South Asian Studies Librarian - Emory University - Atlanta, GA

Emory’s teaching and research in South Asia occur mainly in the fields of language studies, religion, history, and literature. The South Asian Studies Librarian at Emory has responsibility for acquiring and cataloging materials from or about the history and cultures of Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Tibet, including their diasporic communities. With the recent appointment of an endowed professor in Telugu Studies, the South Asian Studies librarian will help develop a strategy to support Telugu Studies. The successful candidate will have a passion for the teaching and research missions of the University, and understand the Libraries’ role in advancing those missions. This position offers opportunity for strategic and interdisciplinary approaches to the selection, teaching, discovery, and delivery of digital and print information resources.

Position Duties

Reporting to the Area Studies Team Leader, the subject librarian for South Asian Studies provides the full range of subject specific library services to the academic departments, including collection management, consultation, instruction, cataloging and assessment. The subject librarian serves 20 faculty, 29 graduate students, and 8 undergraduate majors and 1 minor. The subject librarian maintains and expands research-level collections, acts as an expert guide, provides research help at the time of need, and contributes to the programmatic and collaborative work of the Services Division and the library in general.

Specific duties include:ENGAGEMENT:

• Serves on the Area Studies Team as primary liaison to and actively develops professional relationships with faculty, students and staff in the assigned subject areas. May include other areas within the Area Studies Team, if needed.


• Plans and delivers point-of-need instruction services; teaches research tools and skills relevant to the discipline.


• Collaborates with faculty to achieve information literacy and learning outcomes in course-specific ways, including providing instruction sessions and assignments, research guides, and/or tutorials.


• Provides in-depth, specialized research consultations in support of the entire research lifecycle.


• Develops content for subject-based web pages.


• Assists faculty engaged in digital scholarship projects and teaching and learning with technology initiatives. Collaborates as needed with Emory’s Center for Digital Scholarship (ECDS) and Academic Technology Services.


• Partners with other libraries, such as Emory’s Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives and Rare Book Library.


• Contributes to University efforts to assess and promote institutional scholarship.

COLLECTIONS

• Develops and manages excellent electronic, multimedia, and print collections in the relevant disciplines to support the research and teaching needs of the Emory University community.


• Promotes resources using current tools and technologies.


• Provides marketing and assessment of library services.


• Acquires material in a variety of languages, including English, French, German, Sanskrit, Hindi, and Tibetan. Catalogs any materials in Devanagari based languages.


• Responsibility for additional subject areas may be assigned.

PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES

• Participates in professional and scholarly associations.


• Maintains up-to-date professional knowledge and skills in areas related to primary job assignment as well as maintains general knowledge of current trends in higher education, academic libraries, and information and educational technology.


• Adheres to guidelines outlined in the Handbook Governing the Librarian series for Faculty-Equivalent Librarians to ensure appointment, appointment renewal and promotion-in-rank


• Participates in library and campus committees as appropriate for service purposes.

Required Qualifications

• ALA-accredited master’s degree in Library and Information Science or equivalent education and experience (subject expertise).


• Advanced degree in a relevant subject area.


• Reading knowledge of Sanskrit, with a preference for Hindi and/or Tibetan.


• Demonstrated knowledge and experience with instruction, information literacy, and assessment of library services and resources.


• Strong interest in technology and tools for research and teaching.


• Commitment to user-centered library services.


• Strong understanding of the key issues and trends in instruction, collection development, and research, in the subject areas of South Asian Studies.


• Knowledge of scholarly communication issues and trends within the relevant disciplines.


• Evidence of excellent communication, teaching, writing and analytical skills.


• Commitment to fostering a diverse educational environment and workplace and an ability to work effectively with a diverse faculty, staff, and student population.


• Demonstrated willingness to respond to new opportunities with initiative, creative energy, and leadership.


• Evidence of active participation, involvement, or leadership in local, state, regional, national, or international professional or scholarly associations.


• S/he will possess excellent communication, interpersonal, and team skills.

Preferred Qualifications Preferred Qualifications

• Library experience as a South Asian Librarian


• Cataloging experience


• Knowledge of Sanskrit, Hindi and/or Tibetan.


• Practical knowledge of ACRL’s Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education.


• Experience working with ALMA, vendor sites such as YBP’s GOBI, libguides, LibAnswers, and other assessment tools.

Additional Job Details Applications may be submitted online to our Faculty Career site as Word or PDF attachments and must include:

1) Cover letter of application describing qualifications and experience;

2) Current resume/vita detailing education and relevant experience; and

3) On a separate document list the names, email addresses, and telephone numbers of 3 professional references including a current or previous supervisor.

This position involves: Not Applicable