The UC Berkeley Library Chief Scientist is responsible for planning digital services that integrate digital library resources in a manner that best supports the academic programs of the UC Berkeley campus. The Chief Scientist must have: an understandi ng of the academic programs and the potential for enhanced digital library services; a vision for the emerging national digital library; a broad and deep understanding of technology and how it can provide the desired services and; a special focus on em erging technologies and the service opportunities they represent. The Chief Scientist has:

1. the primary responsibility to represent the Library:
   • on national issues concerning digital library technologies. The Chief Scientist will work with the National Digital Library Federation, the Library of Congress, OCLC, RLG, other research libraries and appropriate national organizations that need to be engaged in planning for metadata standards and the national digital library architecture.
   • on UC systemwide issues concerning digital library service and technologies. The Chief Scientist will work with the Division of Library Automation, the new Executive Director for the Library of California and appropriate Library Council Committees in planning UC wide digital library services. Examples of these services could include technologies for inter-campus authentication, patron initiated borrowing, information systems and network security, etc.
   • in coordinating campus-wide digital library service planning, working with IST, the Department of Computer Science and other campus units as appropriate. Examples of services could include campus authentication schemes, generalized billing services for recharge services, network printing, etc.

2. the primary responsibility for moving the library’s digital library planning process forward. Digital library planning is a shared responsibility of the University Librarian; the Deputy University Librarian; the AUL’s for Social Sciences, Sciences, and Humanities and Area Studies; the Chief Administrative Officer; the Director of Access Services, the Director of Development, and the Directors of the East Asian and Bancroft Libraries. The Chief Scientist will coordinate this planning effort which will develop digital library programs and policies in support of the campus missions of teaching and research.

3. the primary responsibility for library strategic technical planning. S/he must ensure that technology is being used in a manner which optimally supports digital library services for the Berkeley campus. This includes a special focus on emerging technologies and how they can be used to improve digital library services, end-user self sufficiency and cost effective operations.

4. the primary responsibility for guiding the Library’s applied digital library research and development program. This includes grant-funded projects that are shaping the national digital library.

5. the primary responsibility for policy oversight of Library Systems Office operations. The Director of the Library Systems Office has primary responsibility for the daily operations of this department and in this role reports to the Chief Scientist.

6. the primary responsibility for identifying and negotiating with technology vendors to select the hardware, software and network components that will be used in the Library's technology infrastructure and applied digital library research and development programs. This includes identifying opportunities for partnerships with these vendors.

7. a shared responsibility with The Library administration and other campus leaders to provide vision and strategic planning for campus library services. The Chief Scientist is directly involved in the overall administration of the Library and part icipates in planning and decision-making in all aspects of policy and operations; and serves as part of the senior management Library Planning Group advising the University Librarian.

The scope of this position is national, UC systemwide and campus wide. The value of the national digital library to Berkeley will be directly related to its ability to promote teaching and learning opportunities, scholarly communication and scholarly collaboration on a national and international basis. Therefore, it is in UC Berkeley's interest to take a leadership role in defining emerging national digital library services. The Chief Scientist is responsible for ensuring that digital library planni ng on the Berkeley campus integrates with planning done at the UC systemwide and national levels.

New services like the emerging national and UC digital library programs will have a dramatic effect on how the campus executes its teaching and learning mission. The challenge for the campus, the Library and the Chief Scientist is to determine how these new technologies can best be adapted to future digital library services. Therefore, the Chief Scientist has the responsibility to work with the faculty, the Library and other campus departments to lead a planning effort that will ensure the maximum value will be extracted from the resources invested into the digital library. Areas to be explored include electronic document delivery, aggregation of metadata to provide integrated access to network based resources, collaborative technologies, digital publishing, economic models for network based services, electronic commerce technologies, etc.

The Chief Scientist reports to the University Librarian.

The Chief Scientist’s position requires a unique combination of technical knowledge and managerial expertise.

State of the Art Technical Expertise: The emerging national digital library will be built on new network based technologies. The Chief Scientist will work with national organizations such as DLF, OCLC, RLG, the Library of Congress and technology company partners to: a) develop metadata standards for digital library objects and; b) a national software architecture of distributed repositories. To achieve these goals; the Chief Scientist must be able to integrate expertise in a number of areas such as object-oriented design, SGML, database technologies and network technologies. S/he must also use these skills to guide the Library’s active, grant funded applied research and development program which is shaping the national digital library.

Advanced Specialized Technical Expertise: The Chief Scientist is the campus expert on digital library technologies which will lead to enhanced, cost-effective library services. As a world class research library, the Library is often an early implementer of new technologies, either locally or commercially developed. The Chief Scientist identifies new technologies, technology trends and commercial products to enhance services. This position requires extensive technical expertise that allows the Chief Scientist to identify appropriate technologies to be added to the infrastructure, determine when local development is the best option over commercial solutions, propose and evaluate software and hardware architectures, provide resource needs and time frames for projects, and guide the infrastructure development being deployed by the Library Systems Office.

Advanced-Specialized Organizational Expertise: The Chief Scientist is responsible for strategic technology planning in The Library. Therefore, s/he must understand the policies, procedures and technical support requirements needed to run pre sent and future Library operations. In addition, a thorough understanding of campus and UC systemwide policies and procedures is required. It is within this service, policy and procedure framework the strategic planning will occur.

Advanced-Specialized Managerial Expertise: The Chief Scientist must have demonstrated strategic and tactical planning expertise within the library environment. S/he is responsible for moving forward the Library’s digital library planning effort and must work with the University Librarian, the Deputy University Librarian, library staff and the campus as a whole. The Chief Scientist must make sure the plan addresses the important strategic issues and has the proper scope. The Chief Scientist must have excellent communications skills, as s/he will share the responsibility for communicating the strategic plan and incorporating campus feedback into the document.

The Chief Scientist is working in a complex national environment with other research universities and national organizations to develop standards for metadata and networked systems architectures. On campus, s/he must lead the digital library strategic planning effort in a sophisticated academic environment. That is, the Chief Scientist must understand how digital library technologies can support the varying needs of academic programs. The Chief Scientist must also work closely with UC System wide and the other UC campuses to integrate local and national digital library planning with UC systemwide initiatives. Finally, the Chief Scientist works in a complex technical environment and must understand how existing and developing technologies such as objected-oriented design, network technologies, etc. can be used to create digital library applications that support the academic mission.

Due to the highly complex nature of the job and the rate at which technology changes, the Chief Scientist is constantly challenged to identify and develop new opportunities which can provide enhanced and cost-effective digital library services for the campus. In particular, the national work in developing metadata standards and a national digital library architecture requires leadership and creativity.