Apologies for Cross posting:

JOB VACANCY

Co-East Plus Project Officer
Based in Cambridge  Salary in the region of £22,000
12 month fixed contract from September 2001
(available as a secondment)    37 hours a week
Closing date for applications:  17th July.

Co-East is seeking an enthusiastic Project Officer to manage the Co-East
Plus Project, which has been joint funded by the British Library’s Co-
operation and Partnership Programme and the Research Support Libraries
Programme (RSLP).  The post presents an exciting and challenging
opportunity for someone to help shape the evolving model of resource
sharing for the East of England region.  If you can work under pressure and
to tight timescales and are looking for a really challenging opportunity to
develop your career, this post may be of interest to you.

Co-East Plus is a partnership, involving public, academic and health
libraries, together with the British Library and the Open University and
builds on the successful (and ongoing) Co-East initiative.

Applicants should have experience of project management, be excellent
communicators and be confident enough to manage their own workloads and
lead others to a successful outcome.  An awareness of resource sharing
initiatives, including technical standards such as Z39.50, is also
required, as is a knowledge of electronic content and portal developments.
The successful candidate must also be able to travel extensively within the
East of England region.

For more background information and application details, please read on.

Background to project
Co-East Plus is a project joint funded by the British Library’s Co-operation
and Partnership Programme (CPP) and the Research Support Libraries
Programme (RSLP).  The project will build on the successful Co-East Project,
which was initially funded by DCMS/Wolfson in 1999/2000, to enable 6 public
library authorities in the East of England to share their resources (ie
library
catalogues, citizens’ information and other content), through the
exploitation
of ICT developments.  Co-East has continued beyond its project funding and
has now established itself as a Consortium of ten public library authorities
engaged in resource sharing and other co-operative activities within the
region.

Co-East Plus seeks to capitalise on the valuable work Co-East has already
done, by extending the benefits of resource sharing to other library
sectors within the region.  Co-East Plus has three strands:
1. To establish a cluster within the region, which will evaluate the
technical, logistical and cultural issues around making resources available
to users in the cluster.
2. To research the feasibility of broadening the cluster to encompass the
whole region and to evaluate what such an interoperability framework might
cost.
3. To create a Regional Internet Gateway, which brings together the best of
the content from all of the library sectors, including British Library
content.

Although the project is being lead by Co-East, Co-East Plus involves a
number of partners, including ELISA, the British Library, the University of
East Anglia and the Open University, with technical consultancy from
Fretwell Downing Informatics.

 Job Description
The Co-East Plus Project Officer will be responsible for the day-to-day
management of the Project and will ensure that the Project achieves its
outcomes, in line with BL CPP guidelines.  There will be support and
training from the Co-East Regional Project Manager, who will provide day-to-
day line management.  The Project Officer will also report to the Co-East
Chair and the Co-East Plus Steering Group.

Main Tasks
Overall Aim:  To deliver Co-East Plus as set out in the Project Plan, in
association with the Co-East Regional Project Manager and Co-East Plus
steering group.

Communication and Partnerships
Aim:  To liaise with all project partners to ensure full participation,
particularly in relation to the cluster element of the project.
The Co-East Plus Project Officer will need to build good relationships with
the following groups and individuals:
 Co-East Regional Project Manager
 Co-East Plus Steering Group (and more widely maintain regular contact
with all project partners)
 Fretwell Downing Informatics and other library management suppliers
 Co-East Content Group/Chair
 The cluster partners
 Project Agora Team at UEA
Many of these relationships have already been firmly established and there
will be full support and induction provided by the Co-East Regional Project
Manager.   There will also be an opportunity for the person to participate
more broadly in Co-East / ELISA matters and periodic attendance at both
ELISA and Co-East Board meetings will be incorporated into the Project
Officer’s timetable.

Day-to-Day Project Management
Aim:  To keep the project on track and identify issues requiring resolution
 To regularly report progress to the steering group and to identify any
issues requiring resolution by the group.
 To manage the project budget and provide regular reports on project spend
to the Steering Group, the BL and RSLP.

Produce project deliverables
Aim: To prepare all the necessary reports and documentation as laid down in
the Project Plan.
 To undertake a mapping of the current state of interoperability in the
region, and work with external consultants to create a costed technical
specification for a regional interoperability framework.
 To produce a stakeholder analysis of user requirements for access to
regional and national information resources
 To undertake a review of the relationship between the proposed Regional
Internet Gateway and other existing or proposed Gateways or portals
 To liaise with the Co-East Content Chair and project partners in all
sectors to establish the specification for a regional internet gateway and
work closely with the Internet Gateway editor to ensure that this can be
delivered.
 To prepare a final project report, which includes options for the
sustainability of Co-East Plus and, if appropriate, relevant funding
streams.

Promote Co-East Plus
Aim:  To ensure that the lessons learned from Co-East Plus are made
available to all other regions and the wider cross-sectoral community
 To disseminate information about the project through all appropriate
channels.
 To organise a seminar at the end of the project to disseminate the
results of the project
 To act as representative for Co-East Plus at external meetings, as
appropriate.
 To maintain the Co-East Plus website (an offshoot of the Co-East website)

 Person Specification

Technical Knowledge
 An awareness and understanding of resource sharing activities,
particularly in relation to the Z39.50 protocol.
 An awareness of the importance of technical standards (eg Z39.50, ISO/ILL
Standard, e-GIF)
 Knowledge of electronic content and portal developments
(Please note that there is considerable technical expertise and support
within the project partnership.  However, there will be an expectation that
the Project Officer seeks to improve their knowledge and expertise in this
area).


Knowledge & Awareness
Essential
 An awareness of Co-East
 An interest in regional working across the library sector, together with
an interest in cross-sectoral developments (ie libraries, museums and
archives)
 An understanding of users’ needs when seeking information and a belief in
good customer care
 An appreciation of some of the current barriers to resource sharing


Desirable
 Knowledge of local authorities
 An awareness of the Modernising Government agenda and how it impacts on
service delivery for public services
 An understanding of the importance of the training needs of library staff
and some experience of delivering training

 Skills & Abilities
Essential
 Excellent communication skills, both written and oral.
 A good team player but able to work confidently without supervision.
 Excellent ICT skills (MS Office applications)
 Ability to work to deadlines
 Flexible attitude
 Calm under pressure

Desirable
 Basic web authoring skills
 Confident working with individuals at all levels within organisations

 Experience
 Essential
 Project management experience
 Report writing experience
 Demonstrable experience of delivering clear outputs
 Experience of delivering presentations
 Experience of one or more library sectors (public, academic, health or
special)

Other Requirements
Must be able to travel extensively within the region and occasionally
nationally.

Other Information
The post will be based in Cambridge with the Co-East Regional Project
Manager.  However, there will be extensive travel within the region,
particularly to Norwich, where the cluster will be based.  There may be an
opportunity for some home working, subject to negotiation.  The successful
candidate will be provided with a laptop.

The post is for a fixed period of 12 months from September 2001.  However,
it may be possible to extend the contract (on a part-time basis) after 12
months to take on some of the work of the Co-East Regional Project Manager.

Salary is in the region of £22,000.

The position is available as a secondment, subject to the agreement of the
candidate’s employer.

How to apply
Please submit a CV with covering letter indicating how you meet the
selection criteria to Ciara Eastell, Library HQ, Box No. ELH 1110, Room
B104, Castle Court, Shire Hall, Cambridge CB3 0AP.  Interviews will take
place in Cambridge on either 27th or 31st July.  Please include a daytime
telephone number and the names and contact details of two referees.

Further information
If you would like to discuss this position informally, please contact Mike
Hosking, Chair of Co-East, tel no. 01223 717063 or email
[log in to unmask] or Ciara Eastell, Co-East Regional
Project Manager, tel no. 01223 717064 or email
[log in to unmask]