The Virtual Library of Virginia (VIVA),Virginia's academic library consortium, with its central office at the George Mason University Libraries, seeks to fill the position of Digital Publishing Coordinator. VIVA and George Mason University have a strong institutional commitment to the achievement of excellence and diversity among their faculty and staff, and strongly encourage candidates to apply who will enrich VIVA's and Mason's academic and culturally inclusive environments.
About the Position:
The Digital Publishing Coordinator will be an integral part of the VIVA program, supporting the VIVA Open Grant program and publishing activities of grant recipients, including developing a wide range of awarded digital publishing projects across institutions of higher education in Virginia. Working closely with the Open and Sustainable Learning Coordinator and the Assessment and E-Resources Program Analyst, this position is responsible for the project management, performance, and completion of VIVA supported digital publishing projects. This includes managing up to $500,000 annually in outsourced publishing services, depending on program and project needs. Essential to the position is a detail-oriented workstyle, an ability to support complex projects, and a desire to work closely and collaboratively with consortial colleagues, publishing vendors, and faculty across the state. The Digital Publishing Coordinator will have an understanding of the digital publishing landscape, demonstrated success working effectively as part of a team, and an eagerness to grow with the latest trends and best practices in digital-first, open access publishing.
Responsibilities:
Manages the outsourced publishing services in support of VIVA Open Grant projects, including services such as book design, graphic content creation/illustration, copy-editing, digital file creation and format conversion, accessible design/remediation, rights-clearance, print-on-demand services, and multimedia content inclusion/creation;
In consultation with the Open and Sustainable Learning Coordinator, develops priorities and schedules for ongoing grantee support. Creates and maintains internal project documentation and records;
Works with faculty publishing partners from VIVA member institutions to support varied publication workflows and schedules, and ensures timely completion of projects;
Supports faculty in choosing design and platform options that are disciplinarily and institutionally relevant for awarded publishing projects;
Liaises with VIVA publishing vendors to troubleshoot platform, accessibility, and design concerns;
In consultation with the VIVA Deputy Director, tracks and reports grant program budget and grant fund dispersal;
Reviews manuscripts for completeness and potential issues prior to production. Proofreads for structural, grammatical, or stylistic errors;
Prepares and validates materials for online publication in digital formats, such as EPUB, XML, and PDF, in addition to print formats;
In consultation with the Assessment and E-Resources Analyst, creates and maintains project metadata, and prepares files for upload, in existing VIVA systems;
Participates as needed in VIVA committees, task forces, and advisory groups; and
Identifies, evaluates, and communicates on behalf of VIVA about current issues, emerging trends, and best practices in library and digital publishing, open education, and higher education.
Required Qualifications:
Applicants should bring the following knowledge, skills, and abilities to this position:
Master's Degree in a relevant field, such as Publishing, Information Science, or Communications, or certified foreign equivalent, or an equivalent combination of relevant graduate study and experience;
Demonstrably successful experience in digital publishing or relevant field (typically a minimum of 2 years);
Solid interpersonal skills to facilitate work with faculty, library colleagues, and VIVA central staff in today's evolving digital publishing service environment;
Excellent analytical, oral, and written communication skills;
Proven organizational and project management skills, including the ability to adapt to changing workflows and tools, and engage in creative problem solving;
Demonstrated fluency with office tools, spreadsheets, and database applications; willingness to learn new tools and technologies;
Ability to organize workflows, including creating and following documentation;
Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively in a complex and culturally diverse setting. Values the importance of inclusion as demonstrated through a commitment to apply and incorporate the differences, complexities, and opportunities that diversity brings to an organization; and
Willing and able to travel to meetings and to attend conferences and meetings representing VIVA.
Preferred Qualifications:
The following education and/or skill sets are preferred:
Demonstrated skills or experience with open publishing, including platforms such as PressBooks or OpenAuthor;
Experience with digital publishing production or editorial processes;
Knowledge of publishing trends, issues, and strategies as well as current digital publishing technologies, standards, and best practices;
Experience working with XML, HTML, or another markup language;
Experience or demonstrated skills with design software, such as InDesign;
Understanding of the library publishing landscape and alternative publishing models, with an emphasis on open content;
Experience with editing web pages and websites;
Experience providing digital publishing or repository outreach in an academic setting or experience with reference, teaching, and/or outreach in an academic library setting;
Experience with navigating issues relating to copyright, fair use, and rights management; and
Experience working across organizational boundaries and managing stakeholder groups to move projects forward.
Appointment/Benefits/Salary:
12-month professional faculty appointment; health plan options and paid life insurance; several retirement plans, including TIAA-CREF; 24 vacation days and 12 paid holidays; tuition waiver for self. Salary is commensurate with education and professional experience and not less than $75,000.
The Virtual Library of Virginia (VIVA) program, with its central office in the George Mason University Libraries system, includes the nonprofit academic libraries within the Commonwealth of Virginia. Members include all of the 39 state-assisted colleges and universities as well as 31 of the independent (private, nonprofit) institutions and the Library of Virginia. As Virginia's academic library consortium, VIVA builds an equitable, accessible, and robust infrastructure of library resources and services for Virginia higher education students and faculty. See http://www.vivalib.org for more information about VIVA.
Salary: Salary is commensurate with education and professional experience and not less than $75,000
Location: Fairfax, VA
Mason Ad Statement:
Great Careers Begin at Mason!
George Mason University is an innovative, entrepreneurial institution with national distinction in both academics and research. Mason holds a top U.S. News and World Report
George Mason University is a public, comprehensive, research university established by the Commonwealth of Virginia located in Northern Virginia, outside of Washington, D.C. Mason was initially founded as a branch of the University of Virginia in 1949, and became an independent institution in 1972. George Mason University is an innovative and inclusive academic community committed to creating a more just, free, and prosperous world.
George Mason University has 37,000 students from all 50 states and 130 countries and a residential population of more than 6,000 students. Mason is a vibrant and dynamic community of scholars. 80% of our students are employed within six months of graduation. Nearly two-thirds of the 140,000 Mason alumni live and work in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.
Mason is a young university that, in just a short time, has made impressive strides in size, stature and influence. Today, as Virginia’s largest public research university, we are setting the benchmark for a bold, progressive education that serves the needs of our students and communities. To that end, we have 10 schools and colleges devoted to a variety of study.
Mission.
We prepa...re Mason students for the demands of work, social responsibility, and life in an ever-changing global society. University Life's mission statement is core to our work. We support every student at Mason, from orientation through graduation.
George Mason: Patriotism Personified.
George Mason, for whom our university is named, was one of the greatest of the founding fathers of the United States. Mason drafted the Virginia Declaration of Rights, which became a model for the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution, known as the Bill of Rights.
We Are in Virginia. But We Serve the World.
Mason is committed to creating a more just, free and prosperous world. Located in one of the most important political, economic and intellectual hubs in the world, we accept our responsibility to serve others: to help our students succeed, enrich the life of our community, and contribute to solving some of the most complex global problems of our time.
Washington, D.C.: Land of Opportunity.
Mason’s main campus is in Fairfax, Virginia, just 15 miles outside of Washington, D.C. The nation’s capital is easily accessible by car or public transportation.
At Mason, you can enjoy the best of both worlds: a beautiful wooded residential campus and outstanding college experience, as well as numerous internship and recreational opportunities that only a world-class urban setting like D.C. can offer.
You can intern with National Geographic or the Justice Department, visit the numerous museums with your Art History classmates, take a selfie in front of Lincoln Memorial, catch a Nationals baseball game, kayak along the Potomac, or check out the many neighborhoods where you’ll discover lots of great shopping, places to eat, art galleries, music venues, and much more. You can attend events and hear nationally recognized speakers. You’ll run out of time before you run out of things to do.
There’s more to explore. Students participate in a field trip to the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., organized by the Office of International Programs and Services.
In just a short drive, you can be hiking in the Shenandoah Mountains or walking the boardwalk in either Ocean City, Maryland, or Virginia Beach, Virginia.
Our closest airports are Dulles International Airport and Ronald Reagan National Airport, and Mason is easily accessible by public transportation. Free shuttle buses help you get to the nearest Metro station in Vienna, Virginia, just a short distance from our Fairfax Campus. The Arlington Campus is within walking distance of the Virginia Square-GMU stop on the Orange Line.
Enriching Work Environment.
We will invest in recruiting, retaining, and developing talented and diverse faculty and academic and professional staff. We will create a vibrant campus life in which all members can grow and thrive.
Diversity.
Diversity is one of our core values; everyone is welcome here. Mason was recently named the most diverse university in Virginia by U.S. News & World Report.
We bring together a multitude of people and ideas in everything that we do. Our culture of inclusion, our multidisciplinary approach, and our global perspective makes us more effective educators and scholars.
While at Mason, you’ll be making your own decisions and forming your own view of the world. Engaging with diverse groups of individuals, including students, faculty, and staff, will enrich this experience. You will learn from them, and they will learn from you.
We have a variety of communities here, and you're sure to find a group of people who are like you. The great thing is you'll also be embraced by communities of people who are not like you. At Mason, you'll be in a place where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
Interacting with people from a variety of backgrounds will:
•Widen your outlook of the world,
•Show you how to work and collaborate with people of differing views,
•Expose you to new perspectives from people with disparate life experiences, and
•Give you the social skills to interact with all kinds of people.
Diversity also enhances learning and creative thinking by prompting the study of new material and the awareness of fresh viewpoints. The power of many perspectives will boost your capacity to explore original ideas and solutions. Seeing issues in a new way heightens your creativity and problem-solving abilities.
Another benefit: As our nation becomes more diverse, students who learn in a diverse environment will be more competitive in an increasingly global economy. You’ll enhance your critical thinking skills and improve your ability to develop nuanced solutions to real-world problems.
Campus-Wide Accessibility.
Accessibility @ mason provide information regarding the physical access of all campuses and online accessibility of programs and services. Information for disability related services and resources available to all employee, students, and visitors the entire university include physical access to buildings, parking policies, and emergency evacuation procedures.
Accessible.
We are an open and welcoming community. We partner with public and private organizations in our region and around the world. We proactively engage with our community. We define our success by how many talented students with potential we serve, not how many we leave out.
Social and Cultural Venues.
Our venues bring world-class performances to the community through vibrant concerts and events. Community members are invited to take part in many artistic and cultural offerings at Mason. Spaces are also available to rent for your next event.