Librarian (Med Sciences)

This position organizationally located in the Library Section of the Education Service Line at the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System (VAPHS) under the general supervision of the Chief of Library Services. Librarians work broadly with information and with organizational staff, crossing boundaries of discipline and department. Librarians develop authoritative collections, electronic and traditional, specifically targeted to the information needs of VAPHS staff.

Qualifications:

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 12/29/2023.

Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-09. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment.

You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:

Basic Requirements

• Completion of one (1) full academic year of graduate study in library science in an accredited college or university, in addition to completion of all work required for a bachelor's degree. NOTE: You must submit transcripts with your application. Education will not be credited without documentation. ~OR~
• A total of at least five (5) years of a combination of college-level education, training, and experience. To qualify on this basis, the applicant must establish conclusively that the education, training, and experience provided a knowledge and understanding of the theories, principles, and techniques of professional librarianship; knowledge of literature resources; and the knowledge and abilities essential for providing effective library and information services. NOTE: You must submit transcripts with your application. Education will not be credited without documentation. Experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title, duties, month and year start/end dates AND hours worked per week. ~AND~

In addition to the Basic Requirements above, to qualify for this position at the GS-11 level, you must meet one of the following requirements:

• Experience: You must have at least one (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level (GS-9) in the Federal Service that has given you the particular knowledge, skills and abilities required to successfully perform the duties of a Librarian. Specialized experience would be serving as an information specialist providing reference services, literature searches, and information consulting to medical center professional staff, trainees and clients in a hospital or medical center environment.
  • Experience must demonstrate the ability to perform in the functional areas of work covered by this series; understands the concepts, theories, new developments, and co-relationship of information in this field; maintains up-to-date information on the state of the art; plans, coordinates, and carries out the successive steps in reference work, fact-finding and analysis of search results, problems or issues in accordance with accepted librarian practices; plans, develops, and implements library outreach and library/information services marketing programs; requires a variety of oral, written and graphic communications methods and techniques in presenting information about the medical center and library's services and resources; and develops detailed plans, goals and objectives for the long-range implementation and administration of the library and information services program.

Note: Experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title, duties, month and year start/end dates AND hours worked per week.

~OR~

• Education: Successful completion of three (3) full years of progressively higher level graduate education in library science or a doctoral degree (Ph.D. or equivalent) directly related to this position as a Librarian.

Note: Transcripts must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation.

~OR~

• Combination: Equivalent combinations of successfully completed progressively higher level graduate education and specialized experience, as described above, which meet the total experience requirements for this grade level. The education portion must include progressively higher level graduate courses directly related to the work of this position (as described above).

Note: Transcripts must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation.

• Communications
• Critical Thinking
• Customer Service (Clerical/Technical)
• Interpersonal Effectiveness
• Medical Information
• Organizational Stewardship
• Technical Competence

Preferred Experience:

• 3-5 years experience in a medical, nursing, healthcare system, or related library environment
• Experience with MEDLINE, CINAHL, PSYCINFO databases
• Experience with LibraryWorld Integrated Library System
• Experience with DOCLINE inter-library loan system
• Experience in providing training on library resources
• Patient or consumer health library experience preferred
• Familiarity with VA purchasing processes preferred

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; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment.

Physical Requirements: The work involves regular and recurring physical exertion such as periods of standing, bending, stooping and reaching into shelving areas; may require lifting, for example heavy bound volumes, and sitting at a computer for extended periods of time.

For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.