****Apologies for Cross-Posting****

Employment Opportunity: EARL Liaison Officer

A great opportunity has arisen for a highly motivated, confident and
enthusiastic person to work with the EARL (Electronic Access to Resources
in Libraries) team. The post will involve liaising with a wide range of
people from a variety of backgrounds and working closely with a small team
of committed individuals in a friendly and supportive environment. We
welcome applications from recent graduates or from people with equivalent
library or information work experience who are keen to contribute to the
work of the EARL Consortium.

ABOUT US

The EARL Consortium, is a national organisation, composed of over
seventy-five percent of all UK public library authorities along with many
supporting partners from a range of different sectors. EARL works to
promote the role of public libraries in providing library and information
services within a networked environment. It offers advice and support to
the public library community through seminars and publications and has
successfully developed several networked services including Ask A Librarian
(http://www.earl.org.uk/ask), Familia http://www.earl.org.uk/familia) and
EARLweb (http://www.earl.org.uk/earlweb) in order to demonstrate how shared
networked services can be delivered. The Consortium plays a crucial role
in the support of public library authorities during the development of the
People's Network.

Further information about the work of the Consortium is available from the
EARL website (http://www.earl.org.uk/).

Further information about the People's Network Project is available on
their website (http://www.peoplesnetwork.gov.uk/)

JOB PURPOSE

To be responsible for the overall co-ordination of the EARL office, to
liaise with existing and potential partners at all levels, and to provide
administrative support to the office team. To contribute to EARL's
programme of subject and other networking initiatives as well as the
delivery of events and other awareness raising activities which aim to
facilitate the transition of library services delivery to the networked
age.

 KEY TASKS

Co-ordinating Ask a Librarian (http://www.earl.org.uk/ask), a national
electronic enquiry service:
*Negotiating rota days with participating libraries to ensure the service
is fully staffed.
*Maintaining the Ask a Librarian webpage, including the automated rota and
pages for participating libraries.
*Developing a referral service through liaison and collaboration with
academic and special libraries.
*Participating in relevant research projects (e.g. Library of Congress'
Collaborative Digital Reference Service project)
(http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/digiref/)
*Compiling and evaluation of question statistics.

Organising national conferences, seminars and other EARL training events:
*Locating suitable venues including organising technical equipment and
catering.
*Promoting EARL events to Partners and the wider LIS community through:
postal mailings, press releases, electronic discussion lists and the EARL
website.
*Budgeting for such events including liaison and negotiation with
appropriate suppliers.
*Compiling delegate packs, including speaker biographies, presentation
handouts, delegate lists, information about EARL and other relevant
material.
*Monitoring and evaluation of events, including analysis of online and
hard-copy feedback forms.

Office Administration, Committee Servicing and Report Writing:
*Servicing the EARL Council and Management Board Committees, including
writing minutes, board papers, compiling agenda.
*Compiling EARL Information Sheets and general report writing including the
EARL Annual Report.
*Preparation and editing of EARL's quarterly newsletter, EARL News,
including the commissioning of content:
(http://www.earl.org.uk/publications/newsletters/index.html)
*Co-ordinating the administration of the EARL Team Office, including
general administrative and organisational duties.
*Managing and answering enquiries and correspondence providing written and
 oral answers.

 PERSON SPECIFICATION

*Qualification in library and information science or equivalent experience
 preferred.
*Ability to work well under pressure, prioritise workloads and be able to
work to tight deadlines essential.
*Excellent administration skills, including word processing, databases,
 spreadsheets essential.
*Flexible approach to working: balancing the ability to work effectively in
 a small team with the ability to work effectively without supervision,
demonstrating a high level of self motivation and initiative essential.
*Excellent written and oral communication skills essential including
 experience in answering enquiries, electronically and by telephone
essential.
*Good interpersonal and representational skills in dealing with a wide
range
of people from all levels, in a confident and positive manner, essential.
*A keen interest in public library networking and an understanding of the
 People's Network project including the impact of cross-sectoral
developments highly desirable.
*High level of ICT literacy including email, internet and basic web-editing
skills desirable.
*Knowledge of desk-top publishing, presentation and project management
 software desirable.

 CONDITIONS OF THE POST

Full time.
12-month fixed term contract (renewable).
Salary in the range of UKP 15, 000 - 17,000 negotiable depending upon
experience.

EARL is currently carrying out a tendering process for its Co-ordinating
Partner. The post will initially be based in Wapping, London until April
1st 2001. However, there is a possibility that the location of this post
may change after this date.


FURTHER INFORMATION

If you have any questions or would like further information, please don't
hesitate to contact Sally Chambers, EARL Liaison Officer
by telephone (020) 7702 2020 or by email [log in to unmask]

APPLICATIONS

To apply please forward a CV and covering letter in either hard copy or
electronic format to arrive by Wednesday 10th January 2001 to:

Electronic format: [log in to unmask]

Hard copy:
Sally Chambers
EARL Liaison Officer
4th Floor, Gun Court
70 Wapping Lane
London E1W 2RS

Sally Chambers
EARL Liaison Officer
4th Floor, Gun Court
70 Wapping Lane
London E1W 2RS
Tel: 020 7702 2020
Fax: 020 7702 2019
[log in to unmask]
http://www.earl.org.uk