Job description
Seattle Public Library seeks an innovative Librarian - Metadata & Digital Resources to lead cataloging and metadata efforts for our growing digital collections. This role supports discovery, access, and long-term preservation of materials across physical and digital formats. You will collaborate with librarians, IT staff, and researchers to ensure consistent metadata standards and improve user discovery.
Ideal for proactive professionals who thrive in a dynamic, community-focused library environment and are passionate about metadata, information organization, and equitable access to knowledge.
Responsibility
- Develop, standardize, and maintain metadata for print and digital collections across multiple formats and platforms.
- Lead cataloging workflow improvements, including MARC21, RDA, LCSH/LCC, and authority control processes.
- Collaborate with digital service teams on repository ingestion (CONTENTdm, DSpace or similar) and ensure interoperability with discovery layers.
- Contribute to data quality initiatives, authority control, and metadata normalization to enhance discovery and retrieval.
- Plan and implement metadata schema mapping for cross-institutional collaborations and digitization projects.
- Provide expert guidance to staff and patrons on metadata interpretation and search best practices.
- Monitor and report on usage statistics and metadata-driven discovery metrics to inform collection development.
- Participate in user experience improvements for search interfaces and digital collections.
Qualification
- Master's degree in Library Science (MLS/MLIS) or equivalent with a focus on cataloging and metadata.
- Strong knowledge of cataloging standards (MARC21, RDA, MARCXML), authority control, and subject headings (LCSH, LCC).
- Experience with digital repositories and metadata standards ( Dublin Core, METS, PREMIS) and at least one ILS/Library Management System.
- Proficiency with data quality, normalization, and schema mapping; experience with linked data is a plus.
- Excellent analytical, organizational, and communication skills; ability to work cross-functionally with IT and collections teams.
- Commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion in library services.
- Demonstrated problem-solving skills and attention to detail in metadata cleanup and migration projects.