Cataloguing and Metadata Officer

Introduction

The position is located in the Information Management Services Branch (IMS) within the Information and Technology Management Department (INFOTEC). IMS is responsible for managing the Office’s extensive collections, legislation, statistics and other documents on labour and social issues. It plays a key role in providing information to ILO staff and facilitating access to world of work knowledge for ILO constituents, researchers, practitioners and the general public, in support of the Director-General’s aim to make the ILO the global reference point on the world of work. IMS works closely with staff located in ILO field offices to promote the dissemination of ILO knowledge and research. 

The incumbent will administer activities associated with metadata and information management including updating of the ILO Taxonomy and ILO Thesaurus. 

The position will report to the Unit Head of Information Governance Services.

Specific Duties

1.    Evaluate, create and implement workflows for loading metadata for e-books, streaming resources, and other digital and print objects into the Library Service Platform (Alma). Review the publications to identify the documents to be catalogued in accordance with the criteria defined in the standard operating procedure. 

2.    Provide original and complex copy cataloguing, and indexing of various materials across multiple languages, formats and time periods, in a contemporary MARC-based environment in accordance with IMS cataloguing and indexing policies and standards and in line with the Anglo-American cataloguing rules.

3.    Provide support to metadata strategies associated with digital initiatives and projects: collaborate in the evaluation of existing workflows and processes, utilize interoperable metadata standards, and propose creative strategies and sustainable solutions for resource description and discovery.

4.    Contribute to projects related to cataloguing batch loads, normalization rules and other bibliographic maintenance. Draft procedures for importing/exporting, batch data processing and integrating records from multiple sources. Draft training materials and documentation for the cataloguers’ team in the application of metadata standards and cataloguing policy and procedures.

5.    Perform analysis and manipulation of metadata utilizing MarcEdit, Excel, etc. and contribute to initiatives for the improvement of metadata quality and usage to reflect coherent and consistent terminology.

6.    Update and maintain controlled vocabularies used within ILO e.g. ILO Taxonomy, to optimize content classification and discovery.  Draft training materials and guidelines on tagging using the taxonomy.

7.  Monitor the digitization work and the daily activities. 

8. Keep abreast of existing and emerging cataloguing and metadata standards, tools and best practices, as well as developments in interoperability.

9.Perform other relevant duties as assigned.

These specific duties are aligned with the relevant ILO generic job description, which includes the following generic duties:

Generic Duties

1. Review a variety of information sources to identify appropriate materials that meet the information needs of the Organization and recommend material for inclusion in the library’s collections.
2. Verify the accuracy of information on incoming requisitions.
3. Identify and withdraw material from the collections in accordance with collection and retention policies and instructions from the supervisor.
4. Identify bibliographic elements of items to be added to the library’s collections, determine the choice and form of entries, and prepare bibliographic descriptions.
5. Analyse the content of documents and publications to identify and select the concepts that are the most relevant for users, translate these concepts into controlled vocabulary terms, and draft annotations or abstracts of the content of materials.
6. Review bibliographic citations and indexing obtained from external sources for inclusion in internal databases.
7. Using both manual and computerised techniques, provide reference services by searching easily accessible sources and delivering information relevant to specific user requests.
8. Assist in the creation of information tools.

Required qualifications

Education

Advanced university degree, or a first level degree and a recognized professional qualification in library or information science or other related field. 

Experience

Three years of professional experience in library work or information network administration. Experience in cataloguing and indexing using Exlibris Library Management System (Alma) is essential. Experience in MARC21 format and the Anglo-American Cataloguing rules (AACR) would be an advantage.

Languages

Excellent command of one official language (English, French, Spanish) of the Organization and a working knowledge of another official language. 

Competencies

In addition to the ILO core competencies, this position requires:

Technical

Knowledge of MarcEdit to work with data sets. Knowledge of maintaining and using controlled vocabularies.  Knowledge of Online Computer Library Center (OCLC). Knowledge of linked data and RDF is favourable. Knowledge of digitization projects would be  an advantage. Excellent analytical skills to analyse the needs of users and provide the appropriate support.  

Behavioural
Ability to communicate effectively both orally and in writing. Ability to work on own initiative as well as a member of a team.   Work collaboratively with colleagues to achieve common goals; encourage cooperation; be open to learning new ways of working and continuously develops and updates professional skills, and masters new tools; diagnoses development needs and targets learning opportunities; assimilates, applies and shares job related knowledge in a timely manner. Ability to work in a multicultural environment and to demonstrate gender-sensitive and non-discriminatory behaviour and attitudes.