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Department: VCU Library

Duties & Responsibilities:

The Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries invites applications and nominations for the position of Metadata Librarian (Continuing Resources). The Metadata Librarian (Continuing Resources) is responsible for coordinating and performing original and complex copy cataloging, with a focus on continuing resources in print and electronic formats across the collections of the VCU Libraries.  The successful candidate will join a culturally and academically diverse faculty of the highest caliber.

Responsibilities
Reporting to the Head of Resource Acquisition and Metadata Services, and recognized as a contributing team member of metadata colleagues, the Metadata Librarian (Continuing Resources) coordinates and performs original and complex copy cataloging, with a focus on serial formats and government documents. This position provides oversight for vendor-supplied MARC records, knowledge base records, and contract cataloging of continuing resources. This position uses in-depth, specialized knowledge of metadata standards to catalog library resources and maintain descriptions, including reparative metadata, batch record manipulation with metadata applications, and remediation of current records for improved access. 

In addition, the Metadata Librarian (Continuing Resources) is responsible for: 

• complex metadata projects, including records remediation of serials collections;
• reparative metadata planning, organizing, and cataloging;
• training and managing student employees and staff in complex projects;
• developing scripts and normalization rules that support efficient data interoperability;
• engaging in regional and national communities of practice, integrating evolving standards. 

The successful candidate will join 5 faculty and 6 professional staff as a member of the Resource Acquisition and Metadata Services (RAMS) department. RAMS leads the acquisitions and cataloging of the Libraries collections, the fiscal administration of the Libraries collections budget, the licensing of electronic resources, and the strategic direction and maintenance of metadata in MARC formats across systems. In addition, the successful candidate will work in close collaboration with the Electronic and Continuing Resources (ECR) Department, which is responsible for managing the library’s ongoing subscriptions, ensuring seamless access to print and electronic journals. 

The faculty of the Resource Acquisition and Metadata Services department are educators. This position will advance cataloging and metadata education through hands-on training, intern supervision, and other professional development activities. The Metadata Librarian (Continuing Resources) is supported to be active professionally and to contribute to developments in the field. Faculty with the VCU Libraries are evaluated, and promoted, on the basis of job performance, scholarship, and service.

Qualifications:

Required: 

• ALA-accredited graduate degree or accredited graduate degree in another appropriate discipline.
• Demonstrated experience in complex cataloging and descriptive work with continuing resources that demonstrates problem-solving, flexibility, judgment, and attention to detail.
• Significant knowledge of and ability to apply the following cataloging practices: Resource Description and Access (RDA), the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules (AACR2), Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH), Library of Congress Classification (LCC), Library of Congress Genre/Form Terms (LCGFT), and MARC21 formats for bibliographic, holdings, and authority data.
• Experience cataloging through integrated library systems (Ex Libris Alma preferred) and bibliographic utilities (OCLC Connexion).
• Demonstrated facility manipulating large volumes of MARC-based and/or catalog data in a timely fashion.
• Demonstrated excellence in working both independently and collaboratively in a changing multi-departmental environment.
• Demonstrated experience working in and fostering an environment of respect, professionalism, and civility with a population of faculty, staff, and students from various backgrounds and experiences, or a commitment to do so as a faculty member at VCU.

Preferred: 

• Significant knowledge of and experience with creating original BIBCO and/or CONSER level records.
• Experience with contributing and/or proposing headings through the Name Authority Cooperative Program (NACO) and/or the Subject Authority Cooperative Program (SACO).
• Demonstrated experience in planning and/or overseeing team-based cataloging projects, vendor-supplied metadata projects, or outsourcing.
• Demonstrated experience cataloging in one or more non-English languages, or experience with transcribing and transliterating non-Roman scripts.
• Familiarity with electronic government documents, including FDLP Superintendent of Documents classification scheme (SuDoc) and Item numbers.
• Familiarity with the unique challenges of electronic resources description and access, including the NISO KBART Recommended Practice, interaction of metadata with discovery layers, and management of records in knowledge bases.
• Experience using editing and/or scripting tools, like MarcEdit, OpenRefine, or Python, to create and remediate MARC-based and/or catalog data in batch.

Candidates need not meet preferred qualifications to be fully considered. We value individual and unique skills that would strengthen the VCU Libraries and our teams.

Salary: Salary commensurate with experience, not less than $70,000 annually. This is a full-time, non-tenured faculty position. 12-month faculty benefits apply, including 24 vacation days annually and choice of retirement and annuity plans. Librarians are provided a generous professional development allowance. For more information about benefits, see the Faculty Benefits page.

Interviews: Initial interviews will be conducted virtually. We anticipate inviting finalists to campus.

Learn about the position in an online information session
We are hosting information sessions for interested applicants in advance of the February 20, 2026 review date.

Please consider joining one of these sessions to learn more about the position, meet the supervisor Amanda Echterling, and get answers to your questions about the position.

Join one of our info sessions via Zoom:

Friday, January 23, 2026 | Noon - 12:45 p.m. ET
Monday, February 9, 2026 | Noon - 12:45 p.m. ET

The attendee list for each Zoom session will be hidden and those asking questions may do so anonymously. Live captioning will be provided. To attend a session, please complete the confidential form to receive a Zoom link.

Questions? Please contact: Amanda Echterling at amechterling@vcu.edu

About VCU Libraries

Libraries at Virginia Commonwealth University, including the James Branch Cabell Library on the Monroe Park Campus and the Health Sciences Library on the MCV Campus, employ over 60 professionals and 64 staff with annual expenditures exceeding $26 million. VCU also operates academic programs in Doha, Qatar, supported by a library there, and in various locations throughout the U.S. and the world. The VCU Libraries is a member of the Association of Research Libraries, the Association of Southeastern Research Libraries, Center for Research Libraries, Coalition for Networked Information, National Digital Stewardship Alliance, Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition, and the Virtual Library of Virginia (VIVA), a statewide networking consortium for shared access to electronic and print resources, as well as a Resource Library in the Network of the National Library of Medicine, among others.  The VCU Libraries uses the following packages for its system architecture: Alma, Primo, Rapido, Digital Commons, ArchivesSpace, and Omeka. The print serials collections of the VCU libraries represent unique holdings committed to regional print retention programs, such as ASERL. VCU has been a selective, regional depository library in the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) since 1971, as well as a depository for government documents of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Our present collection is focused on electronic government documents.

For more information about the VCU Libraries, please visit our home page at https://www.library.vcu.edu/. Review of applications will begin February 20, 2026, and will continue until the position is filled. To apply, go to https://www.vcujobs.com/, complete the application and submit a cover letter, CV/resume, and the names, email addresses, addresses, and telephone numbers of three professional references.  

About Virginia Commonwealth University

We are the university for Virginia. We know that the unique backgrounds and life experiences of the VCU community are what drive the university forward. Together, we’re forging a future that is built by us. Here, artists and engineers, doctors and designers come together to reimagine the human experience and tackle the problems of tomorrow.   For information about the City of Richmond, see: https://www.visitrichmondva.com/

VCU enrolls more than 29,000 students in more than 200 academic programs across its urban campuses: the downtown Monroe Park and MCV campuses in Richmond; the Rice Rivers Center in Charles City, Virginia; satellite locations in Fairfax, Virginia, and Abingdon, Virginia; and a campus in Doha, Qatar, for the School of the Arts.  VCU is designated as a research university with very high research activity by the Carnegie Foundation, garnering more than $550 million in sponsored research from federal and other agencies in FY2025.  The National Science Foundation ranked VCU among the top 50 public research universities in the country, and we are one of only 84 public universities nationwide to be designated by the Carnegie Foundation as “Community Engaged” with “Very High Research Activity.”

VCU’s mission, is to serve as one national urban public research institution dedicated to the success and well-being of our students, patients, faculty, staff and community through:

• Real-world learning that furthers civic engagement, inquiry, discovery and innovation.
• Research that expands the boundaries of new knowledge and creative expression and promotes translational applications to improve the quality of human life.
• Interdisciplinary collaborations and community partnerships that advance innovation, enhance cultural and economic vitality, and solve society’s most complex challenges.
• Health sciences that preserve and restore health for all people, seek the cause and cure of diseases through groundbreaking research and educate those who serve humanity.

Virginia Commonwealth University is an equal opportunity employer.

Salary Range: Commensurate with experience, not less than $70,000 annually

Benefits: All full-time university staff are eligible for VCU’s robust benefits package that includes comprehensive health benefits, paid annual and holiday leave granted up front, generous tuition benefits, retirement planning and savings options, tax-deferred annuity and cash match programs, employee discounts, well-being resources, abundant opportunities for career development and advancement, and more.

FLSA Exemption Status: Exempt

Hours per Week: 40

Restricted Position: No

Rank: Open

Tenure: Ineligible

Months: 12