Clarification from the agency

This announcement has an application limit of 100, therefore applicants should apply as soon as possible. If the application limit isn't met previously, the vacancy will close at 11:59 pm on March 6, 2020.

The incumbent:

Provides interlibrary loan (ILL) services to NGA staff and CASVA fellows and to other research institutions. Duties include:

• Providing orientations regarding ILL services and procedures
• Processing loan requests to and from libraries (including with the Library of Congress) following ALA and NGA Library policies
• Searching online and manual bibliographic resources to verify citations and determine potential loan sources
• Determining suitability and condition of NGA Library materials requested for loans
• Maintaining working relationships with peers in partner institutions
• Training and overseeing the daily work of one or two ILL technicians and volunteers assigned to the ILL section
• Assisting with development of ILL procedures and policies based on current professional library standards

Provides reference services to NGA staff, CASVA fellows, and outside readers. Duties include:

• Discussing research needs of potential readers and explaining library resources, procedures, and policies
• Admitting and conducting library orientations for new outside readers
• Answering reference questions received in person, by telephone, and by mail
• Providing guidance to staff and outside readers in use of the Library’s online and printed resources
• Conducting literature searches for NGA staff and CASVA fellows
• Assisting with preparation and presentation of the Reader Services department’s orientation and training materials (oral, written, web-based).

Organizes and maintains ILL and reference office files and prepares related reports. Duties include:

• Maintaining ILL statistics, transaction files and other records (invoices, expenditures, correspondence)
• Organizing and maintaining reference office files
• Compiling and presenting statistics related to reference services.

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this job.
• Subject to a background/suitability investigation.
• Designated and/or random drug testing may be required.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.

Your resume serves as the basis for qualification determinations and must highlight your most relevant and significant work experience and education (if applicable) as it relates to this job opportunity. Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). Your resume must include the dates of all qualifying experience (from month/year to month/year) and the number of hours worked/volunteered per week.

Qualifications

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Applicants must have a minimum of one year of specialized experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility comparable to the next lower grade or comparable pay band in the Federal service or equivalent experience in the private sector.

Candidates must meet the Qualification Standards Handbook requirements for the GS-1410-9.  This requires at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-7 level in the Federal service.  Specialized experience is defined as professional librarianship experience that has involved performing interlibrary loan and reference services within a research environment,  OR two full years of progressively higher level graduate education or Master’s degree in library science which has been supplemented by coursework in both art history and Western European languages such as Italian, French, Dutch, German, and/or Spanish.  

Equivalent combinations of education and experience are qualifying for this grade level.

Candidates must reflect in their submitted USAJOBS résumés the possession of this specialized experience. If their résumés do not include such specialized experience, they will be ineligible for this position.

Those applicants who meet the minimum qualification requirements will be evaluated against these factors to determine the best-qualified candidates. Candidates should ensure their résumé and submitted materials clearly demonstrate possession of these factors to receive maximum employment consideration.

• Knowledge of online bibliographic systems and searching procedures, including methods for searching obscure materials and foreign language publications
• Knowledge of the content and search methods of highly specialized online bibliographic, periodical, image, and full-text databases.   
• Reading knowledge of at least two Western European languages, other than English, and strong writing, speaking skills, and knowledge of good web and database design.
• Knowledge of consortial procedures for interlibrary loan operations and knowledge of interlibrary loan systems, such as OCLC’s Illiad.Knowledge
• Knowledge of bibliographic tools, standard reference works, and specialized subject collections, skill in applying professionally accepted reference interview techniques.
• Knowledge of the literature of art history and the humanities, particularly sources of information.
• Ability to use Excel, databases like Access, and library system data analysis application software.
• Ability to organize and maintain manual and automated library records in an established system and to gather and use statistical data in order to produce routine and special reports.

CTAP/ICTAP candidates: To be considered "well qualified" you must meet all of the requirements as described in this section.

You must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Your application will be evaluated and rated under the Category Rating and Selection procedures. The quality categories are defined as "Best Qualified", "Well Qualified", and "Qualified".

Based on your responses to the job-specific self-assessment questions, eligible candidates are placed for selection consideration into one of three pre-defined quality categories as described below:

Best Qualified Category - In addition to meeting minimum qualifications for the position, candidates must fully demonstrate proficiency in all major aspects of the position.

Well Qualified Category - In addition to meeting minimum qualifications, candidates must demonstrate proficiency in some, but not all of the major aspects of the position.

Qualified Category - In addition to meeting minimum qualifications, applicants must demonstrate a basic level of knowledge, skill and ability of the position.

If you are eligible for career transition assistance plans such as ICTAP or CTAP, you must meet the definition of "well qualified" which is defined as having a score of 85 or better.

Application of Veterans Preference: The Category Rating Method does not add veterans' preference points or apply the "rule of three," but protects the rights of veterans by placing them ahead of non-preference eligibles within each pre-defined quality category. Preference eligibles who meet minimum qualification requirements and who have a compensable service-connected disability of at least 10 percent (i.e., CPS and CP) must be listed in the highest quality category, except when the position being filled is scientific or professional at the GS-09 grade level or higher.

If your resume is incomplete or does not support the responses you provided in your online questionnaire, or if you fail to submit all required documentation before the vacancy closes, you may be rated 'ineligible', 'not qualified', or your score may be adjusted accordingly.


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