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Acquisitions Librarian 1 Job Description January 27, 2012 The Acquisitions Librarian manages, coordinates, and supervises the work of the Acquisitions Services Unit and its functions including, but not limited to, orders, claims, cancellations, and payments in its role of managing the finances and expenditures for the Librarys collection budget and purchasing legal materials for the collection. The Acquisitions Librarian works under the supervision of the Head of Electronic & Systems Services. All Unit Leaders in the Law Library are required to lead and manage their individual units and to ensure the development of the skills and expertise specific and necessary to the work of the Unit as described in Section I. Detailed Description of Unit Responsibilities; and to effectively and successfully handle the responsibilities detailed in Section II. General Responsibilities of all Unit Leaders. Unit Leaders who are also librarians must lead their units, manage work within the unit and between units in conformity with the principles applicable to and expectations of all librarians listed in Section III. Librarians at the University of Michigan Law Library.

Section I. Detailed Description of Responsibilities:

Leads, manages, and supervises the Law Library Acquisitions Services Unit Manages the expenditures and financial reporting for the Law Library collection budget (approximately 50% of the overall Library budget) to purchase legal materials for all of countries of the world. Coordinates or performs the work of interviewing, hiring and training and evaluating full-time Acquisitions staff (1 Accountant Associate, 1 Information Resources Assistant Senior). Responsible for interviewing, hiring and training and evaluating student hourlies (undergraduate and School of Information students) and any full-time staff from other units performing Acquisitions work. Establishes staffing levels and work schedules to ensure adequate coverage to meet Library needs. Establishes work processes and procedures within and between the unit and other units, including collaborative problem-solving among and between units to ensure that work is done in a timely and efficient manner. Organizes and delegates work to meet Library, Unit and staff goals and objectives. Compiles and analyzes monthly and annual statistical information. Establishes unit priorities to ensure timely processing of orders, invoices, cancellations and other assigned work. Develops and implements training for staff in order to increase skills and/or take on new responsibilities.

Acquisitions Librarian positions may be classified at the Assistant, Associate, Senior Associate or Librarian level based on the Classification of Librarian Positions policy and the recommendation of the Law Library Classification Committee.
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Serves as a resource for Acquisitions staff in the completion of their work. Serves as a member of the LMS Committee and provides expertise relating to our Library Management System. Attends Innovative Users Group annual meeting; represents the Law Library at professional events and forums about the Innovative system. Helps in planning of new activities and in the ongoing revision of unit, inter-unit and library-wide practices and procedures. Acts as the primary contact for non-Acquisitions staff who have acquisitions-related questions and communicates Unit information to the Library as a whole.

Participates in Library Management Unit Leaders are each responsible for working with the Leaders of the other Law Library Units to advise and make recommendations to the Law Library Management Team on matters pertaining to setting and achieving Library long range plans and short term goals. Manages Law Library Acquisition Functions Including Orders, Claims, and Payments

Develops and implements new policies and procedures relating to the purchase and receipt of law library resources. Acts as the primary resource for the acquisition of library materials in all formats. Is responsible for new order processing in all formats, including o o o Reviews order instruments, clarifies ambiguities, spots potential acquisition problems, assigns vendors and funds. Creates check-in records for certain supplement orders. Reviews orders for accuracy and completeness

Evaluates and selects dealers, vendors and other sources for library materials purchases; responsibilities in this area include, but are not limited to: o o o o Serves as the primary liaison to library vendors and consortia. Meets with sales and consortium representatives to negotiate discounts and work with them to develop appropriate procedures. Works with vendor and consortium representatives to resolve complex problems. Monitors vendor and consortium performance. Develops procedures and supervises claiming processes. Devises strategies for dealing with problematic orders

Ensures the receipt of material we have paid for, including claiming of library materials. o o

With assistance from the selectors, the Collection Development Committee, and the Director, establishes, monitors and modifies approval plans. Manages and oversees the Law Librarys collection budget and accounting functions to ensure that we meet University, state and federal audit standards and to ensure that we receive what weve paid for. Acts as liaison with the University Procurement office in regards to University accounting, purchasing and licensing rules.

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Acts as primary resource for establishing policies and procedures, resolving problems and answering questions relating to the specialized functions of the Unit. Creates and/or updates manuals and forms related to Acquisitions functions. Manages and coordinates the implementation and ongoing maintenance of new acquisitions or acquisitions-related modules or functions of the Law Library LMS, e.g., electronic resource management, electronic claiming or ordering. Monitors and keeps up with new technologies and III modules related to Acquisitions and makes recommendations for their purchase and/or implementation.

Administers and Coordinates Electronic Resource Acquisition and Licensing

Responsible for the licensing process for new and renewing electronic resources o Implements review and signature process that includes Library selectors, the University Procurement Department, and the vendor.

Participates in electronic resource administration including working with Library proxy server, administering passwords, and resolving electronic resource outages. Participates in campus-wide E-Chairs meetings and advises Law Library on the acquisitions issues involved. Participates in work related to electronic resources and the integration of the Law Library website and MLaw Catalog.

Section II. General Responsibilities of all Unit Leaders:

A. All Unit Leaders participate in library management: Unit Leaders are each responsible for working with the Leaders of the other Law Library Units to advise and make recommendations to the Law Library Management Team on matters pertaining to setting and achieving Library long range plans and short term goals. B. Unit Leaders are authorized to, and responsible for leading and managing the work of their individual units, including but not limited to: 1. Establishing staffing levels (librarian, regular and student) and work schedules for individuals in the unit to ensure adequate coverage in the context of library-wide needs and following library policy; informing Assistant Director of schedules and consulting with Assistant Director about potential coverage problems. 2. Establishing work processes and procedures within the unit, and between the unit and other units, including collaborative problem-solving among and between units to ensure that work is done in a timely and efficient manner; Unit Leaders are responsible for informing their Assistant Director and other Unit Leaders of major changes and for consulting with their Assistant Director about potential problems. 3. Answering work-related questions from members of the unit so that staff members are able to rely on the Unit Leader as the starting point for inquiries and as the go-to person for members of the unit. Unit Leaders are responsible for providing accurate and complete information; consulting with others as needed to ensure complete and accurate information; and for bringing questions to the Assistant Director, to Law Library Leaders or the Library Management Team as appropriate. Unit Leaders are responsible for ensuring that staff members know the steps you will take, and the results.

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4. Getting units work done up to standards, including timeliness. Informing Assistant Director when that is not possible; suggesting solutions; being flexible about trying new approaches and technologies. 5. Communicating to and from the Unit to the Library as a whole. Communicating information about the unit to the rest of the Library as appropriate and needed to assure One Library-wide knowledge about the Unit. 6. Hiring, training, supervising, and reviewing the performance of unit members, including student workers. Facilitating the fullest possible development of each persons talents to meet the Librarys needs. Using Checklist of Competencies; doing at least 6 month reviews of annual performance goals; consulting with Assistant Director about hiring standards; consulting with Assistant Direcotor about how to help each staff member grow and develop.

Section III. Librarians at the University of Michigan Law Library, including librarians who are Unit Leaders are expected to:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

view challenges and problems within the context of departmental and library wide goals; be a leader or contributing member to a variety of cross departmental committees and teams formed to accomplish ongoing or one time assignments; develop areas of expertise; keep up with current trends and practices in the field and present and implement improvements by applying that knowledge. demonstrate and continue to develop skills consistent with guidelines for the classifications levels as outlined by the Librarian Classification Scheme; and be guided by the list of competencies for all regular staff, Unit Leaders and librarians.

Systems Services.

Section IV. Supervision Received: General supervision is received from the Head of Electronic & Section V. Supervision Exercised: Administrative and functional supervision is exercised over nonlibrarian regular staff and students for assigned functional areas; see Detailed Description of Responsibilities section.

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