Quick Summary
The University of South Dakota (USD) seeks a Health Sciences and Natural Sciences Librarian who is committed to making a difference in rural health care, research, and education.
The University of South Dakota (USD) seeks a user-focused librarian who is committed to making a difference in rural health care, research, and education. The Health Sciences and Natural Sciences Librarian will join a team of faculty librarians who are advancing teaching, learning, patient care and research in South Dakota by developing collaborative and interactive relationships with faculty, students and researchers of the USD Sanford School of Medicine, the USD School of Health Sciences and the USD College of Arts and Sciences. This is a renewable, term faculty appointment at the rank of Assistant Librarian, and reports to the Dean of the University Libraries.
A broad portfolio of liaison areas related to biomedical research, health sciences education, and research and education in the natural sciences offers the opportunity to work with diverse faculty and students who are at the heart of the University of South Dakota’s commitment to both excellence in teaching and research. The Health Sciences and Natural Sciences Librarian will join a team of highly-qualified librarians who collaborate with teaching and research faculty to prepare students to serve in the region and the nation.
The University Libraries, through the I.D. Weeks Library and the Wegner Health Sciences Library, serve educational, research and health sciences information needs throughout South Dakota. The University Libraries are a designated Outreach Library in the Network of the National Library of Medicine, as well as provide library and information services to independent and tribal college libraries through the NIH-funded South Dakota Biomedical Research Infrastructure Network. The position is based at the I.D. Weeks Library on the University of South Dakota campus in Vermillion, SD, which is located on the Missouri River and within an hour drive of Sioux Falls—South Dakota’s largest city.
Specific responsibilities
- Engage with a diverse community of faculty and students in assigned departments, including graduate and professional programs in the health sciences, natural sciences, and biomedical sciences.
- Develop and teach classes and workshops integrating evidence-based practice, information literacy, responsible conduct of research and new technologies into the learning environment.
- Provide general reference and information literacy instruction.
- Select, promote and evaluate scholarly communications in traditional and emerging paradigms.
- Lead and serve on relevant library-wide and campus committees.
- Lead efforts to educate students, faculty, and staff about open access publication models and open educational resource initiatives.
- Evaluate new tools and emerging technologies for communicating and analyzing scholarly research.
- Participate in organization-wide planning, projects and initiatives.
- Contribute to academic and health sciences librarianship through service and professional engagement.
Minimum Qualifications
Master’s degree in Library Science or Information Science from an ALA- accredited program; one or more years of professional experience as a health sciences or natural sciences librarian or other relevant experience; demonstrated experience in working independently, working respectfully with diverse constituents, and responding effectively to a rapidly changing environment; a record of excellent written and verbal communication skills for the purposes of teaching, presenting, and customer service both in person and virtually; and a record of experience with searching biomedical, health sciences, or physical sciences research databases and resources.
Desirable Qualifications
An advanced degree in a health sciences and/or natural sciences field of study; completion of a program of graduate courses in health informatics and/or STEM librarianship; AHIP membership; knowledge of evidence-based medicine; experience in measuring the research impact of scholarly communications; demonstrated experience in investigating user needs and developing strategies to integrate library services with the academic life of faculty and students; demonstrated ability to communicate with faculty and students about OA and OER publishing; and demonstrated experience in Library and/or Data Carpentry, and thus able to serve faculty and students in developing data science skills.
Application Procedure
Apply online on the South Dakota Board of Regents website by submitting a curriculum vita, a letter addressing required qualifications, and complete contact information of at least 3 professional references.
Review of applications will begin July 21 and continue until the position is filled.
