Harvard College Library

Cambridge, MA

Reporting to the Public Services Librarian, this position is responsible for research support, collaboration, and outreach for visual materials in the field of Islamic art and architecture to faculty, students, and researchers. Visual materials collections include digital images and slides for teaching as well as other formats documenting all aspects of Islamic art and architecture in the Fine Arts Library including historic photographs, postcards, and ephemera. Additional responsibilities include implementation of appropriate and forward-looking image metadata schemes, digital access, and participation in collection development and management. Works closely with the Bibliographer in the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture and the Photographic Resources Librarian in the Fine Arts Library and the faculty and staff of the Aga Khan Program.

Typical Duties and Responsibilities:

Collection Management, Development, and Access

• Identifies, evaluates , and acquires images, digital resources, historic photographs, and other visual materials for the library’s teaching and research collection
• Assesses and selects historic photographs and other visual materials in the Fine Arts Library’s collection for digitization and preservation (in consultation with the AKPIA Bibliographer and FAL Photographic Resources Librarian)
• Works with AKPIA and other faculty members, students, fellows, and visiting scholars to set collection priorities based on research and curricular needs
• Coordinates and prioritizes production of different digital products (scanning, uploading, cataloging); tracks workflows and timely service to users
• Provides intellectual control for Islamic visual materials in OLIVIA, ARTstor Shared Shelf project, and other catalogues including collaboration to establish best practices and authority control
• Participates in planning and implementing projects involving visual materials
• Develops long-range planning for Islamic visual images collection in consultation with AKPIA faculty and staff

Reference and Instructional Support

• Provides research services for visual materials in Islamic art and architectural history for faculty, students, and researchers
• Selects and provides teaching images in appropriate formats and other visual resources for classroom lectures and course websites
• Provides individual and group research support including in-class workshops and personalized instruction
• Assists faculty and students in integrating GIS, Prezi , and other visual tools in lectures, course websites
• Prepares online research guides, reference tools, and finding aids for Islamic visual materials
• Assists with image research and provides images, as needed, for Muqarnas and other Harvard and MIT AKPIA publications

Collaboration and Outreach

• Collaborates with diverse Harvard colleagues including the Loeb Design Library, NELC, CMES, and Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Islamic Studies Program
• Collaborates with AKPIA Documentation Center at MIT, Archnet, and other external initiatives on the creation and sharing of metadata, content, and services for users of visual materials on Islamic art and architecture such as SAHARA
• Works with other Harvard groups supporting interdisciplinary and digital scholarship such as academic departments and programs, DASH, CGA, and the Library Lab Initiative to develop content and research/teaching opportunities

Supervisory Responsibilities

• Supervises year-round student employees and temporary/project staff (as needed) in the creation of item level and collection-level cataloging and indexing for Islamic visual materials in all formats
• Working together with other stakeholders, develops special projects for access to and dissemination of Islamic visual culture

Basic Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in library and/or information science or equivalent experience
• Advanced degree at the master’s level or higher in the history of art and architecture related to the study of the Islamic world, or the equivalent combination of education, experience and/or background etc.
• 3-5 years related professional library experience required
• Knowledge of at least one Middle Eastern language (Arabic, Persian, Turkish)
• Expertise in image metadata standards and online data creation and access
• Computer skills including databases and digital image file management, required
• Excellent interpersonal, communication, and organizational skills required

Additional Qualifications:

• Working knowledge of western European languages, especially French and German
• Knowledge of the contemporary field of Islamic art and architecture historical study and its constituents
• Knowledge of other archival collections projects related to visual culture and history of the Middle East
• Ability to use a computer, monitor, keyboard, and mouse

 Please apply with a cover letter and resume at the Harvard Employment Site.  

Apply Here:  http://www.click2apply.net/wy6zy39

LIBRARY MARKETING

WHEN:  Saturday, March 13, 2010, 3 – 5 PM

COST: Free

Atlanta Emerging Librarians (AEL) and Special Library Association (SLA), Georgia Chapter, join together to host an information program on library marketing.  Dr. Christie Koontz from the Florida State SLIS program will speak about the importance of marketing library services and how to plan effective promotional strategies.

Dr. Koontz is the Director of GeoLib, a program that offers digital geographic information and marketing solutions to libraries.  Dr. Koontz teaches marketing and conducts research at Florida State, as well as serving on several committees of state, national and international library and information organizations.

Event RSVP and info page: http://aelslalibrarymarketing.eventbrite.com/

Technical info and details about past and upcoming chats at: http://www.arlisna.org/chats/index.html

In Search of Meaning: Building a Brand for an Arts Library

We will look at ways you can measure and build brand awareness for your library. In preparation for this chat, we recommend you take a look at Brian’s book “Marketing Today’s Academic Library” which includes helpful examples for library marketing and outreach. Although the focus is academic libraries, much of what is discussed may be applied to any type of library.

Moderator: Brian Mathews, author of Marketing Today’s Academic Library.

Friday, February 26, 2010, 11am Pacific – 12pm Mountain – 1pm Central – 2pm Eastern

1. What is the difference between marketing, branding, advertising, and outreach?
2. What is unique about Arts libraries?
3. What do your patrons think about your library? How do you know?
4. What types of marketing research have you conducted?
5. What are some techniques and strategies you can use for building your brand?

To this end, we’d like to announce the first of these volunteer opportunities- a
Project Leader for Student Outreach Initiatives

What we are hoping for with this position is someone interested in taking on the task of researching possibilities for ArLiSNAP to engage more with students. To get us started along this path, we first need to have some idea about where needs exist that ArLiSNAP could fill.  This would involve the project leader looking into topics such as what ARLIS’s commitments and current activities are in regard to students, how individual chapters connect with local student populations, etc. The Project Leader for Student Outreach Initiatives could then compile and disseminate this info either through blog posts or a written summary, in the spirit of eliciting discussion as to how ArLISNAP could expand in this direction.

Anyone with even mild curiosity or interest about this position is welcome to leave a comment.  If you think you might be interested in this position but would like to work on it with others, we’d be into that too. Or if you think another topic would benefit from similar inquiry, feel free to suggest it.

iTunes U puts the power of the iTunes Store to work for colleges and universities, so users can easily search, download, and play course content just like they do music, movies, and TV shows.

DePaul University Libraries (and probably others) offer podcasts on iTunes U. To see their page:

1. Install iTunes on your computer
2. Click on the following link to open iTunes U (will open your iTunes application): http://deimos3.apple.com/indigo/main/main.xml
3. Look for DePaul University on the left in the Universities box.
4. The DePaul University Libraries link is in the third box down on the right

And, if you missed Part One of the series, click here.