Reference Specialist and Department Assistant

Job Summary

The Reference Specialist and Department Assistant supports all basic operations and daily functions of the Science & Engineering Department. This position ensures that the best possible service is provided for library patrons at the Science & Engineering Help Desk. The position plays a key role in departmental communication and coordination, and provides office support to department employees in daily routines and special projects.

Essential Functions

• Reference Specialist
  
  • Oversees reference services provided by student reference assistants, including in-person, electronic, and over the phone.
  • Provides “next level” or more demanding reference service to university faculty, students, and other patrons, which cannot be provided by student employees.
  • Interviews, hires, schedules, supervises, evaluates, and determines merit pay increases for reference students.
  • Assesses the quality of reference service provided by student reference assistants and develops programs to improve patron interactions.
  • Develops training materials, lesson plans, and weekly training meetings to manage student employee knowledge in subject content across the breadth of department responsibilities.
  • Manages the wages budget for student employees who work at the help desk.
  • Manages the Science & Engineering reference collection by:
    
    • evaluating usage statistics
    • deselecting and/or reallocating cascading titles
    • supervising the re-shelving of reference works
    • monitoring the physical condition of the collection, initiating conservation or preservation treatments as needed and as required by library standards
  • Teaches library instruction and information literacy to first-year writing courses. Also substitutes for library faculty when needed in teaching library instruction and information literacy to advanced writing classes or course-integrated classes.
  • Assists library faculty in building research guides.
  • Works with department faculty to keep students, teaching faculty, and library colleagues informed of new acquisitions in all collections.
  • Represents the Science & Engineering Department on the Reference Coordinating Committee (RCC).

• Administrative Assistance
  
  • Acts as department liaison by facilitating communication within the department and between this department and others in the library.
  • Works with the Department Chair to organize department meetings and events.
  • Takes minutes at department meetings.
  • Collects data as assigned.
  • Drafts reports and documents as assigned.
  • Maintains the department website and services pages.
  • Assists in promoting department collections, services, and events.
  • Assists department faculty in hiring research assistants.
  • Serves as Y-Time Manager for all department student employees.
  • Coordinates department projects and assists department personnel with reports, statistics, and various projects, such as collection assessment.
  • Delegates projects to student reference assistants, when appropriate.
  • Oversees daily operations, such as routing books and maintaining supplies.
  • Manages department supplies budget.
  • Holds the department credit card and campus card, monitors credit card and campus card purchases, and reconciles these purchases in Chrome River.
  • Monitors charges made to patrons and trains staff on the proper use of university charging systems.
  • Represents the Science & Engineering Department on the Department Assistants Committee (DAC).
• Continuing Education
  
  • Maintains personal competency on the various subject databases and student/faculty resources.
  • Attends training meetings for databases and software.
  • Studies professional literature related to reference services and maintains a general knowledge about reference sources and research tools for the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines.
  • Attends conferences and workshops, as appropriate.

Education/Experience

          Minimum education/experience required:  

• Bachelor’s degree OR equivalent combination of education and experience.

Preferred:

• Bachelor’s degree in a STEM discipline OR a STEM background.
• 2 years of library experience.
• Masters of Library Science (or MLIS) OR Master’s degree in a STEM discipline.

Skills, abilities, knowledge, licenses, certifications:

          Required:

• Ability to gain subject knowledge in the STEM disciplines at sufficient levels to assist the curricular and research needs of the university.
• Ability to provide reference assistance to patrons needing research help in the STEM disciplines (and sometimes other subjects) in a variety of media.
• Ability to teach research methods and library use to patrons and employees.
• Flexibility in adapting to changing organizational priorities and technological environments.
• Ability to communicate effectively and to work well with faculty, students, and the general public.
• Ability to model excellent customer service for frontline student employees.
• Supervisory experience in order to hire, evaluate, train, and supervise student employees working in several different roles.
• Strong organizational, leadership, and problem-solving skills.

         Preferred:

• Working knowledge of library reference service.
• Understanding of theories, trends, and practices of reference work, as well as of general library functions and practices.
• Ability to apply emerging technologies creatively into reference services.

Employee Class: 3/4 Time (28 hour)
Work Location: Provo Campus

Desired Start Date: As soon as possible
Job Close Date: 09/05/2023

Pay Level: 49
Approximate Starting Salary: $21.00 - $27.00 hourly, depending on qualifications

Documents Required at time of Application:
Required: Cover Letter, Resume
Optional: Letter of Recommendation

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints must hold and be worthy to hold a current temple recommend.Brigham Young University is an equal opportunity employer, including disability and protected veteran status.Brigham Young University (BYU) is widely recognized not just for its world-class education, but for its deep commitment to inspired religious values. Gathered together in a Christ-centered atmosphere, BYU employees are a vital part of a community of belonging, where we value the experiences, perspectives, and talents of each individual. If you share in our devotion to faith and to excellence, we have a place for you here at BYU!