Learning and Teaching Librarian

Weekly Working Hours: 37

Fixed Term Contract: End Date: 10 months from start date

Change your career, change lives

The Open University is the UK’s largest university, a world leader in flexible part-time education combining a mission to widen access to higher education with research excellence, transforming lives through education. Find out more about us and our mission by watching this short video (you will be taken to YouTube by clicking this link).

About the Role

The role of Learning & Teaching Librarian has three main purposes:

1. To support learning and teaching activities, including the development of students as independent learners, by providing advice and guidance on the access to and use of Library Services content, resources and services to meet the needs of students, learners and University staff.
2. To work in partnership across the OU’s Learner and Discovery Services (LDS) unit and with faculty colleagues to support the growing digital capabilities agenda and integrate library content systematically into the curriculum using new and innovative approaches as appropriate.
3. To support students fairly, consistently and in line with University policies.

Key Responsibilities

For full time roles the postholder will usually focus on three of the specialist areas below:

Enquiry Services

• Provide expert assistance to students, staff, Associate Lecturers (ALs are off-campus module tutors) and researchers via a virtual helpdesk (email, webchat and telephone).

Academic Liaison

• Cultivate productive working relationships across departmental boundaries, with a pivotal role in embedding digital capabilities and library content into modules and qualifications to enable student success.
• Evaluate the value of digital capabilities materials and library content to identify practical improvements for the live curriculum.
• Support qualifications and modules already in presentation to students.

 Accessibility

• Work with colleagues across the library to assess the accessibility of third-party content.
• Work with library and faculty teams engaged in module and qualification production to ensure library content is accessible to all users.
• Develop and maintain effective relationships with teams across the University, championing the library’s role in providing accessibility services.

 Authoring

• Work closely with the Academic Liaison and Live Engagement teams, to advise and agree on requirements for the integration of digital and information literacy skills into modules, qualifications and other forms of learning delivery.
• Create, reuse and maintain accessible multimedia materials that teach digital capabilities, informed by best practice in technology-enhanced learning and learning design.
• Update and maintain information, advice and guidance (IAG) content and library web pages and promote awareness of and engagement with the OU’s DIL (Digital and Information Literacy) skills framework (2022) and digital capabilities agenda.
• Embrace innovative technologies to deliver skills training, increase accessibility and improve the student experience and showcase best practice.

E-resources Troubleshooting

• Work closely with colleagues in a cross-Library team to ensure a high-quality experience of online content for OU students and the wider OU community.
• Investigate and collaboratively resolve a wide range of content access issues.
• Work closely with the wider team to address some of the underlying issues relating to content access.
• Contribute to the development of a knowledge base to support this work.

Live Engagement

• Design and deliver live training events for students and staff. This includes, but is not limited to, online and in-person events and training on a range of digital capabilities embedded in the curriculum.
• Work closely with the Authoring and Academic Liaison teams to ensure digital capabilities are delivered in the most appropriate way to meet module/qualification learning design and student need.

In addition, all post holders are expected to:

• Contribute to the development of efficient workflows and processes, to support all colleagues and stakeholders. (Occasional evening and weekend work may be required.)
• Develop and maintain effective relationships with internal and external colleagues across faculties and units; championing the library’s role in providing the optimum services to students.
• Keep abreast of external trends and developments, particularly in the Higher Education sector and learning technologies. Enhance and maintain professional expertise in order to contribute to strategy and facilitate continuous improvement.

About You

Essential

• Educated to degree level in librarianship or information science (or equivalent professional qualification or experience)
• Have digital capabilities, especially in Office 365 applications, databases and library management systems
• Understanding of how to design effective accessible learning experiences, and ability to identify the best teaching approach to deliver the required learning outcome
• Experience of working with electronic resources
• Knowledge of learning technologies and their application
• Experience of writing for the web and creating educational content
• Communicates information effectively with a variety of audiences; negotiates effectively; appropriately manages conflict
• Plans, schedules, prioritises and allocates work effectively; delivers to multiple deadlines
• Uses initiative to identify and solve problems proactively; uses good judgement to refer issues upwards as necessary; identifies and manages risk
• Builds proactive working relationships; works collaboratively across organisational boundaries to achieve common goals
• Identifies opportunities for continuous improvement; shows commitment to own professional development; demonstrates enthusiasm, willingness and ability to learn new skills
• Ability to carry out the role in a way that is consistent with equality legislation and University policies.

Desirable

• Demonstrable commitment to continuous professional development, for example Chartered Librarian, Fellowship of Advance HE or equivalent
• Experience of collection development
• Experience of teaching or delivering online training
• Ability to manipulate, analyse and interpret data
• Awareness of the issues surrounding distance education, access and participation, and the political environment in relation to HE
• Subject specific knowledge, for example experience of information resources enabling you to support a Faculty (Business & Law; Arts & Social Sciences; Wellbeing, Education & Language Studies; Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics)

Support with your application

If you have any questions, or need support or adjustments relating to your application, the recruitment process, or the role, please contact us on 01908 541111 or email careers@open.ac.uk quoting the advert reference number.

What's in it for you?

At The Open University, we offer a range of benefits to recognise and reward great work, alongside policies and flexible working that contribute towards a great work life balance. Get all the details of what benefits we offer by visiting our Staff Benefits page (clicking this link will open a new window).

Flexible working

We are open to discussions about flexible working. Whether it’s a job share, part time, compressed hours or another working arrangement. Please reach out to us to discuss what works best for you.

Working Location: It is anticipated that a hybrid working pattern can be adopted for this role, where the successful candidate can work from home and the office. However, as this role is contractually aligned to our Milton Keynes Office, it is expected that some attendance in the office will be required when necessary and in response to business needs. We’d expect this to be a minimum of 6 times a year, with two dates that are mandatory for team development. Full-time working based from our Milton Keynes site is also supported if this is preferred by the candidate.  Expenses associated with travel to our Milton Keynes site are not reimbursable. Occasional wider UK travel may also be required - expenses for this travel will be reimbursed.

Next steps in the Recruitment process

Interviews are expected to take place on Monday 20th April.  

Early closing date notification

While most roles will remain open until the advertised closing date, applications may be reviewed on an ongoing basis. In some cases, vacancies may close earlier if a sufficient number of suitable applications has been received and equality impacts have been appropriately considered. All roles will remain advertised for a minimum of one week before any early closure is implemented. If you have started an application or were in the process of applying when the advert closed, we encourage you to get in touch. We are committed to understanding individual circumstances and can offer further support where needed, including reasonable adjustments for applicants with protected characteristics.

How to apply

To apply for this role please submit the following document(s):

• CV
• Supporting statement of up to 1000 words. You should set out in your statement why you are interested in the role and provide examples of where your skills and experience meet the essential criteria for this role as detailed above.

You can view your progress and application communications when you are logged into our recruitment system. Please check your spam/junk folders if you do not receive associated email updates.

The Open University is committed to equality, diversity and inclusion which is reflected in our mission to be open to people, places, methods and ideas. We aim to foster a diverse and inclusive environment so that all in our OU community can reach their potential. We recognise that different people bring different perspectives, ideas, knowledge, and culture, and that this difference brings great strength. We strive to recruit, retain and develop the careers of a diverse pool of students and staff, and particularly encourage applications from all underrepresented groups. We also aspire to make The Open University a supportive workplace for all through our policies, services and staff networks.