Research Informationist
Department: UCLA Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library
Rank and Salary:
Assistant Librarian II-III ($48,504 - $49,464)
Associate Librarian I-VII ($49,464 - $70,956)
Position Availability: Immediately
Description of UCLA
One of ten University of California campuses, the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is located in Westwood Village, approximately five miles from the Pacific Ocean near Santa Monica. Comprised of the College of Letters and Science and 11 professional schools, the 419-acre campus features 163 buildings. UCLA has more than 4,000 faculty and academic staff and approximately 26,000 employees overall. Founded in 1919, UCLA offers 337 undergraduate and graduate degree programs and has more than 28,000 undergraduates and 12,000 graduate students. Academic excellence, faculty distinction, and a comprehensive curriculum are hallmarks of UCLA, which is a member of the Association of American Universities. Among the faculty are fourteen Nobel Laureates, twelve Rhodes Scholars, ten National Medal of Science winners, a Fields Medal Winner, eleven MacArthur Grant winners, and seventy-eight Guggenheim Fellows. UCLA is California’s largest university and is a model for public institutions of higher education. As the seventh largest employer in the region, UCLA generates almost $14 in economic activity for every $1 state taxpayers invest in UCLA and generates an annual $11.9 billion economic impact for the state of California.
The Health and Life Sciences Community at UCLA
As a major academic health sciences center, UCLA plays an important role in teaching, research, and clinical care through its four health science professional schools located in the southern part of campus; these are the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, the Jonathan and Karin Fielding School of Public Health, the School of Nursing, and the School of Dentistry. Also vitally important is the Division of Life Sciences in the College of Letters and Science which includes five departments. UCLA Health is the major clinical organization that includes four hospitals and a number of primary and specialty care clinics in surrounding areas. The hospitals and clinics are particularly important, not only because of the clinical care they provide, but because they serve as the clinical training ground for medical students, residents, and fellows. Over $250 million dollars in National Institutes of Health funding was awarded to UCLA researchers in FY 2013, making UCLA the 12th largest recipient of NIH funding. Total research funding for health sciences amounted to $700 million in 2011/2012.
Graduate student enrollment in the health and life sciences totaled 3,813 in 2011/2012. The undergraduate population in the health and life sciences totaled 7,504, over half of whom were upper division undergraduates. Of all graduate degrees conferred in 2011/2012, including Masters, Doctorate and professional practice degrees, 879 or 20.7% were awarded in the health and life sciences, while 1,793 or 24.4% of undergraduate degrees were awarded in the health and life sciences. Undergraduate science research is a major program effort at UCLA which involves 4,000 science students each year.
The UCLA Library
Consistently ranked among the top 10 academic research libraries in North America, the UCLA Library is comprised of 10 major libraries and 11 library wide departments including the Southern Regional Library Facility, the remote storage facility for the southern UC campuses, all of which report to the University Librarian. In addition, there are 12 affiliated library units located on the campus. There are approximately 105 librarians on the campus, and the UCLA Library has a staff of approximately 300, and approximately 400 – 500 student employees. The Library has an organizational structure that includes the use of teams in conjunction with departments and units. The library collection consists of more than 9 million volumes and more than 78,000 current serial titles and an aggressively expanding electronic resources collection. The Library’s annual budget is in excess of $44 million; more than $10 million supports the acquisition of print and digital material, and the library is part of the California Digital Library. The UCLA Library is a member of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), the Coalition for Networked Information (CNI), the Center for Research Libraries (CRL), the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR), International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), and the Scholarly Publishing & Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC).
The Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library
The Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library serves UCLA’s health and life sciences communities, which include upper division undergraduate students, graduate students, residents, fellows, faculty, and staff from the four professional schools and the Division of Life Sciences, as well as the health and life sciences information needs of the UCLA community as a whole. The library is the Regional Medical Library and serves as the headquarters for the Pacific Southwest Region of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine. The collections are broad in scope and designed to support the teaching, research, and patient-care needs of its primary clientele. The total collection includes more than 679,000 print volumes and provides access to thousands of electronic resources including journals, databases, and other materials.
The Reference, Instruction, and Collection Services (RICS) division is responsible for a broad range of services, including consultation, instruction, and collection services as well as an emerging program in data management. At the most fundamental level, resources are delivered to the desktop in the classroom, clinic, research laboratory, and office. Current staffing includes: 3 FTE librarians, 1.0 FTE administrative specialist, 1.0 FTE computer resource specialist, and 3 part-time reference desk students from UCLA’s Department of Information Studies.
Position Duties
The Research Informationist provides a broad range of information services, including data curation and management, across the entire research life cycle for UCLA students, faculty, staff, and researchers in the health and life sciences. The Research Informationist also contributes to research, consultation, instruction, and collection services within defined areas of responsibility from both clinical and basic science departments. The Research Informationist is a member of the Research, Instruction, and Collection Services (RICS) division and reports to the RICS Team Leader.
Specific duties and responsibilities include:
• Provide information services to students, faculty, and researchers throughout the research life cycle,
• Provide expert search services for systematic reviews and other intensive research projects,
• Serve as liaison for outreach, instruction, and collection services for disciplines which have significant data needs, such as: biostatistics, cardiology, epidemiology, genetics, infectious disease, oncology, and pediatrics,
• Develop and deliver a curriculum of instruction in data management across all disciplines,
• Provide data management advice and individualized consultations for groups and individuals working with research data,
• Assist researchers in locating data available for re-use and advise on appropriate repositories for sharing data,
• Advise students and researchers on intellectual property issues relation to data sets and to publications,
• Develop and maintain web-based resources for training in best practices in data management,
• Maintain familiarity with funder policies relevant to data management, such as NIH’s data sharing policy and NSF’s data management plan requirement, and communicate new requirements to relevant campus stakeholders,
• Assist researchers and staff with meeting the requirements of the NIH Public Access Policy,
• Participate in library-wide groups on data management and scholarly communications,
• Contribute to the Biomedical Library and the UCLA Library’s communications vehicles, including but not limited to the Library’s web site, LibGuides, and social media,
• Contribute to the UCLA Library and the Schools and Departments it serves by participating on committees, task forces, and other formal engagements, including but not limited to those related to data management,
• Contribute to the profession and represent the UCLA Library in the academic, scholarly, and professional community, and
• Serve as a member of the UCLA Library team and work to further the overall goals of the UCLA Library.
Required Qualifications
• ALA-accredited Master’s Degree in Library and Information Sciences OR significant graduate-level coursework toward such a degree OR equivalent education and experience (subject expertise combined with professional library education and/or experience),
• Two or more years’ experience working in a science-oriented academic or research library,
• Skill in searching online catalogs and databases,
• Functional understanding of collection development practices,
• Familiarity with the research process in the health and life sciences,
• Familiarity with research and teaching information needs in the health and life sciences,
• Familiarity with publication trends and characteristics, particularly scholarly publications in public health, medicine, and other health sciences disciplines,
• Experience using a wide range of bibliographic databases in the health and life sciences,
• Familiarity with the NIH Public Access Policy and the tools used to evaluate compliance,
• Excellent oral and written communication and interpersonal skills,
• Demonstrated commitment to user-centered library services,
• Demonstrated evidence of initiative and flexibility,
• Excellent organizational, time, and project management skills,
• Sound technology experience and skills,
• Capacity to thrive in the exciting, ambiguous, future-oriented environment of a world-class research institution and to respond effectively to changing needs and priorities,
• Ability to work with faculty, students, and staff from diverse cultural backgrounds,
• Ability to work collegially and as a leader with library colleagues, and
• Ability to meet the University of California criteria for advancement and promotion of librarians.
Desired Qualifications
• Four years experience working in an academic health science library providing a broad range of information services
• Extensive knowledge of health and life sciences databases, including record structure, indexing policies, and thorough knowledge of search interfaces,
• Demonstrated experience conducting EBM and systematic review searches,
• Knowledge of metadata standards,
• Familiarity with best practices for managing research data,
• Knowledge of subject-specific repositories,
• Knowledge of funder policies relevant to research in the health and life sciences,
• Experience managing data sets in a variety of formats,
• Familiarity with the NIH and NSF grant processes,
• Experience with book and journal selection and/or licensing,
• In-depth knowledge of the publication process in the sciences,
• Experience with MyNCBI My Bibliography and the NIH Manuscript Submission System,
• College course work in the health or life sciences, and
• Membership in the Academy of Health Information Professionals (AHIP), a program of the Medical Library Association.
General Information
Professional librarians at UCLA are academic appointees. Librarians at UCLA are represented by an exclusive bargaining agent, University Council – American Federation of Teachers (UC-AFT). They are entitled to appropriate professional leave, two days per month of vacation leave, one day per month of sick leave, and all other benefits granted to non-faculty academic personnel. The University has an excellent retirement system and sponsors a variety of group health, dental, vision, and life insurance plans in addition to other benefits. Relocation assistance provided.
Appointees to the librarian series at UC shall have professional backgrounds that demonstrate a high degree of creativity, teamwork, and flexibility. Such background will normally include a professional degree from an ALA-accredited library and information science graduate program. In addition to professional competence and quality of service within the library in the primary job, advancement in the librarian series requires professional involvement and contributions outside of the library, and/or university and community service, and/or scholarly activities. Candidates must show evidence or promise of such contributions.
Application Procedures
Address your application to: Maurita Ploesch, Assistant Director of Academic Human Resources, UCLA Library, Library Human Resources, 22478 Charles E. Young Research Library, Box 951575, Los Angeles, CA, 90095-1575.
Anyone wishing to be considered for this position should apply here: https://recruit.apo.ucla.edu/apply/JPF00080.
Applications should include:
• a cover letter describing qualifications and experience;
• a current resume/vitae detailing education and relevant experience; and
• names and contact information for at least three professional references, including a current or previous supervisor.
Candidates applying by November 11, 2013 will be given first consideration. UCLA welcomes and encourages diversity and seeks applications and nominations from women and minorities. UCLA seeks to recruit and retain a diverse workforce as a reflection of our commitment to serve the people of California, to maintain the excellence of the university, and to offer our students richly varied disciplines, perspectives, and ways of knowing and learning.
UCLA is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action/ADA-compliant employer. Under federal law, the University of California may employ only individuals who are legally authorized to work in the United States as established by providing documents specified in the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. Employment is contingent upon completion of satisfactory background investigation.
Visit the UCLA Library Employment Opportunities Website at http://www.library.ucla.edu/about/employment.cfm.
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