Librarian for Geospatial Services

Posted to IASSIST on: 2017-04-17

Employer: New York University: Abu Dhabi: Libraries

Employer URL: http://nyuad.nyu.edu/en/research/library.html

Description

NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) invites applications for a Librarian for Geospatial Services to work in an innovative and forward-looking setting. The successful candidate provides expertise and leadership to create a program of specialized research assistance for the current and evolving geospatial research needs at NYUAD. This person will be instrumental in planning and developing library services related to locating, acquiring, managing and analyzing geospatial data across disciplines. The position involves significant collaborative work with library colleagues at NYUAD and NYU in New York, as well as with faculty and students, and therefore requires excellent communication skills and the ability to foster successful working relationships both on site and remotely. The position contributes to the provision of information and research assistance to the gifted faculty, post-doctoral researchers, visiting scholars and student body of NYU Abu Dhabi, often called the “world’s honors college.”  

As part of a highly collaborative team, this position plays a key role in the educational mission of NYUAD by establishing strong relationships with faculty and students, and connecting them to the resources, technologies and tools that meet their research, teaching and learning needs. This position works in the Library’s Center for Digital Scholarship (CDS) and will be an integral member of the CDS team  in developing programming and outreach initiatives across campus as they relate to digital scholarship, geospatial analysis, data services and more. Reporting to the Head of the CDS, this position may also partner on long-term research projects, collaborating with colleagues within the library and across the university, including those in archives and special collections, digital humanities and social sciences.

A commitment to outreach and service to researchers will be essential to this work. The incumbent will be expected to teach workshops on geospatial data topics, including data access and data literacy, as well as on specific programs such as ArcGIS, Carto, QGIS and other tools. This person will work in collaboration with liaison librarians on subject specific geospatial queries, including citation methods and visualization tools. He/she will provide course-integrated instruction upon request in assigned liaison areas and other areas making use of geospatial resources. This person will facilitate access to NYU’s Spatial Data Repository and guide patrons in its use. The incumbent will also be responsible for developing an approach to locating regional data resources and establishing protocols for their translation from English into Arabic. Some facility in working with quantitative data and statistical analysis may also be a requirement of the incumbent. Depending on the incumbent’s academic background, liaison responsibilities with academic departments and service at the library’s reference desk may be assigned.

Initial appointment will be for 3-4 years and is renewable contingent on job performance. Rank depends on professional background and experience. Renewal and promotion require excellent job performance and active professional engagement.

• ALA-accredited MLS or international equivalent

• Relevant experience in a research library

• High degree of facility with technologies and systems germane to the 21st century library

• Demonstrated proficiency in the use and application of geospatial tools such as ArcGIS, Carto, QGIS and other related software packages.

• Knowledge of trends in data management, data cleaning, data description and geospatial metadata

• Programming or scripting experience for geospatial applications

• Familiarity with data visualization techniques and tools

• Knowledge of public and proprietary resources for national and international numeric and geospatial data

• Ability to develop and deliver formal instruction, workshops and one-on-one consultation sessions as they apply to data literacy

• Strong analytical and problem solving skills

• Excellent English language communication skills

• Ability to establish positive long-distance working relationships with NYU Libraries in New York and to work collegially within a highly collaborative local unit

• Demonstrated history of flexibility, creativity and strong user service commitment

Preferred Attributes:

• Academic background in Geography, GIS, or a related field resulting in an advanced degree

• Ability to work with programming languages such as Python, R and Julia

• Demonstrated effectiveness in library instruction

• Experience working in a culturally diverse environment

• Prior international experience

• Competence in a language other than English, preferably Arabic

Archived on: 2017-05-22