Responsibilities: The University of Ottawa Library seeks an innovative, energetic and service-oriented Head of Acquisitions. The successful candidate will be a creative individual who works well with other colleagues in a challenging and changing environment.
Setting: Located in the heart of the National Capital, the University of Ottawa is recognized as one of Canada’s leading teaching and research institutions. With 2,000 regular faculty and 40,000 students enrolled in over 360 programs, the University of Ottawa offers a broad spectrum of high quality programs in both English and French. For more information, see: www.uottawa.ca.
The Collections budget in 2012-13 is 14.6M, which is the 5th largest in Canadian academic libraries. The budget has increased by about 60% over the past seven years (from 8.8 M to 14.6M). This has allowed us to expand our collection into new and emerging areas of scholarship. It also underlines the university administration's strong commitment to the value of the resources we acquire for supporting the teaching and research mission of the university. The Library is strongly committed to a digital content strategy – there are over 500,000 e-books in our collection, as well as almost 100,000 accessible e-journals and over 650 research databases licensed for the university community.
Description: Reporting to the Associate University Librarian (Collections), the incumbent is responsible for the coordination of the Library’s acquisitions activities, in all formats, in support of the research, teaching, and learning activities of the university community. A main function of the position consists in managing the various activities of the Acquisitions Unit, such as ordering, receiving, claiming, selection of vendors, monitoring of vendor performance, and budget oversight. The incumbent works closely with various other units and individuals to ensure that our acquisitions operations exemplify best practices and align with Library strategic goals. Moreover, the incumbent ensures that these activities integrate with workflows of other groups or services in the Library, such as the Document Processing, the Library Systems Division, and the Subject Librarians, in an optimal manner. The incumbent works closely with the Electronic Resources Librarian and the Acquisitions Coordinator to ensure that electronic resource procedures and workflows are integrated into the objectives and practices of the Acquisitions Service.
ESSENTIAL QUALIFICATIONS:
1. A Master’s Degree in library and information science (MLIS) from an ALA accredited institution or equivalent.
2. Minimum of 6 years of professional experience, or fewer, depending on the relevance of experience to the position.
3. Knowledge and experience in library acquisitions and collection development and in electronic resources activities and issues.
4. Demonstrated leadership skills, including a flexible and forward-thinking approach to challenges and opportunities.
5. Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively as a team member in a complex library environment.
6. Demonstrated experience in managing staff.
7. Extensive knowledge of integrated library system applications and issues, Electronic Resources Management (ERM) system, the web, IT standards, practices and emerging technologies applicable in a library environment.
8. Ability to establish and maintain excellent vendor relations and demonstrated experience in license negotiation.
9. Excellent verbal and written communication and interpersonal skills
10. Strong organisational and planning skills.
11. Ability to manage tasks in response to varying time pressures with shifting priorities and changing constraints.
12. Bilingual (French & English), spoken and written, including the ability to make presentations in both official languages.
Rank and the salary will be commensurate with qualifications and experience.
This position is part of the Bargaining Unit (Faculty, Librarians, Counsellors, Language teachers).
Applications, accompanied by an up-to-date Curriculum Vitae, should be submitted no later than 5 p.m., Friday, March 22, 2013.
Ms. Leslie Weir
University Librarian
University of Ottawa Library
65 University Private
Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5
Email: biblio@uottawa.ca
The University of Ottawa Library thanks all those who apply. Only those candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.
The University of Ottawa is an equal opportunity employer. We strongly encourage applications from women, Aboriginal peoples, persons
with disabilities and members of visible minorities. According to government policy, all qualified candidates are invited to apply; however, preference will be given to Canadian citizens and permanent residents.
The University of Ottawa is proud of its 160-year tradition of bilingualism. Through its Official Languages and Bilingualism Institute, the University provides training to staff members and to their spouses in their second official language. At the time of
tenure, professors are expected to have the ability to function in a bilingual setting.
Tony Horava
Associate University Librarian (Collections)
Bibliothécaire associé (Collections)
University of Ottawa / l'Universite d'Ottawa
Tel : (613) 562-5800 ext. 3645
Fax : (613) 562-5196