Biomedical & Biological Sciences Librarian

Department: Library

Job Category: Administrative or Professional Faculty

Job Type: Full-Time

Work Schedule: Full-time (1.0 FTE, 40 hrs/wk)

Location: Manassas / Sci-Tech

Telework Friendly: Yes

Salary: Salary is commensurate with professional experience and academic qualifications. Salary at appointment is dependent upon rank: Librarian I (not less than $65,000), Librarian II (not less than $70,000), Librarian III (not less than $75,000), and Librarian IV (not less than $80,000). 12-month professional faculty appointment with rank; health plan options and paid life insurance; several retirement plans, including TIAA-CREF; 24 vacation days and 12 paid holidays; and tuition waiver for self.

Term: 2-year initial appointment; renewable

Criminal Background Check: Yes

About the Department:

The University Libraries form an intellectual nexus for George Mason University. It fosters innovation, creativity, and imagination by facilitating access to scholarship and information, providing expert consultation in the research process, and actively teaching the effective and critical use of information. Moreover, it fulfills a critical role in the creation, dissemination, and preservation of knowledge.

The Learning, Research, and Engagement Division (LRE) of the University Libraries has primary responsibility for the spectrum of services and programs related to the outward-focused, direct engagement with undergraduate and graduate students and faculty pertaining to teaching, learning, and research, including the assessment (in conjunction with the Libraries’ Assessment and Planning Office) of such services and programs. 

Through the three disciplinary teams of subject specialist librarians (Arts & Humanities; STEM; and Social Sciences), the LRE division works continuously with individual faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates on their individual learning and research needs by working closely with academic departments and colleges.

About the Position:

The Science and Technology Team serves the College of Engineering and Computing, the College of Health and Human Services, and the College of Science, as well as several STEM-focused multi-disciplinary university-level institutes and centers. Within the team, the programmatic role of the Biomedical & Biological Sciences Librarian is to provide biomedical and biological sciences subject librarian expertise and support for students and faculty in the School of Systems Biology; Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation; Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience; the George Squared (Advanced Biomedical Sciences) program; and the College of Education and Human Development’s School of Kinesiology. The librarian’s responsibilities include providing library research instruction, reference, and research consultations; developing collections to support the curricular and research needs of the schools and programs; and engaging in academic outreach. Additional duties include providing research data support for faculty and students.

This position collaborates with the Libraries’ Digital Scholarship Center (DiSC), Mason Publishing Group, and Collections Strategy unit; as well as with other library departments more broadly and across the university to support research and data efforts, methods, and tools.

The Biomedical and Biological Sciences Librarian reports to the Head, Science and Technology Team & Mercer Library.

Responsibilities:

• Instruction:
  • Uses general and subject-specific knowledge and resources, as well as current technologies and appropriate pedagogies, to develop and deliver high-quality instruction to STEM faculty, staff, and students in assigned subject areas;
  • Develops a strong understanding of the research and teaching needs of emerging biomedical programs in order to design new and enhance existing services in anticipation of these needs;
  • Assumes leadership responsibility for developing, in partnership with other groups on campus when applicable, library-based curricular educational programming especially for pre-medical programs;
  • Actively engages with faculty, students, and staff in biomedical programs to develop strong working relationships and partnerships;
  • Participates fully in the research and teaching initiatives of the libraries, including conducting workshops and training sessions, as needed; and
  • Attends training sessions to maintain and enhance skills.

• Reference and Research:
  • Provides general and expert academic discipline-based reference and consultation, research assistance and course support; reference service (on-call/virtual reference) as scheduled;
  • Develops and implements creative library services and programs to integrate collections with teaching and research, including maintaining content for the library’s online and print guides, as needed;
  • Keeps abreast of curricular and program changes in assigned programs and follows trends in reference and information services, particularly in academic libraries; and
  • Assesses the impacts and outcomes of reference/research services and programs in assigned subject areas and implements changes or improvements.

• Collection Development and Information Management:
  • As subject area expert, and working closely with faculty from assigned departments, selects, recommends, monitors, evaluates, and manages reference and research collections (in all formats) in the assigned disciplines to meet curricular and research needs;
  • Works with special collections to identify and acquire archives/other special materials;
  • Participates in system-wide shared collection initiatives and activities, and as a member of the Science and Technology Team, participates in setting and achieving annual goals and tasks as established by the team;
  • Monitors trends and maintains knowledge, skills and expertise with regard to relevant general and subject-area databases, relevant publishers/vendors, intellectual access mechanisms, resource formats, and library and information technologies; and
  • Proactively supports initiatives in open access and sustainable collections, open science, and open data.

• Scholarly Communication, Outreach, and Engagement:
  • Proactively supports researchers on scholarly communication models and promotes the use of open access sources and tools to faculty, students, and researchers;
  • Helps researchers find, manage, and critically evaluate information and data, as well as affiliated research tools, platforms, and infrastructure;
  • Supports researchers in data management and data services in assigned fields. Builds internal and external partnerships to support this activity;
  • Promotes library services, resources, and programs to the Mason community at the Science and Technology campus; initiates and strengthens communication channels between the Libraries and programs by forming partnerships with faculty and students in assigned academic programs; and
  • In collaboration with library colleagues, markets library services and programs at Fenwick Library and Mason Square Library, as appropriate.

• Professional Development and Strategic Planning:
  • Advances the University Libraries’ goals and plans, and participates on library and/or university committees, task forces, etc., as requested/assigned;
  • Participates in the University Libraries’ strategic planning process and governance activities; and
  • Engages in university and professional service, and in research and creative work as outlined in the George Mason University Librarians’ Handbook.

Required Qualifications:

• Master’s degree from an ALA-accredited library and information science program OR a certified foreign equivalent required;
• Some library experience working in the areas of Biology, Bioengineering, Biomedical, or general STEM fields;
• Experience providing library instruction and research services in STEM;
• Demonstrated experience or aptitude with electronic resources and information technologies to support reference, research and collection development in STEM disciplines;
• Experience collaborating with instructional faculty to help students achieve learning outcomes related to information literacy principles and practices;
• Experience or familiarity with key information resources in a variety of scientific disciplines;
• Ability to develop outreach strategies and build relationships with faculty and students to deliver high impact services and resources; and
• Ability to build collaborative and mutually beneficial working relationships with people of varying backgrounds and perspectives.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Degree in Biology, Bioengineering, or Health Sciences related field, or significant coursework in those areas, preferred;
• Experience with the development of strategies for doing outreach and building relationships with faculty and students to deliver high impact services and resources, and capacity to adapt outreach skills to the Mason Libraries context;
• Experience considering the impacts of the work (instruction, reference and research, scholarly communications, outreach, and engagement) on multiple population/user groups;
• Familiarity with research trends and with ethical, legal, and policy issues in the broader biomedical and health sciences areas; and
• Knowledge of data management planning, scholarly communications, and open access concepts and trends.

Instructions to Applicants: 

For full consideration, applicants must apply for Biomedical & Biological Sciences Librarian at https://jobs.gmu.edu/; complete and submit the online application; and provide a cover letter, resume, and a list of three professional references with contact information.

Posting Open Date: November 1, 2023

For Full Consideration, Apply by: November 26, 2023

Open Until Filled?:  Yes