Job Description

The eResearch Knowledge Centre (eRKC) within the HSRC employs a group of practitioners and specialists in the areas of information services, geospatial analytics, and digital scholarship who provide knowledge services to enhance the HSRCs research capability.The vision of the eRKC is to enhance the HSRCs research capability through innovative information services, geospatial solutions, and digital curation. The mission of the eRKC is to be an informed research enabler that provides innovative knowledge services and access to resources that meet the needs of the HSRCs research community and its stakeholders. This is achieved by

• managing various resource collections and support the use thereof,
• supporting digital scholarship and providing support for organisation-wide processes and requirements,
• supporting geospatial analytics in the HSRC, and
• raising awareness about best practices and building capacity in the

The eRKC is looking to appoint a suitably qualified professional to take on the responsibilities of a Research Output (publications) Curator. The main responsibilities of this position are to, as part of the Digital Scholarship Services team, facilitate best practice Research Output management to curate (preserve and share) HSRC research output publications, and promote the use thereof.
Minimum RequirementsThis position requires knowledge and experience in the area of research output management. A specific skill set that combines accuracy and attention to detail, knowledge of basic cataloguing rules, Dublin Core metadata standards and abstracting, working knowledge of using repository software and scholarship support is required. The requirements are the following:

• Relevant Bachelors Degree / or equivalent qualification in the social or information sciences discipline;
• Basic level of experience in a research output curation context;
• Proficiency in MS Office;
• Knowledge of metadata, keywords and abstracting practices;
• Knowledge of repository management will be an advantage;
• Knowledge of creating social media content for promotion of research output
• Good interpersonal skills and a strong service orientation which will contribute to cooperative and effective interaction with colleagues;
• Good planning, organising, and presentation skills;
• Proficiency in speaking and writing

Willingness to work under pressure, according to plan, to meet deadlines
Duties & ResponsibilitiesThe Research Output Curator role demands that the incumbent functions as part of the wider eRKCs team to ensure that its mandate in terms of research output related services is optimally fulfilled. The successful candidate will contribute to the development of the HSRC Research Output Collection and facilitate its use, develop related policies and procedures, manage scholarship support services related to research output, produce management and performance information related to research output, technologies, systems, and processes.The following are the key responsibilities for the Research Output Curator position:

• Curate deposited research outputs by

• validating and assessing the completeness of the deposited Authorship Sign- off form, the quality of the copy of the output, the quality of the metadata provided, as well as any evidence documentation for audit purposes.

• Assessing the research output for inclusion in terms of the HSRCs performance indicators and to verify copyright, confidentiality, as well as peer- review and accreditation status.
• Assigning structured metadata including an abstract and keywords to describe the research output and facilitate re-use.
• preparing files for preservation and

• Train and assist staff in research units to deposit research outputs according to best practices and to ensure the audit requirements are adhered to.
• Ensure the optimal functioning of the
• Maintain the repository by performing scheduled maintenance activities, including, retrospectively

• updating metadata
• curating research
• Aid discovery, manage access and support the responsible use of the research outputs collection by

• responding to research output enquiries in accordance with the eRKC
• provide requested outputs to users and record the information
• Create communication pieces for the internal newsletter as well as for social media to promote the HSRCs research output publication.

HSRC