Who we are

James Lorimer & Company and Canadian Publishers Hosted Software Solutions are developing cutting-edge digital resources for school and academic libraries. These resources enable the discovery and use by teachers, instructors and students of quality Canadian materials not currently available in digital library collections..

We have two digital collections in use, and two in the late stages of development. Our school collection, Righting Canadas Wrongs, is in use in 10 major school boards including the Toronto District School Board and province-wide in New Brunswick. Our post-secondary collection, Canadian CourseReadings, is currently available to all library users at York, Regina, and Kwantlen universities. It offers unlimited access to over 1,000 academic titles published by 28 independent Canadian publishing houses.

The collections in development are the Canadian Forum, the most important Canadian periodical of the 20th century, and Kayak Magazine, a widely-known periodical on Canadian history for elementary grade students and teachers.

Working with an independent web developer over the past eight years, we have developed robust, innovative platforms providing access to these collections. These support user discovery of the collections’ content that is difficult or impossible to achieve using the cataloguing conventions and search functionality of the platforms currently used by Canadian university and school libraries. We have also created and delivered high-quality MARC format metadata to bolster access to our collection through academic library searches.

The position

The digital library specialist will support our work on these projects. Working with the Lorimer publishing team, the Canadian CourseReadings management team and our distributing partner Formac Lorimer Books, the specialist will work on adding content to our collections, generating metadata about these materials, and delivering metadata and collection access to schools and university libraries. The role will also involve preparing and distributing information about the collections to current and potential users, and supporting our sales and marketing activities.

The specific activities that this position involves include:

For the Canadian CourseReadings project:

· Monitoring use and user satisfaction at three current CourseReadings campuses





· Participation in providing information on our platform’s features and contents to course instructors at the three campuses, and at other Canadian universities

· Support for our sales and marketing activities addressing library collections and management contacts at 40+ universities across Canada

· Participation in developing and distributing metadata describing the chapters and books in the collection so that it continues to achieve a high ranking for relevance by university library search engines

· Support for the development and piloting of the Canadian Forum collection of 25,000 articles, each with Library of Congress subject tags and descriptions, enabling ingestion of the collection and links through MARC record metadata by university libraries

For the Righting Canada’s Wrongs and Kayak Magazine project:

· Monitoring use and user satisfaction at the 10+ boards and departments currently using the Righting Canada’s Wrongs digital collection and platform

· Supporting a project to map content to curriculum outcomes for relevant social studies courses on Canadian history from 1867 to the present for BC, Alberta, Ontario and New Brunswick

· Participating in developing information about the collections and the platforms for email distribution to educators across Canada

For our ongoing book publishing activities:

· Editorial tasks such as proof-reading, visual research, and copy editing of promotional materials

· Preparing and distributing emails to public and school librarians informing them about books and digital resources we publish

· Participation at occasional industry events eg OLA Superconference, Word on the Street Toronto

To be considered for this opportunity, you will bring the following:

Education:

University degree in the humanities or social sciences, in courses with strong Canadian content, and a graduate degree in information studies or a related field.

Experience:

Demonstrated project management experience. Proven ability to proactively pursue projects, addressing obstacles as they present themselves.

Four years’ recent related library experience,



including working with MARC records and good knowledge of Library of Congress subject headings, particularly as these are adapted for use for Canadian resources

Knowledge and skills:

· Effective organizational skills, including the ability to meet deadlines

· Effective communication skills, including the ability to interact with internal and external individuals with tact, diplomacy and a high level of customer service

· Effective problem-solving skills

· Attention to detail and accuracy

· Intermediate MS Office (Word, Excel)

· A flexible and creative approach

· Capacity to thrive in an environment of ongoing change and ambiguity, and to nurture that capacity in others.

· Excellent interpersonal, intercultural communication skills; ability to work effectively in both a team-based and self-directed environment.

· Strong background in Canadian studies, Canadian books and Canadian public affairs

Salary

The initial salary for this position is $50,000-$57,500

Benefits

This position includes a benefits package, including extended health care, dental care, long-term disability insurance, and life insurance.

Location

This position is a full-time in-office position, with a 7 ½ hour work day five days weekly. It is located in the King-Spadina area of downtown Toronto.

How to Apply:

Application materials required: A cover letter, curriculum vitae, and contact information for three references of which at least two have supervised your work. Please attach a single electronic file (MS Word or PDF with a file name convention of Surname, FirstName, Digital librarian liaison. Send to [email protected]

We thank all applicants but will only contact applicants selected for an interview.

For more information, check out:

Canadian CourseReadings site: www.canadiancoursereadings.ca

Righting Canadas Wrongs information: www.rightingcanadaswrongs.ca

James Lorimer & Company, Publishers: www.lorimer.ca

Pay: $50,000.00-$57,500.00 per year

Benefits:

- Dental care
- Extended health care
- Life insurance
- On-site parking

Application question(s):

- Please provide the specifics of the post-graduate degree you have completed, and the institution granting the degree.
- Please confirm your knowledge of Canadian studies, Canadian books and Canadian public affairs.

Education:

- Master's Degree (required)

Work Location: In person

📌 Digital library specialist -- Canadian classroom resources (Toronto)
🏢 Formac Lorimer Books
📍 Toronto