Library Technician

Summary

The Library of Congress shares its vast collections of books, manuscripts, photographs, maps, audiovisual materials, and priceless artifacts to cultivate curiosity and spark imagination. We engage, inspire, and inform Congress and the American people with a universal and enduring source of knowledge and creativity. We seek highly talented professionals to join a vibrant and collaborative community. Your work here will have lasting impact on the Library and its users well into the future.

Duties

• The Asian Division provides services to members of Congress and their staff, librarians, scholars, government agencies, academic institutions, the press, publishers, profit and nonprofit organizations, and the general public. The incumbent of this position is responsible for a variety of activities in support of Asian collections inventory control and tracking, both behind-the-scenes activities, e.g., problem resolution, quality control, searching collections storage areas for items not readily found or for which a problem might be present, support of the inventory program, and direct public service. The incumbent provides support to reader services in the Collections Services for readers using the Library's Asian collections that include monographs, serials, microfilms, microfiche, CDs, and online electronic resources. As the Library Technician, you will: Resolve complex collections maintenance issues. Develop plans to expedite sorting, arranging, and shelving of incoming or returned books, periodicals, or microform receipts; demonstrate initiative in recognizing and solving problems, inconsistencies, and errors in piece identification and labelling before such items reach final destination. Make necessary arrangements to rearrange or shift items in accordance with available space or participates in planned moves to achieve this purpose. Search and identify bibliographic records in the online catalog for items in the Library's collection. Create holdings and/or item records where none are already present. Review existing cataloging records to report item-specific errors such as call number and location data. Mark duplicate holdings and item records for deletion. Link the barcode on the physical item to the bibliographic record to create an inventory record for that specific item. Construct summary holding records that accurately reflect items in the collection. Locate items not readily available on the shelf; complete special searches in all major and special catalogs for general and special collections of all types of materials, including hard-to-find items. Check shelf to locate material; check to determine if item has been charged outside the library or to a location within the library. Verify entry in the shelf-list and/or serial record and consult the full range of library technical tools, reference and bibliographic sources of all types, and the entire spectrum of printed and computerized card catalogs and files to determine the accuracy of information provided by the requester. Perform complex support work in a special area of collection materials preservation, such as surveying collections to determine appropriate housings; construct custom housings for collections, such as folders, envelopes, sleeves, and polyester encapsulations; and determine the optimum use of supplies in the creation of housings. Physically handle books, paper, photographs, CDs, microfilms and microfiches, or moving image materials in order to track and apply appropriate labels, barcode labels, security devices, and/or property stamps across the Library. Proficiency in reading and writing in Chinese is required. This position is located in the Collections Services Section, Asian Division, General and International Collections Directorate, Research and Collections Services. The position description number for this position is 464462. The salary range indicated reflects the locality pay adjustments for the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan area. The incumbent of this position will work a flexitime work schedule. This is a non-supervisory, bargaining unit position. Relocation expenses will not be authorized for the person(s) selected under this vacancy announcement.

Qualifications

Applicants must have had progressively responsible experience and training sufficient in scope and quality to furnish them with an acceptable level of the following knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform the duties of the position without more than normal supervision. Ability to use written and spoken English and Chinese to maintain and process library materials.** Knowledge of library processes and procedures. ** Ability to use information systems, databases and computerized search tools and equipment.** Ability to maintain materials in a library collection. Ability to communicate effectively other than in writing

Requirements

Conditions of Employment The work requires some physical exertion such as standing for extended periods of time, walking, climbing, kneeling, stooping, bending, pushing and pulling book carts, tubs, wire carts and lifting and carrying moderately heavy items such as oversized books. Incumbent may need to push wire carts up and down an incline for more than 100 feet. PHYSICAL REQUIREMENT: After an offer of employment has been made and before commencement of duties, the selectee MUST be physically qualified by the Library's Health Office. A physical examination is required every three (3) years to perform the work of the position. Library of Congress employees are prohibited from using illegal drugs, including marijuana. The Library is part of the Federal Government and abides by federal law, so regardless of individual state or District of Columbia laws, marijuana use is illegal, considered criminal activity, and can affect your employment at the Library. In addition, past or current drug use and activities (e.g., selling or distributing) may deem you ineligible for employment.

How to apply

Please carefully follow all instructions under the How to Apply tab to ensure you are considered for the position. You are required to apply online for this announcement. We are unable to accept mailed or emailed documents. You must complete the entire application process, including submission of all documents BEFORE this announcement closes. To do so, complete the following steps. Step 1: If you do not already have one, create a resume on USAJOBS. Although you must enter your Social Security Number for USAJOBS, this information will not be provided to the Library of Congress. Step 2: Review the Job Announcement. We recommend you go to the end of the Qualification and Evaluation section of the job announcement to preview the online questions that you will answer in Step 4. You may wish to customize your USAJOBS resume to ensure that it supports your responses to these questions. Step 3: Click on the "APPLY ONLINE" button to the right of this announcement. Follow USAJOBS' instructions to access your account and submit your resume. You will be redirected to the Hiring Management website to complete the application process. If this is your first time in Hiring Management, you will be asked to answer questions related to your eligibility for Federal employment. You will be able to update this information and save it to our account for future announcements. Step 4: Once you have completed the eligibility questions, you will be taken directly to the vacancy application questions. Answer all questions honestly and thoroughly. Step 5: Hiring Management offers three options that will electronically attach your documentation to your online application once you finish answering the questions in the job announcement. (1) You may select a document that you have already uploaded to USAJOBS for a previous announcement. (2) You may electronically upload a document directly from your computer to your application. Be certain to review your complete application for confirmation of the document uploaded and click on "Finished" to be returned to USAJOBS. IMPORTANT NOTE: If you have multiple documents of the same kind, e.g. 2 undergraduate transcripts from different schools or 2 SF-50s, etc., be sure that they are all in the same file on your computer or in your USAJOBS profile before uploading them. If you try uploading them individually, only the last one sent will be visible in our system. If you have any questions about this information, please contact the person on this announcement BEFORE the closing date. Step 6: Click on "Finish" after you have completed your application. Once you have submitted your application, you can check your status online through your Hiring Management or MY USAJOBS account. Your complete online application and any required supplemental documentation (e.g., SF-50, etc.) must be received by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) on the closing date of the announcement. It is your responsibility to ensure that all documents are received on time and that the materials are readable. Failure to do so will result in your application being excluded from consideration for this announcement. If you are experiencing any technical difficulty with the online process, you MUST CONTACT THE POINT OF CONTACT FOR THIS ANNOUNCEMENT BEFORE THE CLOSING DATE. For all technical issues please contact [email protected] , no later than 4:30pm EST of the Closing Date. REQUESTS FOR EXTENSIONS WILL NOT BE GRANTED.