Davis - UC Davis Library, Special Collections - Public Services Assistant

The UC Davis Library Special Collections department is seeking a temporary employee to fill a public service position that includes staffing the Special Collections reference desk, working with our patron management and request system (Aeon), facilitating patron use of the collections, and supervising student workers.

Period: Approximately March 19 to July 13, 2018
When: Fulltime. Monday – Friday, 8 AM to 5 PM (start time flexible)
Contact: Please contact Kevin C. Miller if you are interested in this temporary position; include a CV/résumé, if possible: kcmiller@ucdavis.edu.

Classification and salary determination is in process; please inquire directly with Dr. Miller.

*The Temporary Employment Service performs a background check as part of the hiring process.

Summary of Roles and Responsibilities:
Under the general direction of the Head of Special Collections and coordinating with other unit personnel, performs a range of user service-oriented activities in the Special Collections unit of the University Library. This position:
-Provides public services assistance to faculty, students, staff, visiting scholars, and the general public in the Reading Room and to remote users as assigned
-Provides information for the user regarding collection information and historical research;
-Provides outreach information regarding collections and services for websites, guides, social media, and special programming.
-Maintains the rare book and pamphlet collections (including the Michael and Margaret B. Harrison Western Research Center), map collection, manuscript collections, historical photograph collections, University Archives, and other non-circulating research materials with department staff.
-Assists in the design of the departmental website and marketing materials.
-Provides access to materials, tracks location of materials for public services.
-Assists with the preparation and mounting of exhibits.
-Supervises assigned Special Collections student assistants.

Minimum Qualifications:
-Experience in or knowledge of public service activities in an academic Special Collections department.
-Skill in searching electronic bibliographic databases, Online Archive of California, various discovery tools, the internet, and the ability to train others in same.
-Experience in managing storage and access of manuscript collections.
-Experience in original research techniques and resources and research skills adequate to provide information to the public about collections.
-Writing skills to respond to queries, provide collection descriptions, and information for exhibit materials, websites, blogs, etc. Skills to proofread, verify data and edit text rapidly with a high degree of accuracy.
-Skill to work with colleagues, students, staff, and the general public in a helpful, constructive manner.

Preferred Qualifications:
-Formal archival education, institute certificate, or equivalent preferred with demonstrated experience with archival principles and methods.
-Experience with basic preservation techniques for handling and storage of rare books and archival materials, including papers, photographs, maps, posters, film, tape, and memorabilia.
-Experience with original cataloging tools including SAA's Describing Archives: A Content Standard, MARC, Anglo-American Cataloging Rules and Library of Congress Subject Headings for public service instruction.
-Skill at determining subject content of manuscript, University Archives, and photograph collections.
-Skill to train and supervise student assistants.
-Skill to keep and maintain complete and thorough records.
-Skill to work independently, establish priorities, meet quality and quantity standards, pay attention to details, and organize work with a minimum of supervision.
-Skill to make logical decisions and solve problems based on experience with policies and procedures.
-Skills to be self-directed and flexible in work routines to accommodate changing workflows and patron needs.
-General experience with academic library procedures.
-Skill using word-processing and other computer functions. Experience in formatting, and the ability to create tables and graphs. Experience with MS Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, Excel, and Access.
-Communication skills to effectively provide detailed information about the department and its holdings and to conduct an effective patron interview.
-Experience in exhibit design to develop and mount exhibit (with attention paid to preservation issues).
-Reasoning skills to extrapolate from one situation to another.