The Librarian (Cataloging and Metadata) to support a library focused on military and engineering history by managing and enhancing access to historical collections. The Librarian will provide professional cataloging, metadata, collection-development, and digitization-support services for the library’s book, print, historical, and digital collections. The position supports the library’s mission to collect, preserve, interpret, and make accessible historical materials and will work with diverse materials that may include monographs, maps, manuscripts, rare and historical publications, audiovisual materials, and digitized resources. This position requires strong attention to detail, knowledge of metadata standards, and the ability to work within structured federal workflows. This position is primarily remote though travel may be required to locations in Maryland, Washington, DC., Virginia, and Missouri.
Duties and Responsibilities
- Perform original and copy cataloging for print and historical collections in accordance with applicable professional cataloging standards and local practices.
- Catalog materials in a variety of formats, potentially including monographs, audiovisual materials, maps, manuscripts, rare books, historical publications, and other special-format materials.
- Create, review, enhance, and maintain bibliographic and metadata records to improve accuracy, consistency, interoperability, and end-user discoverability.
- Apply and maintain commonly used metadata standards and schemas, including MARC, MODS, Dublin Core, and other standards appropriate to collections and digitization activities.
- Use library automation and cataloging resources such as EOS, OCLC, Library of Congress classification resources, and other Government-designated systems and tools.
- Provide metadata support for the digitization and ingestion of agency publications and historical materials, ensuring metadata supports interoperability, retrieval, and long-term discoverability.
- Identify and correct errors, inconsistencies, incomplete fields, and other quality issues within existing metadata and catalog records.
- Support collection-development activities for book and print collections, including activities associated with maintaining useful and accessible historical research collections.
- Safely handle older, fragile, rare, and historically significant materials while performing cataloging, metadata, digitization-support, and collection activities.
- Coordinate with archivists, historians, digitization personnel, museum professionals, and Government staff to ensure bibliographic and metadata practices support broader historical-research and preservation objectives.
- Perform quality-control reviews of cataloging and metadata products and correct deficiencies before final delivery.
- Maintain appropriate documentation and comply with applicable federal and agency specific privacy, information-security, and collection-handling requirements.
