Major Responsibilities:
Princeton University Library seeks candidates for the position of Leader, East Asian Languages Team (EALT). Applicants must be strongly versed in Chinese and the history and cultures of East Asia, and possess the qualities and experience necessary to lead a team of professional experts and highly skilled support staff in the creation and management of metadata critical to the effective use of the Library’s renowned East Asian Collections throughout the library system.
Princeton University Library collects materials in all subjects in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean, with an emphasis on literature, history, and art, ranging from rare books to a wide variety of digital databases. The Japanese collection has similar areas of strength with the holdings in premodern history being particularly noteworthy. The Korean collection, though much smaller in scale than the other two, provides a basis for scholarly research.
The position reports to the Head of Cataloging and Metadata Services and is part of the management group responsible for framing the Department's overall metadata strategy, exploring new technologies, and implementing new workflows to improve user services and enhance discovery access to the Library’s collections. The East Asian Languages Team Leader directly supervises 2 professional librarians, and 8 paraprofessional bibliographic specialists. The EALT Leader collaborates with colleagues within Technical Services and in other Library departments on projects providing metadata to support digital initiatives, contributing special technical and subject expertise to discovery system configuration efforts, and crafting innovative cataloging strategies to address special acquisition and holdings scenarios. The EALT Leader supplements the Team’s cataloging production to ensure priority throughput and attends to cataloging instances requiring creative solutions. The East Asian Languages Team Leader is expected to maintain awareness of peer operations and best practices through professional involvement.
Essential qualifications:
- MLS combined with an academic background in East Asian studies; or an advanced degree in East Asian studies with an emphasis on Chinese language, literature, culture, and history;
- Fluency in English and Chinese languages (in both traditional and simplified characters) with excellent oral written communication skills, including excellent knowledge of the pinyin Romanization system and computer input methods;
- Supervisory experience or related experience demonstrating an ability to manage personnel;
- Cataloging experience in an academic library.
Strongly preferred qualifications:
- Reading knowledge of Japanese or Korean languages, including their library Romanization systems;
- Experience providing cataloging and metadata for digital formats, and in creating and editing non-MARC metadata using standards and schema such as Dublin Core, MODS, etc.;
- Familiarity with linked data concepts and standards;
- Experience with workflow planning.
Princeton is especially interested in qualified candidates who can contribute, through their service to the Library, to the diversity and excellence of our academic community.
The successful candidate will be appointed to an appropriate Librarian rank depending upon qualifications and experience. Applications will be accepted only from https://puwebp.princeton.edu/AcadHire/apply/ and must include a resume, cover letter, and a list of three references with full contact information. This position is subject to the University's background check policy. Princeton University is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.
