Information Specialist (Fixed Term Contract - Maternity Leave Cover) at Vega School

Job Purpose:

To provide comprehensive information service on a complex and advanced level, developing information centres’ collections to meet the needs of the staff and students, both on and off campus of individual faculties, and the development and delivery of research workshops, and a range of literacy programs.

In line with Vega School academic strategy, the successful incumbent will be responsible for designing, planning, organising and managing of all information and research support services to cater for the needs of the academic teams, researchers, and students according to the research strategies and policies.

Education:

Honours degree in Library Science. Master's degree in library & Information Science will be an added advantage. An English major will be an advantage.

Functional Competencies:

• Excellent communication skills and presentation skills particularly in English, both verbal and written, including the ability to communicate to a range of audiences clearly, concise, specific, and accurate and accessible to the target audience
• Excellent academic writing skills
• Excellent interpersonal skills characterised by tact and diplomacy and an ongoing ability to participate effectively in a team that is spread across the country.
• High delivery ability demonstrated capacity to organise own work and work against tight deadlines
• Accuracy and attention to detail
• Understanding of research process
• Excellent general knowledge, knowledge of online database usage (e.g Library Management System, preferably Sirsi Dynix Symphony, Ebscohost, Emerald, Sabinet, OERs etc.) and academic writing.
• Knowledge and experience in reference management and software programmes
• Working knowledge of web and citation metrics
• Working knowledge of MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint etc
• Innovative and energetic
• Coaching and mentoring skills
• Information and digital skills including multiliteracy skills
• Commitment to excellent customer service
• Willingness to produce own research

Work Experience:

• Minimum 3 years' experience in managing an academic library, academic compliance and functions/ activities within a higher education environment
• Demonstrated capacity to manage services preferably in an academic library
• Experience in assisting students in academic writing skills
• Must be a LIASA member

Key Performance Areas:

• Planning, Administrating and Organising Operations of the information centre's services and supporting delivery
  • Create a space conducive to learning in the information centre and monitor student conduct while in the information centre
  • Create good working relationships with campus management, colleagues and students, as well as external stakeholders such as suppliers
  • Active and meaningful participation in meetings and webinars
  • Ensure and monitor that the campus information centre services are equitable and comparable to all other brand campuses
  • Problem solve and feedback promptly until the issue has been resolved
  • Action directives received from the Information Centres' Manager and Vice Principal Academic promptly within the set deadlines.
  • Assist with managing all auxiliary services such as copying, reproduction and digitisation
  • Recruit and train student assistants
  • Supervise assistant staff and student assistants
  • Maintain an effective record keeping for payment of invoices
  • Postgraduate research support and services:
  • Plan, design and facilitate research capacity workshops and programmes including but not limited to research literacy, academic literacy, and meta-literacies in general
  • Collaborate with the National Research Manager to plan, design and facilitate relevant research capacity building workshops and programmes
  • In collaboration with the National Research Manager and Information Centres Manager, plan and facilitate annual research capacity building workshops on a postgraduate level (at an appropriate level for Honours, Masters and Doctoral students, their supervisors and researchers.
  • Assist students and researchers in the use of plagiarism prevention and research and reference tools such as Safe Assign, Mendeley and Zotero
  • Create researcher profiles and conduct selective dissemination of information (SDIs)
  • Process interlibrary loans for information requests that are not accessible inhouse, using the OCLC interlibrary loans management system, on behalf of students and researchers
  • Must have academic writing acumen
• Research Capacity Building Support
  • Be familiar with the approved research capacity building planning
  • Be an academic partner in actioning research capacity building plans' goals, in collaboration with the National Research Manager and Information Centres' Manager
  • Attend relevant research meetings
  • Must have experience in doing research
  • Be familiar with basic social science research methods and methodologies
• Marketing, Awareness and Dissemination of Information Services Communication
  • Promote and implement campus information centre marketing plans e.g design posters to market the information centre and its resources; collaborate with the wellness department to arrange monthly displays according to set themes
  • Create research profiles for researchers and lecturers and disseminate information accordingly
  • Actively take part in academic forums to create awareness of the value chain of information centre's services within teaching and learning.
  • Plan and design guidelines, notices and create an awareness of postgraduate research and information services
  • Actively participate in research and postgraduate activities e.g. research conferences, postgraduate open days etc.
  • Actively search and communicate (upcoming external research conferences/call for papers for conferences and journals in the areas of Management/Business Management/ Strategy/Branding/Marketing and Communication/ Humanities/Social Sciences/Arts/ Technology/Knowledge management/ Ethics/ etc.
• Teaching and Learning Support, Information and all Academic Literacies
  • Plan and monitor rollout of higher-level information and research support, including academic writing skills to students and staff e.g plan and deliver interactive sessions on writing skills, databases usage, referencing, plagiarism avoidance, SafeAssign etc.
  • Undertake effective reference interview to better understand users' needs for accurate information support
  • Plan, design and present advanced research and information workshops to postgraduate students, and researchers in collaboration with academic departments and staff
  • Provide advice and training on information management, including advice on searching citations, bibliographic management software and referencing techniques
  • Display an excellent level of digital literacies and eResources knowledge e.g. EBSCOhost and other sources functionality, and transfer these skills to students and researchers
  • Present workshops on academic writing, academic integrity, plagiarism prevention and referencing techniques
  • Deliver embedded library services on the Blackboard Learning Management System.
• Policy and Standards Compliance
  • Monitor adherence to all the information centre-related policies and report progress or anomalies to the campus Vice Principal Academic and Information Centres' Manager
  • Ensure copyright and trademarks compliance
  • Promote academic ethics and intellectual integrity according to the IIE policies.
  • Provide feedback to the Information Centres' Manager and campus Vice Principal Academic on all information centre-related issues
• Collection Maintenance, Management and Development
  • Carry out stocktaking and report back to campus Vice Principal Academic and the Information Centres' Manager
  • Ensure that information centres' collections have up-to-date resources, including business and social research methods and methodology
  • Identify electronic resources to be recommended for purchase, in line with students and academic user needs
  • Ensure that there is access to seminal works (giving preference to having electronic editions rather than print where possible).
  • Augment available collections with interlibrary loans as and when needed
  • Introduce postgraduate students to peer reviewed publications.
  • Work in collaboration with the Information Centres Manager to ensure that collections and subscriptions answer to the students and researchers' needs
  • Edit, classify, index information sources and distribute new material list for cataloguing to the Information Centres' Manager
  • Update new materials on the Library Management System (Sirsi Dynix) to enable circulation
• Networking, Communication and Reporting
  • Compile and distribute accurate reports including monthly statistical reports, with analyses and comments on trends and present as required
  • Stay abreast of industry developments and participate in all internal and external forums
  • Build and foster relationships with the brand National Research Manager, postgraduate academic team and supervisors
  • Build and foster relationships with other external stakeholders such as other brands' research managers
  • Keep upbreast with research trends/focus areas conducted by the Human Science Research Council and NRF
  • Identify opportunities for research/open research databases and secondary data access that can be utilised for research production.