Librarian Fairbank Center Collection H.C. Fung Library

Company Description

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Why join the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences?

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C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, founded in 1872), Harvard Athletics and the Division of Continuing Education. The 40 academic departments and 30+ centers of the FAS support a community unparalleled in its academic excellence across the broadest range of liberal arts and sciences disciplines. Together, the FAS seeks to foster an environment of ambition, curiosity and shared commitment to knowledge and truth that elicits excellence from all members of our community and prepares the next generation of leaders through a transformative educational experience.

Job Summary:

This is a dedicated academic librarian position responsible for supporting the research, teaching, and learning related to the study of contemporary China in the social sciences across the university. It combines deep subject knowledge, advanced language skills, and expertise in interdisciplinary perspectives in the social sciences. It provides high-level research assistance, develops a premier collection, and fosters scholarly engagement with counterparts in China and beyond.

Across all aspects of the position, research support, teaching, collection building, collaboration, technical services, and management and administration, the position works to ensure that the library remains an indispensable hub for research and learning about contemporary China. This is a part of the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, reporting directly to the Faculty Director.

Job-Specific Responsibilities:

Research and Instruction Support:

• Provides research consultation services for faculty, students, and visiting scholars working on China-related topics.
• Delivers classroom instruction sessions on library resources and strategies for navigating Chinese-language materials.
• Collaborates with faculty to integrate library resources into syllabi and to support the development of courses.

Collection Development and Management:

• Acquires, curates, and manages essential materials in both English and Chinese, including print, archival and special collections.
• Identifies, selects, and evaluates materials to support teaching and research needs, using knowledge of the language, scholarly trends, and social/political landscapes.
• Develops finding aids, and oversees management of the stacks, the reading room, and special collections.
• Maintains strong relationships with domestic and international vendors, networks, and partner institutions to acquire rare or difficult-to locate materials.
• Manages all Alma system transactions: ordering and invoicing both books and journals, claiming missing journals, running batch jobs for special projects and designing and generating reports in Alma analytics.
• Manages all contacts with vendors, setting up vendors in B2P and Alma, and using all relevant procedures, requirements, regulations, and policies related to specialized expertise.

Collaboration, Outreach, and Scholarly Engagement:

• Works closely with faculty, researchers, and Center leadership to support academic initiatives and scholarly programs.
• Engages in outreach to promote library resources within and beyond the University.
• Develops and sustains collaborative projects with libraries, archives, academic institutions, and individuals in China and elsewhere.
• Ensures the collection remains the preeminent global resource for research on contemporary China.
• Participation in a variety of China-related Center activities.

Technical Services:

• Catalogs English- and Chinese-language materials, performing both copy and original cataloging.
• Handles routine technical workflows such as…