Research and Instruction Librarian, Williams College, Williamstown, MA

Posted July 7, 2022

Description:

Williams Libraries seeks an enthusiastic instruction librarian to work as Research and Instruction Librarian in a newly-defined position focusing on data literacy. This person will be library liaison for the sciences and economics, and will contribute to the library’s information literacy program by bringing a focus on data literacy and supporting students as they learn the skills they need to thrive in a data-intensive world. Williams College is committed to building a diverse and inclusive community, and we encourage candidates from underrepresented groups to apply. This is a full-time, year-round appointment, reporting to the Head of Research Services and Library Outreach.

The Research Services department supports the academic mission of the college by providing research assistance, teaching information literacy skills, and developing opportunities for academic engagement with students and faculty. We are dedicated to innovation, creativity, and proactive user-driven services. We believe in meeting students where they are in their information-seeking journey and helping them grow and develop into empowered, information-literate citizens.

The successful candidate will:

Share our passion for working with students and faculty and for teaching information/data literacy.
Be excited about guiding students through critical analysis of data sources, data research and data communication.
Embrace our commitment to critical information literacy, data ethics/justice and seek action-oriented ways to further diversity, equity, and inclusion in their work.
Be eager to engage with students who are broadly diverse with regard to gender, gender identity, race, ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, ability, and religion.
Appreciate the liberal arts approach to teaching and learning.
Value collegiality and collaboration, and thrive in a small, relationship-driven academic environment.

Requirements

Required:

Masters in library/information science from an ALA-accredited institution, or ability to obtain within one year. Early career librarians encouraged to apply.
Familiarity with information literacy concepts and interest in being an instruction librarian.
Enthusiasm for working with data and desire to further develop your data skills.
Interest in working with students and faculty in the sciences and economics.
Commitment to information and data ethics/justice, diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility.
Excellent communication, interpersonal, and problem-solving skills.
Ability to work both independently and collaboratively in a team-oriented organization.

Preferred:

We want to emphasize that the preferred qualifications are not required, and that we are committed to helping our future colleagues develop these preferred skills. We strongly encourage those who are interested in being an instruction librarian and focus on data literacy to apply.

Experience with finding, using, and critically interpreting data and using it to tell a story.
Familiarity with sources of data, data rights and data research methods.
Familiarity with data science and/or digital humanities tools and principles.
Familiarity with statistical software packages (e.g. SPSS, Stata, R, SAS, Nvivo).
Familiarity with data and digital humanities programming languages (e.g. Python, SQL), javascript libraries and frameworks.

How to Apply:

For more information and to apply, visit:

https://joblist.ala.org/job/research-and-instruction-librarian/64124798/