Library Assistant (Subscriptions & Access)

About us:

Within Libraries & Collections, we aspire to be leaders in enabling access to knowledge and information fundamental to this vision. Developments in digital education, e-research and AI are transforming our services. Our Open Library strategy outlines our ambitious plans and how they contribute to student success and research excellence. We are part of the Students & Education Directorate, which manages the student lifecycle from application to graduation and beyond.

About the role:

Open Research is an innovative and growing area of service provision. The purpose of the Library Assistant role within the Subscriptions & Access wing of the team, is to carry out a range of administrative tasks to provide users with access to a range of print and electronic resources for their education, teaching and research needs.

This is an exciting opportunity for candidates looking to work with subscriptions, who wish to utilise their skills in administrative tasks for the efficient procurement of resources. This is an opportunity to grow your skills in handling print library resources, inter-library loans, updating metadata, and collating statistical data to aid evaluation of subscriptions. The main focus of the role will require to work on interlending and document delivery, data checks, with spreadsheets and library resources metadata, and would particularly suit those who enjoy working methodically with good attention to detail.

We encourage applications from candidates who have experience from both within and outside of the Higher Education sector where they can demonstrate the skills needed to succeed in this role.

All grade 3 staff are assigned a placement brief within a particular team but may be moved across to a different placement brief elsewhere within Libraries & Collections in order to support service needs or your development.

All Libraries & Collections staff are encouraged to take responsibility for their own performance and development, through agreeing clear objectives, maintaining professional awareness and reflecting on own performance. We expect all colleagues to role-model a positive, proactive, flexible and committed approach that encourages others.

You will be required to participate in frontline services as required, including contributing towards a rota for evening and weekend working.

This is a full-time post (35 hours per week), and you will be offered an indefinite contract.

Essential criteria

• Relevant work experience and/or education: We think a wide range of different work and educational experiences could support you to be successful in this role. Relevant educational experiences might include higher education in a related discipline, professional qualifications or other training.
• Ability to work as part of a team to achieve shared goals
• Ability to work to a high level of accuracy and attention to detail
• Excellent organisation and time management skills
• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• Experience in positively and proactively dealing with routine problems
• Being comfortable with technology such as Microsoft Office and databases
• Commitment to personal accountability and continuous improvement

Desirable criteria

• Experience of working in a customer-oriented environment
• Ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines
• Experience of using library catalogues and resource discovery tools
• Some knowledge of information resources provision and discovery, such as databases, eBooks, big journal deals and transformative agreements, access to e-resources