Career Center

The Digital Preservation Librarian will lead the development and implementation of preservation strategies and policies for digital collections for the IU Libraries, including both digitized and born-digital materials. These materials include, but are not limited to, texts, images, time-based media, data sets, web and social media archives, email archives, and 3D models. They will establish strategy, policies, procedures, and best practices for the long-term access, management, and preservation of digital content and collections. The position collaborates across multiple library departments and with campus and IU-wide partners to implement digital strategies, policies, processes, and system requirements, and cultivates partnerships around the long-term preservation of assets under the Libraries' stewardship. The position reports to the Head of Digital Collections Services in the Library Technologies division of the Libraries.

The successful candidate will join a robust local community of librarians, archivists, collection managers, and information technology professionals active in building digital collections through digitization, born-digital acquisitions, and deposit of faculty research work, and in building and managing digital repository environments to support these collections. The Digital Preservation Librarian will be an active participant in major university initiatives such as preserving content produced by the Media Digitization and Preservation Initiative (https://mdpi.iu.edu/), a comprehensive digitization and preservation project focusing on audio, video, and film holdings of value from across the university with a current emphasis on access, and the Enterprise Scholarly Systems initiative, a collaboration between the IU Libraries in Bloomington, IUPUI University Library in Indianapolis, and IU's University Information Technology Services, to establish enterprise-wide digital repository services, including preservation services, for IU collections. The Digital Preservation Librarian will also be actively engaged in IU's participation in national and international initiatives such as Fedora (https://duraspace.org/fedora/) and the Samvera Community (https://samvera.org/).

The Indiana University Libraries are committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce. We encourage all employees to fully incorporate their diverse backgrounds, skills, and life experiences into their work and towards the fulfillment of our mission.

Working closely with librarians and staff in Library Technologies, Scholarly Communication, Preservation, and special collections units such as University Archives, as well as with University Information Technology Services and other library, campus, and university units, the Digital Preservation Librarian will:

● Play a lead role in establishing a cohesive digital preservation program at IU including the development of an effective and achievable strategy to ensure the long-term viability of university digital assets regardless of the format

● Assist library departments such as Scholarly Communication and special collections units to ensure the creation, curation, and maintenance of digital materials acquired or hosted by the library meet current preservation standards

● Advise IU Bloomington faculty, students and staff through consultation and training services on digital content lifecycle issues, strategies for digital content preservation and guidance on retrieving information from legacy media formats

● Participate in the development of digital preservation strategies for research data

● Participate in the development of digital preservation strategies for audio, video, and film media as part of IU's Media Digitization and Preservation Initiative

● Develop preservation policies for IU's digital repository environments, including Fedora, DSpace, and Samvera

● Oversee the Libraries' Born Digital Preservation Lab, supporting transfer of born-digital files from physical media

● Serve as liaison to the Indiana University (IU) community for digital preservation projects and initiatives related to digital collections and data

● Contribute to the IU Libraries' participation in consortial efforts such as the Big Ten Academic Alliance (BTAA), Fedora, and Samvera

● Engage in professional development opportunities–memberships, conferences, training and certification–to stay current on new programs, standards and developments in the field of digital preservation, and, in turn, provide mentoring and leadership in the field of digital preservation.

● Represent the university in matters concerning digital preservation at the local, national, and international level

● Promote the Libraries' culture of diversity and inclusion, and support the values outlined in Indiana University Bloomington's Campus Strategic Plan (https://provost.indiana.edu/strategic plan/) and the Libraries' Diversity Strategic Plan (https://libraries.indiana.edu/file/diversity strategic-plan-20162017pdf).

● ALA accredited master's degree in library or information science; candidates with an advanced degree in a relevant subject area and appropriate experience in an academic setting will also be considered

● Demonstrated knowledge of digital preservation issues, strategies, standards, and best practices

● Knowledge or awareness of digital preservation and trustworthy digital repository standards

● Familiarity with national and international collaborative digital preservation efforts

● Experience with digital repository technologies

● Experience with metadata standards

● An understanding of digital objects in various formats (text, image, audio and/or video) and best practices and standards associated with each format

● Knowledge or awareness of tools and technology standards typically used in digital library environments

● Experience with multiple computer platforms including Linux, Windows, and/or macOS

● Good organization skills and an aptitude for analytical and detailed work

● Ability to work independently as well as collegially in a complex, rapidly changing and professionally diverse environment

● Creative, energetic, and collaborative work style

● Excellent written and oral communication skills

● Understanding and valuing of diversity and the importance of inclusion as demonstrated through a commitment to apply and incorporate the differences, complexities, and opportunities that diversity brings to an organization

● Ability to meet the requirements of a tenure-track position at the IU Libraries (https://libraries.indiana.edu/file/promotion-and-tenure-criteria-iub-librarians-pdf).

● Professional work experience in the field of digital preservation, digital libraries, or digital repositories

● Hands-on experience in use of digital preservation systems in an enterprise-scale environment

● Experience with markup languages such as HTML and XML, style sheets such as CSS and XSL, and other XML-related technologies

● Experience with archival practices related to born-digital acquisitions

● Familiarity with best practices and standards for preservation of 3D digital formats

● Knowledge of and experience with traditional and agile project management methodologies

● Success in acquiring and developing grant funded projects

Questions regarding the position or application process can be directed to: Jennifer Chaffin, Director of Human Resources, Libraries Human Resources, Herman B Wells Library 201, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405 – Phone: 812-855-8196 – Fax: 812-855- 2576 – Email: [email protected]. Expected start date: December 1, 2022.