Digital Preservation Librarian

Pennsylvania State University - State College, PA

Full-time - Entry Level

State College, PA

Educational Services

About the position

The Digital Preservation Librarian at Penn State University will lead the development and implementation of a cohesive digital preservation program, ensuring the long-term preservation and access to both digitized and born-digital materials. This role involves collaboration with various university departments and external organizations, focusing on digital preservation strategies, policies, and community engagement.

Responsibilities

• Lead the development of a cohesive digital preservation program.
• Design, implement, and manage policies and workflows for digital materials.
• Assist in developing requirements and specifications for digital preservation.
• Advise library faculty, staff, and external content creators on digital content lifecycle issues.
• Participate in the development of services to support curation and preservation of research data.
• Serve as liaison for digital preservation projects and initiatives.
• Prepare proposals for external funding of digital preservation projects.
• Stay current on technologies, standards, and practices in digital preservation.
• Represent the university in digital preservation matters at various levels.
• Supervise digital preservation staff.
• Engage in research, scholarly publication, and professional service activities.

Requirements

• Advanced degree in a relevant subject area (e.g., ALA-accredited master's degree in library or information science).
• Demonstrated knowledge of digital preservation issues, strategies, standards, and best practices.
• Experience or familiarity with national and international collaborative digital preservation efforts.
• Knowledge of preservation metadata standards and digital objects in various formats.
• Familiarity with multiple computer platforms including Linux, Windows, and/or macOS.
• Commitment to fostering an equitable and inclusive workplace.

Nice-to-haves

• Direct experience in use of digital preservation systems in an enterprise-scale environment.
• Success in acquiring and developing grant-funded projects.
• Experience or interest in markup languages such as HTML and XML.
• Experience with scripting languages such as PowerShell, Python, Bash, etc.
• Familiarity with digital preservation tools such as BitCurator, Archivematica, BagIT, JHOVE.
• Knowledge of project management techniques.

Benefits

• Competitive salary
• Strong mentoring program for new faculty
• Professional development opportunities
• Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility initiatives