Job description
Virginia’s community colleges have a 50-year track record of educational excellence and innovation to serve the needs of our citizens and strengthen the Commonwealth’s economy. When Virginia’s General Assembly established the Virginia Community College System in 1966, the need for a comprehensive system was well known. Over the two decades after the end of World War II, leaders in government, business, professional sectors, and academia had called for a new approach to providing educational opportunities. A key concern was Virginia’s ability to develop a skilled and knowledgeable workforce to expand the state’s economy. Today our community colleges allow every Virginian to gain a quality education. With 23 colleges on 40 campuses located throughout the state, Virginia’s Community Colleges are committed to serving Virginia families, helping them acquire the knowledge and skills to seize the opportunities of today and tomorrow.
The Reference Librarian is part of the VCCS System Office Student Experience and Strategic Initiatives’ Library Services team. This position is responsible for providing prompt, professional online reference service to college and university students in a fast-paced online consortial environment. This position must be a positive, collegial team player with proven ability to successfully manage live chat reference inquiries and coordinate follow-up with staff at the patron’s institution as needed. This position will need to be an independent problem-solver who can work with little supervision and reliably cover assigned hours each week. This role operates in an environment that requires a skilled online communicator with exemplary reference service skills to demonstrate initiative, flexibility, and sound professional judgment.
The Reference Librarian is part of the VCCS System Office Student Experience and Strategic Initiatives’ Library Services team. This position is responsible for providing prompt, professional online reference service to college and university students in a fast-paced online consortial environment. This position must be a positive, collegial team player with proven ability to successfully manage live chat reference inquiries and coordinate follow-up with staff at the patron’s institution as needed. This position will need to be an independent problem-solver who can work with little supervision and reliably cover assigned hours each week. This role operates in an environment that requires a skilled online communicator with exemplary reference service skills to demonstrate initiative, flexibility, and sound professional judgment.
Minimum Qualifications
Availability after 5 p.m. EST with ability to commit to a set evening and weekend schedule. The role must reliably work assigned shifts each week. The schedule is determined by patron use patterns during the academic term, and the coverage provided by this position is a requirement for VCCS’ continuing Cooperative membership.
You must have your own computer with a modern browser capable of live chat and email, as well as a secure, high-speed, reliable Internet connection that is available to you during scheduled shifts.
ALA-accredited Master’s degree with significant work experience providing online reference service using a proprietary platform such as OCLC QuestionPoint, SpringShare LibAnswers, or similar.
Ability to quickly process and apply written policies and instructions from a variety of libraries, navigate their particular websites, and advise their patrons how to make effective use of the resources available to them.
Ability to effectively search and use academic databases and assist novice users in learning how to use them, with demonstrated expertise in discovering effective search terms for topics in all subject areas.
Knowledge of the complexities, capabilities, and limits of commercial research databases; a variety of research writing and citation formats; and academic uses of free Internet search tools.
Advanced emotional self-regulation and online communication skills
Proven ability to engage effectively with people from a variety of cultural and academic backgrounds
Preferred Qualifications
A minimum of 5 years community college library work experience with responsibility for general reference and library instruction.
Facility with live screensharing and creating brief video screen recordings for instructional purposes.
Demonstrated ability to troubleshoot remote (off-campus) connection and login issues for academic library research databases.
Special Requirements
colinoncars.com is the go-to platform for job seekers looking for the best job postings from around the web. With a focus on quality, the platform guarantees that all job postings are from reliable sources and are up-to-date. It also offers a variety of tools to help users find the perfect job for them, such as searching by location and filtering by industry. Furthermore, colinoncars.com provides helpful resources like resume tips and career advice to give job seekers an edge in their search. With its commitment to quality and user-friendliness, colinoncars.com is the ideal place to find your next job.