What are the responsibilities and job description for the Law Reference Librarian, JDi position at Syracuse University?
Job Description
The Syracuse University Law Library invites applications for a Law Reference Librarian to support our Hybrid/Online J.D. Program (JDinteractive):
Education and Experience
Required Qualifications
Not Applicable
Tools/Equipment
Not Applicable
Application Instructions
In addition to completing an online application, please attach a resume and cover letter.
About Syracuse University
Syracuse University is a private, international research university with distinctive academics, diversely unique offerings, and an undeniable spirit. Located in the geographic heart of New York State, with a global footprint, and over 150 years of history, Syracuse University offers a quintessential college experience.
The scope of Syracuse University is a testament to its strengths: a pioneering history dating back to 1870; a choice of more than 200 majors, 100 minors, and 200 advanced degree programs offered across the University’s 13 schools and colleges; over 15,000 undergraduates and over 6,000 graduate students; more than a quarter of a million alumni in 160 countries; and a student population from all 50 U.S. states and 123 countries. For more information, please visit http://www.syracuse.edu.
About The Syracuse Area
Syracuse is a medium-sized city situated in the geographic center of New York State approximately 250 miles northwest of New York City. The metro-area population totals approximately 500,000. The area offers a low cost of living and provides many social, cultural, and recreational options, including parks, museums, festivals, professional regional theater, and premier shopping venues. Syracuse and Central New York present a wide range of seasonal recreation and attractions ranging from water skiing and snow skiing, hiking in the Adirondacks, touring the historic sites, visiting wineries along the Finger Lakes, and biking on trails along the Erie Canal.
EEO Statement
Syracuse University is an equal-opportunity, affirmative-action institution. The University prohibits discrimination and harassment based on race, color, creed, religion, sex, gender, national origin, citizenship, ethnicity, marital status, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression, veteran status, or any other status protected by applicable law to the extent prohibited by law. This nondiscrimination policy covers admissions, employment, and access to and treatment in University programs, services, and activities.
Commitment to Supporting and Hiring Veterans
Syracuse University has a long history of engaging veterans and the military-connected community through its educational programs, community outreach, and employment programs. After World War II, Syracuse University welcomed more than 10,000 returning veterans to our campus, and those veterans literally transformed Syracuse University into the national research institution it is today. The University’s contemporary commitment to veterans builds on this historical legacy, and extends to both class-leading initiatives focused on making an SU degree accessible and affordable to the post-9/11 generation of veterans, and also programs designed to position Syracuse University as the employer of choice for military veterans, members of the Guard and Reserve, and military family members.
Commitment to a Diverse and Inclusive Campus Community
Syracuse University maintains an inclusive learning environment in which students, faculty, administrators, staff, curriculum, social activities, governance, and all other aspects of campus life reflect a diverse, multi-cultural, and international worldview. The University community recognizes and values the many similarities and differences among individuals and groups. At Syracuse, we are committed to preparing students to understand, live among, appreciate, and work in an inherently diverse country and world made up of people with different ethnic and racial backgrounds, military backgrounds, religious beliefs, socio-economic status, cultural traditions, abilities, sexual orientations and gender identities. To do so, we commit ourselves to promoting a community that celebrates and models the principles of diversity and inclusivity.
The Syracuse University Law Library invites applications for a Law Reference Librarian to support our Hybrid/Online J.D. Program (JDinteractive):
- Provide reference and research assistance to law students in the JDi program and foster relationships with both students and faculty in the JDi program, in-person and online via email, phone and Zoom, including evenings and weekends on rotation.
- Develop initiatives that support the research components of the JDi curriculum and enhance the research experience of JDi faculty; craft and implement programs that showcase Law Library collections and services to JDi students.
- Provide individual and classroom instruction at faculty request to enable law students to develop legal research proficiency in doctrinal and skills subjects; develop instructional materials on legal topics and in support of upper-level courses in a hybrid work and learning environment.
- Develop the Law Library’s collection in assigned subject areas; serve as liaison to faculty who teach and do research in those subjects.
- Create and maintain online research guides, bibliographies, and other materials to support the JDi curriculum and JDi student participation in College of Law journals, advocacy programs and student organizations.
Education and Experience
Required Qualifications
- J.D. from an ABA-accredited law school or equivalent non-U. S law degree.
- Master’s degree in library science or equivalent from an ALA- accredited institution, completed or close to completion.
- Demonstrated knowledge of the tools and methods of academic research with application to the process of legal research, and the ability to assist library users from all backgrounds and at all levels of initial knowledge.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills; ability to write effectively for a wide variety of audiences
- One year of academic law library experience.
- Strong commitment to legal reference service and instruction in a complex educational environment.
- High degree of professionalism and the ability to both work independently and to interact effectively with colleagues, faculty, staff, students, and the public.
- Education and experience applicable to academic law librarianship.
- Significant understanding of the tools and processes of legal research.
- Ability to both work independently and to interact effectively with colleagues, faculty, staff, students, and the public.
- Demonstrated knowledge of legal information research tools and methods; experience with the legal research process, and the ability to teach legal research skills in individualized and classroom settings.
- Provide legal reference and research services to students, faculty, alumni, members of the local bar, and all users of and visitors to the Law Library, with special emphasis on services to JDi law students.
- Support College of Law teaching, learning, and research by providing individualized legal research assistance, by compiling bibliographies and collections of primary source documents, and by developing the Law Library’s electronic and print collections in assigned subject areas. Serve as the library’s liaison to faculty who teach and do research in the JDi program.
- Provide direct patron service at the Reference Desk, in-person, over the phone, via email, and over Zoom, including evenings and weekends on rotation, determining the best sources and methods to answer questions and fulfill research requests, including decisions to convert ILL and document delivery requests to purchases as a function of collection development.
- Provide classroom instruction, both over Zoom and in person, to enable JDi law students to develop legal research proficiency in doctrinal and skills subjects, and create Research Guides to support individual classes.
- Foster relationships JDi students and faculty by creating Research Guides on topics of interest to those user groups, by offering instruction in the use doctrinal, career- and practice-oriented research tools, and by marketing Law Library services and programs to JDi students.
Not Applicable
Tools/Equipment
Not Applicable
Application Instructions
In addition to completing an online application, please attach a resume and cover letter.
About Syracuse University
Syracuse University is a private, international research university with distinctive academics, diversely unique offerings, and an undeniable spirit. Located in the geographic heart of New York State, with a global footprint, and over 150 years of history, Syracuse University offers a quintessential college experience.
The scope of Syracuse University is a testament to its strengths: a pioneering history dating back to 1870; a choice of more than 200 majors, 100 minors, and 200 advanced degree programs offered across the University’s 13 schools and colleges; over 15,000 undergraduates and over 6,000 graduate students; more than a quarter of a million alumni in 160 countries; and a student population from all 50 U.S. states and 123 countries. For more information, please visit http://www.syracuse.edu.
About The Syracuse Area
Syracuse is a medium-sized city situated in the geographic center of New York State approximately 250 miles northwest of New York City. The metro-area population totals approximately 500,000. The area offers a low cost of living and provides many social, cultural, and recreational options, including parks, museums, festivals, professional regional theater, and premier shopping venues. Syracuse and Central New York present a wide range of seasonal recreation and attractions ranging from water skiing and snow skiing, hiking in the Adirondacks, touring the historic sites, visiting wineries along the Finger Lakes, and biking on trails along the Erie Canal.
EEO Statement
Syracuse University is an equal-opportunity, affirmative-action institution. The University prohibits discrimination and harassment based on race, color, creed, religion, sex, gender, national origin, citizenship, ethnicity, marital status, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression, veteran status, or any other status protected by applicable law to the extent prohibited by law. This nondiscrimination policy covers admissions, employment, and access to and treatment in University programs, services, and activities.
Commitment to Supporting and Hiring Veterans
Syracuse University has a long history of engaging veterans and the military-connected community through its educational programs, community outreach, and employment programs. After World War II, Syracuse University welcomed more than 10,000 returning veterans to our campus, and those veterans literally transformed Syracuse University into the national research institution it is today. The University’s contemporary commitment to veterans builds on this historical legacy, and extends to both class-leading initiatives focused on making an SU degree accessible and affordable to the post-9/11 generation of veterans, and also programs designed to position Syracuse University as the employer of choice for military veterans, members of the Guard and Reserve, and military family members.
Commitment to a Diverse and Inclusive Campus Community
Syracuse University maintains an inclusive learning environment in which students, faculty, administrators, staff, curriculum, social activities, governance, and all other aspects of campus life reflect a diverse, multi-cultural, and international worldview. The University community recognizes and values the many similarities and differences among individuals and groups. At Syracuse, we are committed to preparing students to understand, live among, appreciate, and work in an inherently diverse country and world made up of people with different ethnic and racial backgrounds, military backgrounds, religious beliefs, socio-economic status, cultural traditions, abilities, sexual orientations and gender identities. To do so, we commit ourselves to promoting a community that celebrates and models the principles of diversity and inclusivity.
