Librarian Liaison Job Description

Annually, librarian liaisons are assigned to academic departments and/or subject areas for which they serve, in effect, as ¿ambassadors¿ for the library to the Gettysburg College academic community. Librarian liaisons often serve as the primary link between the library and the academic departments and their faculty and students. Ideally, liaisons serve as the chief point of communication and service between the faculty and the departments that comprise the Gettysburg College academic community.

In addition, librarian liaisons provide collection development and other related library services to their assigned areas. Librarian liaisons assist with the development, management, evaluation, and promotion of the collections in assigned subject areas. Liaisons assist with all collection formats, including books, journals, electronic or digital materials, and audiovisual/multimedia resources, among others. Liaisons may work in cooperation with other librarians or support staff assigned to duties or roles in the management of formats or services (e.g., Media, Serials, Stacks, Reference, Instruction, etc.).

The librarian liaison analyzes academic departmental instruction and research initiatives to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the library¿s collections, as well as to recommend and assist with the implementation of a collection development policy supporting these instructional and research needs. The liaison works with faculty, students, the department chair, the faculty liaison assigned by the department to the library, and departmental support staff, as well as with other librarian liaisons and staff.

Associated with these collection development responsibilities, the librarian liaison may provide specialized services, including reference consultation and information fluency instruction, by appointment and referral. Participation in monthly collection development meetings is expected as well.

Responsibilities:

• Liaison duties:
  • Maintain communication with faculty members and students that will provide knowledge of academic and research programs sufficient to ensure that collections and services support curriculum and research needs.
  • Keep faculty informed about library issues.
  • Analyze course offerings and keep abreast of developments in assigned fields.
  • Assist in the preparation of reports used by departments for reviews and accreditation, bibliographic guides, and other publications in support of the library¿s collections.
• Collection development duties:
  • Select library resources in varied formats, including books and audiovisual/multimedia resources.
  • Recommend selection of journals and electronic and digital materials.
  • Monitor the acquisitions budget for assigned subject areas.
  • Review approval plan slips, faculty requests, review journals, bibliographies, advertisements, publishers¿ and dealers¿ catalogs, etc., to keep abreast of current and historical resources in the subject area.
  • As appropriate, initiate orders for materials or refer potential orders to faculty for input and action.
  • Monitor approval plan profiles, recommending adjustments as necessary.
  • In consultation with the Director of Collection Development, assess quality and physical condition of the subject collections, making decisions on the replacement, transfer, withdrawal, or preservation of individual titles.
  • Respond to calls from potential donors and direct as necessary to the Director of Collection Development; select materials received as gifts for the library¿s collections.
  • Investigate and assess databases and other electronic products available from publishers in assigned subject areas and recommend purchase or license as appropriate.
  • Create and maintain subject webpages in assigned areas.
  • Help develop collection development policies for assigned subject areas in consultation with faculty and the Director of Collection Development.
• Reference and instruction duties:
  • Provide specialized reference and instructional services for faculty and students, usually by referral from the Reference and Instruction Department or by arrangement with faculty or students in academic departments.