NORTH-WEST UNIVERSITY (POTCHEFSTROOM CAMPUS) DIVISION: DVC RESEARCH AND INNOVATION DEPARTMENT: NWU LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SERVICE POSITION NUMBER: N000307 POSITION: SENIOR LIBARIAN – INSTITUTIONAL REPOSITORIES AND DIGITAL SCHOLARSHIP PEROMNES GRADE: P8 EMPLOYMENT TYPE: PERMANENT APPOINTMENT NOTE: THOSE WHO HAVE PREVISOULY APPLIED FPOR THIS AND STILL NEED TO BE CONSIDERED MUST RE-APPLY

PURPOSE OF THE POSITION:

The purpose of this position is to ensure that the NWU’s research output is identified, managed, preserved, and made freely accessible to all through its Institutional Repositories. The incumbent will work closely with the research librarians, LIS IT Services, and other relevant stakeholders to develop and maintain the current Institutional Repository and the newly established Digital Scholarship Centre.

 

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

1.     Manage and develop Institutional Repositories:

• Management of Institutional Repositories dedicated to ongoing scholarly work.
• Administration of the Institutional Repositories (IRs) (Boloka, and DayTa YaRona) ensuring efficiency, accessibility, and compliance with relevant standards and policies.
• Develops metrics, collect and analyse data.
• Prepares, gathers and creates clear and pertinent reports and presentations detailing the utilization, progress, and results of scholarly communication initiatives.
• Provide research support and training to postgraduate students and researchers.
• Communication of research output
• Research specific training
• Development of a program for young researchers.
• Collaborates with scholars on matters pertaining to preservation and accessibility.
• Provides direction for Boloka and DayTa YaRona, NWU institutional repositories for active scholarship, and engages with scholars on issues related to preservation and access.
• Management of collections and initiatives within the NWU Research and Open Scholarship, encompassing theses/dissertations, articles, research data, conference papers, special collections, digitization, and journal management and publishing through open journal system (OJS) and other open-source operating systems.
• Administration and management of NWU Open Journal System (OJS) preservation of OJS collection on Boloka.
• Collaborate with stakeholders across the institution to promote the use of the IRs.
• Develop and implement strategies for enhancing the visibility and impact of research outputs through the IRs and other digital channels.
• Play a coordinating role in the RDM working group.
• Assist in determining needs and recommend replacement updates in all research management tools.
• Assist Faculty Librarians with LibGuides implementation and maintenance in collaboration with Librarian: Web Development.

2.     Manage Digital Scholarship Centre:

• Lead and advance the centre’s mission to support digital scholarship and advance the centre’s mission to support digital scholarship and innovation within the academic or research community.
• Management of Digital Scholarship Centre dedicated to support scholars in harnessing the potential of digital technologies for their research and scholarly endeavours.
• Develop strong relationships with faculties and partners to build Digital Scholarship Centre content, services in support of teaching, learning and research.
• Management of Digital Scholarship Centre, Research and Honours Commons.
• Providing support and guidance to faculties, researchers, and students in utilizing digital scholarship tools and platforms such as Data Management Planning (DMP) Tool, Open Journal System (OJS), Research Data Repository (DaYta Ya Rona), and Boloka.
• Collaborate with stakeholders across the institution to promote the use of digital scholarship initiatives.
• Staying abreast of emerging trends and best practices in digital scholarship, scholarly communication, and institutional repository management.
• Identify and evaluate the needs of scholars and researchers in the digital realm, and developing new services or enhancing existing ones to meet those needs.
• Build partnerships and collaborations with departments, academic units, libraries, and external organizations to promote digital scholarship initiatives and expand the centre’s reach.
• Oversee the implementation and maintenance of technology infrastructure, including hardware, software, and digital repositories, to support digital scholarship activities.
• Monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the centre’s services and programs and using data-driven insights to make informed decisions and improvements.
• Provide guidance and support to researchers on issues related to scholarly communication, including digital publishing, copyright, and open access.
• Keep abreast of developments in digital scholarship, attending conferences, and participating in professional networks to stay informed about emerging trends and best practices.

3.     Special collection and Digitisation:

• Collaborate with the special collections librarian and find best practices for managing digital data for long term use.
• Identify collections of historic and significant value to the university and articulate the value of building and maintaining such special collections.
• Contextualise and present digital resources in a manner that contributes to the ethical construction of knowledge within and between artefacts and collections.
• Arrange with Digitizing unit for the digitizing of special collections.
• Creation of special collections databases.

4.     People Management:

• Management of digital scholarship, research and honours commons.
• Hire, train and supervise staff members involved in providing services such as training, consultations, and technical support.
• Create an enabling leadership culture by developing a shared direction, shared values and alignment and commitment to transform the organisational culture.
• Foster a participative and developmental leadership style.
• Improve team cohesion, synergy and effectiveness.
• Develop a Strategic Workforce Plan that builds proportions of African and People with disabilities and implement the Plan.
• Arrange and implement culture improvement interventions, establish a baseline, receive a report and feedback and implement; actively remove engagement barriers.