Research Services Librarian
Department: Law Library
Rank and Salary:
§ Associate Librarian IV – VII ($58,188 – $70,956)
§ Librarian I – IV ($70,956 - $91,140)
Position Availability: Immediately
Application Deadline: December 8, 2013
Description of Institution and Library
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.
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).
Description of Library Unit
The UCLA School of Law has approximately 1,000 law students, 100 full- and part-time faculty, and more than 100 law school staff. The School has a varied and demanding curriculum, highly productive faculty, an extensive clinical and externship program, more than a dozen research centers and programs, an active Moot Court program, and 12 law reviews.
The Law Library serves the Law School faculty and students as their basic library and study resource for teaching and research. The Law Library also supplies legal resources for other UCLA faculty, students, and staff. Heavy use of the Law Library is made by members of the bench and bar. The Law Library is one of the larger professional school libraries on campus and has 17 librarians and 16 staff members. The library offers users an impressive collection that contains more than 600,000 bound volumes and documents, more than 20,000 microform titles, and access to more than 10,000 databases. The day-to-day functions of the Library are divided into four sections, each headed by an Assistant Law Librarian: Access and Information Services, Bibliographic Services and Collection Management, Scholarship Support and Research Assistant Program, and Reference and Research Services. The Law Library has a beautiful facility that opened in the fall of 1998.
The Law Library Research Assistant (RA) Program is the largest of its kind and serves as the preferred means of obtaining research assistants for UCLA Law faculty. The program typically serves 60 ladder faculty members per year and employs 45-50 law students working full-time during the summer and 60 students working part-time during the academic year.
Position Duties
Reporting to the Law Library’s RA Program Director, the Research Services Librarian serves as the assistant department head and is responsible for assisting in the daily management of the Library’s RA Program.
The Research Services Librarian is responsible for assisting in the interviewing, hiring, training, assignment, and supervision of Library RAs. Library RAs receive intensive training focused on scholarly research, as well as instruction on the production of high-quality work product and on professional communication skills. Training takes place two to three times per year. The Research Services Librarian’s primary job is to work closely with the Program Director to learn all elements of running the program and to work closely with Law School faculty and staff to ensure its smooth operation. The Research Services Librarian may also prepare research memoranda, perform cite checking, Bluebooking, and editing for law faculty research projects and provide in-depth reference and research assistance to the UCLA Law faculty and students.
The Law Library permits considerable flexibility for professional librarians to pursue professional goals and develop competence in areas of preference while also meeting the needs of the Library and Law School. As time permits, the Research Services Librarian may also teach legal research classes, Advanced Legal Research, 1L instruction, and other workshops and classes given throughout the year. The Research Services Librarian may also participate in library orientation programs, prepare research guides, and perform reference desk service, which may include staffing the reference desk one evening per week and on Saturdays.
Members of the public services staff work in a team setting to provide a high level of service. Support offered to the Librarian includes document delivery services, technical support, and generous funding for professional development.
Specific duties and responsibilities include:
§ Serve as assistant department head of the Research Assistant (RA) Program,
§ Assist in the interviewing and hiring of all of the Library’s RAs,
§ Assist in the training of the RAs, including the preparation of training materials and the teaching of training sessions,
§ Provide ongoing support and supervision of a large group of research assistants,
§ Assist in the daily administration of the RA Program, including the monitoring of RA availability and the tracking of program statistics,
§ Prepare research memos, cite checking, and editing on faculty research and scholarly projects,
§ Provide in-depth research assistance to Law faculty and students,
§ Participate in library orientation programs,
§ Prepare research guides,
§ Perform reference desk service,
§ Teach legal research classes, including RA training sessions, Advanced Legal Research, 1L instruction, and other workshops,
§ Contribute to the profession and represent the UCLA Law Library in the academic, scholarly, and professional community, and
§ Serve as a member of the Law Library team and work to further the overall goals of the Law Library.
Required Qualifications
§ 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),
§ J.D. from an ABA-accredited law school.
§ Relevant work experience in an academic law library or professional legal experience. Other substantial, related experience, degrees, or skills will be considered.
§ Demonstrated ability to supervise RAs, attorneys, or paralegals.
§ Demonstrated competence in delivering legal research services and knowledge of legal bibliography and scholarly research.
§ Firm commitment to law librarianship and to a high level of service for faculty and students in a demanding academic environment.
§ Demonstrated ability to contribute to making the library hospitable and responsive to the needs of the Law School community, including excellent interpersonal, communication, problem-solving and mediation skills and the ability to work effectively with library colleagues, faculty, students, and library users.
§ Ability to teach in large and small group settings, provide individualized instruction, participate in curriculum development, and use a wide range of educational technologies inside and outside of the classroom.
§ Ability to teach oneself new technologies, to create necessary documentation and other training tools, and then teach the technologies to a wide range of constituents.
§ Demonstrated proficiency in computer applications for legal research and ability to contribute to the development of instructional services for faculty, students, and library staff.
§ Ability to meet the University of California criteria for advancement and promotion of librarians.
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
Anyone wishing to be considered for this position should apply here: https://recruit.apo.ucla.edu/apply/JPF00113.
Applications must include:
§ a cover letter describing qualifications and experience;
§ a current resume/vitae detailing education and relevant experience; and
§ the names and contact information for at least three professional references, including a current or previous supervisor.
Candidates should apply by December 8, 2013 to be considered for this position. 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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