association of Southeast Research Libraries, Association of Academic Health Science Libraries, Council on Library and Information Resources, OCLC Research Library Partners, International Federation of Library Associations, Center for Research Libraries, International Association of University Libraries, Library Publishing Coalition, Digital Library Federation, Hathi Trust, Academic Preservation Trust, Consortium of Southern Biomedical Libraries, Florida Collaboration of Academic Libraries of Medicine and Southeast Florida Library and Information Network. UML licenses electronic resources through the Northeast Research Libraries and Lyrasis consortia. UML is a member of the Rosemont Shared Print Alliance, Scholars Trust and Florida Academic Repository (FLARE).

Salary and Benefits: Compensation will be competitive and will be commensurate with the experience and qualifications of the person selected. Appointments at the Librarian Associate Professor rank and above are typically five-year, renewable contracts. The University of Miami offers a comprehensive benefits package including: paid pension plan; partially paid medical and dental insurance plans; life, disability, and long-term care insurance available; tuition remission; thirteen paid holidays; and twenty-two days annual vacation. Additional employment benefits available include credit union; Employee Assistance Program; bookstore and sporting event discounts; and optional fee-based membership in a state-of-the-art wellness center. Moving allowance is available. No state or local income taxes.