Job Description
Position Details
Academic Services
Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK
Full time starting salary is normally in the range £29,647 to £31,460, with potential progression once in post to £35,388
Grade: 5
Full Time, Permanent
Closing date: 9th April 2025
Are you considering a career at the University of Birmingham? Our Recruitment Team is hosting one-to-one conversations to help you understand the application process, provide updates on existing applications, and answer general questions about working at the University. Our next appointments are available on Friday 28th March; click here to book. Further dates and opportunities to connect with us in person will be advertised on future job listings.
Our offer to you
People are at the heart of what we are and do.
The University of Birmingham is proud to have been a part of the City of Birmingham and the wider region for over 100 years, and we are equally proud to be recognised as a leading global university. We want to attract talented people from across the city and beyond, support them to succeed, and celebrate their success.
We are committed to helping the people who work here to develop through our sector-leading Birmingham Professional programme which provides all professional services staff with development opportunities and the encouragement to reach their full potential. With almost 5,000 professional services jobs in a wide-range of functions in Edgbaston and in our campus in Dubai, there are plenty of opportunities for you to be able to develop your career at the University.
We believe there is no such thing as a typical member of staff and that diversity is a source of strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation, and debate. We warmly welcome people from all backgrounds and are committed to fostering an inclusive environment where diversity is at the heart of who and what we are, and how we work.
Supporting our people to achieve a healthy work/life balance is important both to our employees and to the success of the University and, depending on the role, we offer a variety of flexible working arrangements. We therefore welcome discussions on all forms of flexible working. In addition, you will receive a generous package of benefits including 40 days paid holiday a year, one paid day a year for volunteering, occupational sick pay, and a pension scheme. We also have three high quality subsidised day nurseries.
The University is situated in leafy Edgbaston and there are excellent transport links to our beautiful campus, including main bus routes and a train station on site. On campus we have a state-of-the-art sports centre with pool, shops, places to eat and drink, our own art gallery, museum and botanical gardens.
Find out more about the benefits of working for the University of Birmingham
Role Summary
The post holder will have a key role to play in the creation, editing and management of metadata in order to facilitate discovery and access to information resources. They will undertake cataloguing and classification duties and create and assign subject headings for library acquired resources, using internationally recognised standards. They may have specific responsibility for a specialist area requiring particular subject or language skills, but will be expected to apply their cataloguing skills to the full range of resources acquired by Library Services. The post holder will provide support and guidance to colleagues in Libraries and Learning Resources in relation to metadata and their specialist areas, and will also deal with queries from university staff, students and other library users in respect to metadata issues.
Main Duties
To create and edit descriptive metadata for a wide range of resources including electronic and print collections using internationally recognised cataloguing standards, currently RDA, AACR2 and MARC 21, using the University of Birmingham Library Management System, Alma.
To assign Library of Congress Subject Headings and class marks using internationally recognised classification schemes, e.g. Library of Congress, Dewey Decimal and Moys.
To take responsibility for cataloguing and classifying material in one or more specialist areas, e.g. music, Special Collections material, foreign language material, official publications, etc., and provide support and guidance to colleagues in relation to this specialist material, including the acquisition of such material as required.
To check and repair authority terms using international standards.
To provide support and guidance on metadata related queries from library colleagues, academics, students and other library users, escalating them to the Collection Management and Metadata Team Leader as necessary.
To collate and maintain statistics and documentation of work undertaken.
To undertake appropriate continuing professional development and to contribute to the implementation of new and emerging standards, e.g. RDA.
To undertake project work, such as retrospective cataloguing work, as required.
To support equality and value diversity, and moderate own behaviour to avoid unfair discriminatory impact or bias on others.
To carry out any other duties commensurate with the grade.
In addition, this post may line manage the Information Assistants within the Collection Management and Metadata team, for which the duties are:
To carry out recruitment, induction and training.
To set day to day priorities and work targets, in consultation with the Collection Management and Metadata Team Leader.
To manage the Information Assistants’ effective performance, including the identifying of training requirements, and conduct of PDRs and regular one-to-one discussions.
Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience
Essential
Educated to ‘A’ level standard or equivalent.
A recognised qualification in librarianship or information science, or equivalent level of experience in a library environment.
In-depth knowledge of cataloguing standards, such as RDA, AACR2, MARC21, LCSH.
Substantial experience of cataloguing to current recognised standards on an online Library Management System.
Experience of classifying using internationally recognised schema, for example Library of Congress and Moys.
In-depth knowledge of the particular issues associated with the description and discovery of information resources in a specialist area, e.g. music, foreign language material, rare books, etc.
Excellent IT skills including a good working knowledge of Microsoft Office applications, and the ability to import, export and manipulate batches of catalogue records using tools such as MARCEdit.
Excellent communication skills.
Ability to work accurately, meet targets, manage time and prioritise workload effectively, both individually and in a team environment.
Ability to establish and maintain constructive working relationships with colleagues across Library Services.
Demonstrable commitment to continuing professional development.
Demonstrable understanding of the importance of equality and diversity in the workplace, and an ability to identify and respond to equality and diversity issues in line with relevant policies and procedures.
Desirable
Reading knowledge of languages other than English, in particular non-Roman scripts.
Experience of cataloguing non-print materials.
Planning and Organising
The post holder has responsibility for managing their own time, anticipating and prioritising workload to ensure continuity of service. As part of this they will balance the need for accurate and professional work against the need to meet performance targets.
Problem Solving and decision making
Without reference to others
Deciding on appropriate cataloguing, classification and LCSH for resources
Handling complex cataloguing, classification and LCSH queries
Deciding how to resolve classification and cataloguing anomalies
After consulting others
Minor changes to cataloguing and classification policy
Identifying and recommending improvements to procedures and workflows
Or that would be referred to someone else
Significant changes to metadata strategy, policy, team processes and workflow
Issues affecting other teams or divisions
Internal and External relationships
The post holder will establish and maintain constructive working relationships with colleagues across Library Services. They will communicate effectively and professionally with colleagues at all levels.
The post holder will build and maintain effective networks with colleagues in similar roles at other higher education institutions and relevant organisations, particularly in their specialist area.
Informal enquiries to Edward Tavner, email: e.j.tavner@bham.ac.uk
View our staff values and behaviours here
We believe there is no such thing as a ‘typical’ member of University of Birmingham staff and that diversity in its many forms is a strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation and debate at the heart of University life. We are committed to proactively addressing the barriers experienced by some groups in our community and are proud to hold Athena SWAN, Race Equality Charter and Disability Confident accreditations. We have an Equality Diversity and Inclusion Centre that focuses on continuously improving the University as a fair and inclusive place to work where everyone has the opportunity to succeed. We are also committed to sustainability, which is a key part of our strategy. You can find out more about our work to create a fairer university for everyone on our website.
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