The following are examples of the type of work performed by student assistants at the University of Delaware Library. Most student assistants work 5 to 15 hours per week. Please see Student Employment Information for additional information about library student employment.
Acquisitions
Monographic and Technical Processing Unit – Process new books and other materials to make them shelf ready by applying stamps, labels and barcodes. Use appropriate software to search, enter, proofread, edit, and print information. Perform other work involved in caring for the Library’s collections. Assist with packing and unpacking library materials. Requires ability to perform detailed and accurate work. Must be able to lift, with or without assistance, boxes of books and supplies weighing up to 50 pounds, push and pull full book carts weighing up to 250 pounds, and bend and reach to place books and journals on library shelves.
Serials Unit – Use DELCAT, the online Library catalog, and related software, to enter, update and verify catalog information for journals and newspapers. Sort and shelve material in the Current Periodicals Room. Retrieve material from the general Library collection as needed. Assist with packing Library materials. Requires ability to perform detailed and accurate work. Must be able to lift, with or without assistance, boxes of books and supplies weighing up to 50 pounds, push and pull full book carts weighing up to 250 pounds, and bend and reach to place books and journals on library shelves ranging from 3 to 90 inches high.
Help Center
Work at the Help Center at the Morris Library; may also be assigned to work at the Chemistry Library in Brown Lab and/or the Physics Library in Sharp Lab. Duties include: checking out and checking in library material; retrieving Reserve material upon demand, locating items in stacks, and re-shelving materials; answering questions about Library resources and services and referring visitors to the appropriate service desk; providing assistance with publicly accessible computers, scanners, print release stations, and printers; assisting with borrower registration and Lost and Found processing; assisting in collection security activities; creating temporary item records; delivering loaded book carts to designated areas; and assisting with building evacuation in the event of an alarm. Student assistants scheduled to work at the Chemistry Library and Physics Library will be working independently, without a Library staff member on site. Requires good communication skills, dependability, and judgment. Previous customer service experience preferred. Must be able to lift, with or without assistance, boxes of books and supplies weighing up to 50 pounds, push and pull full book carts weighing 250 pounds, and bend and reach to place books and journals on library shelves ranging from 3 to 90 inches high.
Conservation Unit
Student Book Conservation Technicians perform basic to complex conservation repairs on bound and unbound printed materials for the circulating collection. Responsibilities include mending or replacing torn or damaged pages, case tightening, resewing part or whole books, creating custom protective enclosures for fragile books, hand making new covers for damaged books, sewing pamphlet binders, creating custom pockets for loose items, and mending spines, corners and endcaps. Involves detailed work with rulers and sharp instruments. Strong manual dexterity as well as good organizational skills are required.
Students interested in information about the LMP Undergraduate Book Conservation Unit Internship may contact Susan Maguire, Conservator, at shm@udel.edu.
Digital Collections & Preservation
Scan fragile and unique library materials. Perform quality control procedures. Requires ability to perform detailed and accurate work as well as working knowledge of digital scanning equipment and software.
Collections and Resource Sharing Department
Search for and retrieve books and journals from the Library stacks. Scan articles out of bound journals and books. Prepare and pack books for shipment and unpack incoming items. Deliver book carts to the Library mail room and the ILL Office. ILL office hours are Monday – Friday 8am-5pm. Requires good communication skills as well as ability to perform detailed and accurate work. Must be able to lift, with or without assistance, boxes of books and supplies weighing up to 50 pounds, and bend and reach to place books and journals on library shelves ranging from 3 to 90 inches high.
Manuscripts and Archives
Assist with tasks in support of archival processing of documents including rehousing and arranging collections. Provide support with text and data entry in spreadsheets and other applications. Provide collection paging and stacks maintenance: shelving, inventorying, and labeling collections. Assist with preservation tasks: cleaning, flattening, and rehousing documents; preparing custom folders and containers; and preservation reformatting such as scanning and photocopying. Qualifications: Ability to perform detail-oriented work, hands-on skills with attention to handling rare and unique materials, ability to follow specific instructions, ability to work independently, and ability to perform physical tasks in support of archival processing, including ability to lift 40 pounds.
Office of the Vice Provost
Provide office and public area support. Office duties include filing, shredding, inventory and photocopying. Assist visitors and handle telephone calls to Administration Office. Respond to inquiries relating to library events, student employment, and library newsletter. Prepare documents including correspondence, spreadsheets, publications, fliers and mailing labels. Provide support to other units in the Library and other job-related duties, as needed.
Peer Reference
Get in on the ground floor of a new service providing research support to your fellow students at Morris Library. Train with librarians and increase your research skills while helping others increase theirs. Job duties include answering questions about Morris Library services and spaces, and helping students find books, articles, and other materials using Library databases and collections. Peer reference staff will also help students develop keyword searches and evaluate materials and, when appropriate, refer more advanced research questions to professionals on the Library staff. Peer reference staff may be asked to help with other Library based projects and events.
Special Collections
Retrieve rare book and manuscript collections for library users. Monitor environmental conditions. Assist with stack maintenance and processing of books and manuscript collections. Prepare labels for exhibitions. Assist with preservation functions and special projects. Requires ability to perform detailed and accurate work.
Student Multimedia Design Center
Assist library users at the Student Multimedia Design Center service desk with computer hardware and software applications, most multimedia-related. Assist users with equipment for loan, including video cameras, microphones, and hard drives. Provide support for microform, CD-ROM, and map collections and equipment, as well as self-service photocopiers and scanner/copiers. Create content related to the resources in the Student Multimedia Design Center to display in the site. Requires good communication skills, working knowledge of one or more video editing applications, such as iMovie, Windows MovieMaker, Adobe Premiere, and Final Cut, on MacOS and/or Windows, as well as experience with general applications software such as Word, Access, Excel and Powerpoint and general troubleshooting.