Background
The African Union Interafrican
Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) is a specialized technical office of the
Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture (DREA) of the African Union
Commission (AUC).
AU-IBAR’s mission is to provide
leadership in the development of animal resources for Africa through supporting
and empowering African Union (AU) Member States and Regional Economic
Communities.
The key
areas of mandate of AU-IBAR include:
·
Improving public and animal health through the control and
possible eradication of transboundary animal diseases and zoonoses;
·
Improve the management of animal resources and the natural
resource basses on which they depend;
·
Explore investment options and enhance competitiveness of
African animal products;
·
Contribute to the development of relevant standards and
regulations and enhance compliance by Member States;
·
Strengthen institutional capacity and support policy development
and harmonization;
·
Disseminate information and knowledge on animal resources to
Member States, Regional “Economic Communities and other relevant institutions;
and
·
Provide essential support to Member States with special needs or
in emergency situations.
On the area of disseminating
information and knowledge on animal resources, AU-IBAR has established a
library and has a rich collection on animal resources. The library is in the
process of digitizing the collection and capturing the meta-data into an
INMAGIC system. It is against this background that AU-IBAR seeks the services of
short-term Library Assistant with expertise in scanning, cataloguing, indexing
and classification to assist with processing the backlog.
Purpose of
the assignment
The purpose of the assignment is
to digitize the library collection and process the documents into the INMAGIC
system by providing descriptive metadata that analyses each item in the
collection. The metadata will ensure that user of the system produce useful
results and same time and effort in searching.
The digital library will make the
animal resources available at AU-IBAR to MS, RECs, partners and other users
online and cut down on the costs of maintaining the library and distributing
publications.
Scope of
work
The short term Library Assistant,
with the assistance and input of AU-IBAR will be responsible for scanning,
bibliographic and subject description and capturing data into the library
database system (INMAGIC).
The specific activities include
the following:
·
Scanning of documents;
·
Participate in cataloguing of documents;
·
Participate in indexing of documents;
·
Participate in abstracting of documents;
·
Participate in classification of documents;
·
Participate in data entry into INMAGIC;
·
Participate in shelving of documents;
·
Any other library duties;
·
Prepare a report to AU-IBAR upon completion of the assignment.
AU-IBAR
will be responsible for:
·
Providing assistance required based on the scope of work;
·
Provision of bibliographic standards;
·
Editing of records keyed into the system.
Expected
outputs
At the end of the assignment, the
person selected for the short term position will be expected to contribute to:
·
A digital library collection;
·
Processed and organized collection that eases retrieval;
·
An online library catalogue;
·
A final report to AU-IBAR.
Qualifications
and competencies
The candidate will meet the
following minimum requirements:
Education
·
A minimum of a bachelor’s degree in librarianship, information
science, knowledge management or equivalent is essential to apply for this
opportunity;
Technical
skills and expertise
·
Working experience in areas associated with the consultancy and
digital libraries and library catalogues;
·
Working experience cataloguing using Anglo American Cataloguing
Rules, classification of documents using, Universal Decimal Classification,
indexing of documents using an agricultural thesaurus or subject authority, and
abstracting;
·
Familiarity with digital libraries;
·
Excellent information management skills;
·
Familiarity with computerized bibliographic systems;
·
Excellent knowledge of database management software and in
particular the INMAGIC system.
Core
competencies
·
Professionalism – strong knowledge of the field with strong
analytical skills;
·
Planning and organizing skills;
·
Excellent in English language skills; knowledge of French would
be an advantage
·
Team player with strong interpersonal and communication skills;
·
Creative, innovative, solution oriented and flexible.
Fee,
equipment and facilities
A monthly fee will be paid to the
Library Assistant based on AU-IBAR’s salary grade General Service A (GSA) level
4 step 5 (i.e. USD 1397.25). The incumbent will be responsible for their
accommodation, medical and life covers during the period of this assignment.
Equipment and software needed to complete the work will be provided by the
AU-IBAR.
Duration
of the assignment
The duration of the assignment
will be a maximum of 8 months. The proposed commencement date will be 1st
August 2012.
Supervision
The person selected will work
under the supervision of the Knowledge Management Programme Officer and the
Documentalist.
Application
Interested candidates should
submit their applications including their curriculum vitae detailing prior
relevant experience and an application letter describing their motivation.
Applications should be submitted to the Director, African Union Inter-African
Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR). AU-IBAR sincerely thanks all applicants
for their interest in this opportunity and hereby notifies you that only
candidates shortlisted will be contacted.
Kenindia Business Park, Museum
Hill, Westlands Road, P. O. Box 30786-00100 Nairobi, Kenya or email:
applications@au-ibar.org with copy to hro@au-ibar.org clearly indicating in the
subject line “Short term Library Assistant” to reach him not later than 4th
July 2012.
