This vacancy is open to all U.S. citizens. The vacancy is 
concurrently advertised under merit promotion (MP) procedures for status 
candidates under announcement HHS/NIH-2009-2363. Candidates who 
wish to be considered under both procedures MUST apply to both 
vacancies.

PHS Commissioned Officers interested in performing the duties of 
this position within the Commissioned Corps should also apply online 
to this announcement in order to receive consideration.

At NIH, the employer of choice, the possibilities are endless...

Top 5 Reasons to work for NIH:

NIH Mission
Challenging Work
Career Advancement Opportunities
Sense of Achievement
Exceptional Benefits Packages

To see additional reasons employees love to work at NIH, please click here.

NIH named to AARP's 50 Best Employers for Workers over 50! Click here to see why.

The successful candidate for this position will serve as Head, 
Collection Access Section (CAS), Public Services Division (PSD), 
Library Operations (LO), National Library of Medicine (NLM), 
National Institutes of Health (NIH), Department of Health and Human 
Services (HHS).  

More than just a library!

Although the National Library of Medicine is the world's largest 
library of the health sciences, with a collection of more than 7 
million, the Library also conducts research in biomedical 
communications, creates databases and search tools for molecular 
biology information resulting from the Human Genome Project, creates 
specialized information services in the areas of toxicology and 
environmental health, and supports a  nationwide network of medical 
libraries. The Library's various Web-based databases are the world's 
most consulted medical information resources, for scientists, health 
professionals, and the public. 

New to the Government Application Process? We want to be sure 
you have an opportunity to be considered, so please review the 
information on the "Qualifications and Evaluations" tab and follow 
the instructions listed on the "How to Apply" tab.

• U.S. Citizenship.
• Please carefully read and follow the instructions for HOW TO APPLY.

The Collection Access Section is responsible for managing a document 
delivery network serving over 3200 biomedical libraries in the 
United States, Canada and abroad which controls the distribution of 
over two million interlibrary loan requests annually.  

If selected for this position, as Head of the Collection Access 
Section, you will be the manager who performs the following duties:

(1) Plans, organizes and controls activities of a staff of 
professional librarians, technical information specialists, library 
technicians and contractors engaged in performing interlibrary loan, 
circulation activities, customer service, and systems development 
and testing.  Establishes priorities and follows for accomplishment; 
makes decisions on work problems presented by subordinate staff; 
collaborates with heads of other Library elements to negotiate and 
coordinate interrelated matters; advises higher level officials on 
problems involving major programs which may have significant impact 
on the Library; evaluates subordinates; makes effective selection 
recommendations for subordinate personnel; hears group grievances 
and serious employee complaints and disciplinary problems and takes 
initiative to resolve them.  

(2) Plans and administers a coordinated national and international 
program of interlibrary loan involving libraries throughout the 
United States and abroad.  Develops and interprets interlibrary loan 
policy statements and definitions for management and NLM customers.  
Applies Copyright and Fair Use Guidelines appropriately to NLM 
supplied material.

Maintains contacts with the RML Program Coordinator and the Regional 
Medical Libraries in order to coordinate developments in 
interlibrary loan activities and systems.  

Studies changes in collection growth and utilization, trends in 
interlibrary loan, processing time, servicing problems, and develops 
or modifies operating procedures as appropriate.

(3) Oversees the planning, development and implementation of a 
comprehensive computer-based system for the management and delivery 
of biomedical information and documents to members of the biomedical 
community in the United States and abroad.  Special areas of 
responsibility are the automated document request, referral and 
delivery system, DOCLINE, the document ordering function of NLM's 
front end products for end users, and Relais, the automated system 
for monitoring request status and delivery of documents to borrowing 
libraries from NLM. 

(4) Develops and prepares customer service policy statements, 
definitions and stock replies; establishes procedures for handling 
all manner of inquiries concerning interlibrary loan, DOCLINE and 
onsite services, confers with appropriate personnel from NLM 
divisions responsible for developing systems and products; 
investigates and evaluates proposed or existing concepts of 
operation, developing recommendations when appropriate; conducts 
formal surveys of NLM's customers; authorizes exceptions to policies 
relating to services in order to provide non-routine and emergency 
services to users, takes prompt action to resolve all problems that 
impede the prompt handling of service inquiries which might 
adversely affect patient care, research, etc. 

(5) Responsible for liaison with individuals and organizations 
in the interlibrary loan community in the United States and abroad 
for: a) consultative or problem solving services to users and 
administrative personnel throughout the entire system.  This 
includes the Regional Medical Libraries, Resource Libraries, other 
network libraries, and major international medical libraries as well 
as other vendors of document delivery and bibliographic service 
products such as OCLC, RLG, ARL and the NISO and ISO standards 
organizations; b) interpreting and promoting NLM services; c) 
establishing work delivery schedules; d) coordinating 
interdisciplinary projects; e) obtaining feedback as to the 
effectiveness of customer services, interlibrary loan response time; 
f) encouraging and facilitating an exchange of information 
regarding new developments and techniques and cooperation on 
programs of mutual interest.  Other library systems contacted 
include the Library of Congress, various state library systems, 
college libraries, other governmental library systems and various 
foreign library systems.

(6) Provides expert consultation and technical advice to domestic 
and foreign organizations concerning the establishment, expansion, 
interface and improvement of their services.  Provides advice 
concerning the utilization, improvement, effectiveness, operational 
cost, scope of collections, etc., of existing systems. 

(7) Promotes, publicizes and explains the Library's interlibrary 
loan, DOCLINE and onsite services through correspondence, formal 
presentations, personal contacts and other means of communication.  
Represents the National Library of Medicine at meetings of 
professional library and scientific associations with a special 
emphasis on interpreting this Library's role as a leading biomedical 
document delivery resource. 

(8) Represents the Collection Access Section in matters pertaining 
to new computer technology, integrated library systems, electronic 
books and journals, their development and application as applied to 
public services. 

(9) Compiles monthly, annual, and other statistical and narrative 
reports as required.

Basic Requirements:

You must meet the requirements for professional education 
in library science or possess equivalent experience and education; 
however, as a standard practice you may be appointed at the grade GS-
9 level on the basis of a master's degree in library science. 

More specifically, you must meet the requirements specified 
in paragraphs A or B below:

A. Completion of 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; 
OR
B. A total of at least 5 years of a combination of college-level 
education, training, and experience. To qualify on this basis, you 
must establish conclusively that the education, training, 
and experience provided a knowledge and understanding of the 
theories, principles, and techniques of professional librarianship; 
a knowledge of literature resources; and the knowledge and abilities 
essential for providing effective library and information services. 

In addition to meeting the basic entry qualification requirements, 
you must have directly related specialized experience in the 
amounts required for the grade level as shown below:

For grade GS-14:  1 year of specialized experience equivalent to at 
least the GS-13 grade level.  Specialized experience is defined as 
experience that has equipped you with the particular knowledge, 
skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the 
position, and that is typically in or related to the position.  
Specialized experience must have included planning or coordinating 
work activities, projects, or programs in a large academic, 
national, health science or health-related facility, related to 
collection access issues such as document delivery operations, 
interlibrary loan services, customer services, circulation 
activities to onsite patrons, managing access to electronic 
resources, bibliographic searching, systems development and testing 
related to access services.
 
Evaluation of Specialized Experience: 

Specialized experience must have demonstrated the ability to 
perform, supervise, or direct one or more of the functional areas of 
work covered by this series; to understand the concepts, theories, 
new developments, and co-relationship of information in related 
fields; and to maintain up-to-date information on the state of the 
art.

This position allows you to qualify and be considered based on your 
education. To receive this consideration, please submit a copy of 
your transcripts (or a list of your courses including titles, credit 
hours completed and grades) to document that you have met the 
education requirement. Unofficial transcripts will be accepted in 
the application package, however, official transcripts will be 
needed prior to beginning employment. Most colleges and universities 
offer unofficial transcripts online - please check your school 
website to obtain a copy quickly. 

If you have Federal status and have never been on an appointment in 
this occupational series, you must submit your transcripts as 
indicated above. If you have Federal status and are currently or 
were previously on an appointment in this occupational series, you 
do not need to submit transcripts at the time of application. 
Instead, you should submit an SF-50 showing that you were on an 
appointment in this occupational series.


Click here for information on Foreign Education

You must meet citizenship and all other qualification requirements 
by the closing date of this announcement.

All male citizens of the United States born after December 31, 1959, 
must be registered for the Selective Service to be eligible for 
Federal employment. For more information about registering with the 
Selective Service visit: 
www.sss.gov.

This position is subject to a background investigation.

Your application will be evaluated and rated under Category Rating 
and Selection procedures. Category rating combines the applicant's 
total qualifying experience and education/training into a single 
quality category. If you meet the basic qualification requirements, 
we will further evaluate your entire application package to 
determine the quality and extent of your experience, education, 
training, etc., for placement in one of the following categories:

1) Best Qualified - Meets the Minimum Qualification Requirements and 
excels in most requirements of the position; 

2) Well Qualified - Meets the Minimum Qualification Requirements and 
meets most requirements of the position; 

3) Qualified - Meets the Minimum Qualification Requirements, but 
does not possess the relevant competencies to a substantive degree. 

A selecting official may make selections from the highest quality 
category (Best Qualified) provided no preference eligible in that 
category is passed over to select a non-preference eligible in that 
category unless approval has been granted.

Location, location, location. NIH's main campus is located in 
beautiful Bethesda, MD, a stone's throw from downtown Washington DC. 
Surrounded by world class eateries and shopping areas, a career at 
NIH has many great benefits in addition to its location.

Some of the great benefits that an employee MAY be eligible to 
receive are:

Flexible/Compressed work schedule
Free parking
Paid Holidays, Vacation and Sick Time
Teleworking opportunities
Convenience: A Metro stop right on the NIH campus
On site fitness center
Transit Subsidies
On site credit union
Cultural events
Scientific lectures
On site child care centers
A variety of employee clubs such as Toastmasters, karate, and 
sailing


In addition to the benefits listed above, the following links will 
navigate you to the federal government's generous benefit packages 
such as annual, sick, and holiday leave, health insurance, and a 
Thrift Savings Plan with matching contributions. For more 
information, check out Ne
w Employee Benefits and 
OPM's Employee Benefits Information.

Mission: Possible. Our mission is more than just a paragraph; 
it's everywhere you look. NIH is home to the world's premier 
biomedical research hospital. You don't have to be a scientist to 
improve the health of the nation. NIH: Improving Health through 
Discovery.

We are unable to pay relocation expenses.

This position has supervisory responsibilities. A one-year 
supervisory probationary period is required upon 
selection/placement.  This may be waived if you have successfully 
completed the supervisory probationary period.  

A newly appointed or reappointed employee may receive service 
credit for prior work experience or active duty uniformed 
service that otherwise would not be creditable for the purpose of 
determining his or her annual leave accrual rate. All creditable 
service must be directly related to the duties of the position being 
filled and decisions to allow for such credit must be finalized 
prior to the selectee's entrance on duty. The use of this service 
credit incentive is at the discretion of the selecting official and 
service credit is granted only for a position deemed hard-to-fill.

Helping you through the process. At NIH we are striving to 
make the application process as easy and efficient as possible. With 
that in mind, the resume and corresponding responses of successful 
candidates may be shared with other Institutes/Centers of NIH with 
opportunities like the one you are applying to. We recommend you 
still apply directly to the jobs that interest you, but we want you 
to know we are working for you. If for some reason you don't want 
your application shared with other Institutes/Centers, just notify 
the point of contact for this posting and we'll make sure your 
application stays solely with this posting. Additional selections 
may be made through this vacancy announcement.

Holding ourselves to a higher standard. The National 
Institutes of Health inspires public confidence in science by 
maintaining high ethical principles. In addition to the Federal 
Government's code of ethics, we have our own agency specific 
standards - check them out at the NIH Ethics website.

Equal Opportunity Employment. Equality is held as one of the 
most important values here at NIH. Selection for this - and any 
other - position will be based solely on merit. NIH does not 
discriminate on the premises of race, color, religion, sex, national 
origin, politics, marital status, sexual orientation, physical or 
mental disability, age or membership or non-membership in an 
employee organization.

Who we are, what we do, and why it matters. The National 
Institutes of Health (NIH), is the premiere biomedical research 
center for the nation and the world. The 27 Institutes and Centers 
at NIH employ approximately 18,000 employees doing a vast array of 
jobs, all supporting efforts for a healthy nation. For more 
information on the NIH mission, goals, and Institutes and Centers, 
please visit 
NIH Overview. To find out more about working at NIH, visit Life at 
NIH.

Tobacco Free NIH. To help ensure the health and well being of 
its staff and all those who visit the NIH, the NIH maintains a tobacco free work environment and 
campus.

The National Institutes of Health participates in the USCIS 
Electronic Employment Eligibility Verification Program 
(E-Verify).E-Verify helps 
employers determine employment eligibility of new hires and the 
validity of their Social Security numbers.

Read this entire vacancy announcement. While reading the 
announcement carefully, take note of any qualifications, rating 
factors, job-related questions or specific duties that are 
listed.
Begin the application process online at USAJOBS. Login to MYUSAJOBS and edit your 
existing resume or create a new resume to highlight the skills and 
experiences you have that relate to this specific vacancy. See Tips for 
USAJOBS Resumes.
Once you've created a vacancy-specific resume, return to the 
announcement and select "Apply Online." Select your appropriate 
resume and submit it for consideration by clicking "Apply to this 
position now!" This will then take you to the NIH HHS Careers system 
to answer the vacancy self-assessment questionnaire.
When completing the online questionnaire, please do not inflate 
your qualifications or underestimate your previous experience. You 
will receive a rating based on your responses to the 
questionnaire.
If you have questions or require reasonable accommodation during 
the application process, please contact the HR staff member listed 
below. If you have difficulties with hearing and are seeking 
assistance, please call a relay operator at 1-800-735-2258 or visit 
Maryland Relay or AT&T Relay.
If you experience any technical difficulties, please contact HR 
Systems Support between 8 AM and 4:30 PM ET Monday through Friday at 
301-451-1436 or via email at 
hrsystemssupport@mail.nih.gov.
When you have finished responding to the online questionnaire, 
you will be taken to the Generate Fax Coversheets screen. From here, 
select any supporting documentation cover sheets that may apply to 
your application and follow the directions to print the 
coversheets.  To ensure that your supporting documents are submitted 
correctly, see the Fax Imaging Instructions. You only 
need to submit documentation that applies to you - do not consider 
the list of available coversheets a list of required 
documentation.
Fax your supporting documentation to the number listed on the 
Fax coversheet only. Alternatively, you may skip this step and send 
your supporting documents via email to the HR contact listed at the 
bottom of this announcement. To ensure your information is secure, 
please block out any Social Security numbers (SSNs). Clean copies 
may be requested if you are hired.
Once you have completed the online questionnaire and printed any 
Fax coversheets, click Finish to return to USAJOBS.


Additional Information on How to 
Apply

Information on Reasonable Accommodation

What to Submit:
To receive consideration, the following information must be received 
in the NIH HHS Careers system before midnight Eastern Time on the 
closing date of the announcement:

Your resume via USAJOBS
Responses to all core questions and job specific questions via 
NIH HHS Careers (to access, simply apply online at USAJOBS)


Any supporting documentation (including any veteran's preference, 
CTAP/ICTAP, Schedule A documentation, CV or other information 
requested in the announcement like transcripts) should be sent to 
the HR Specialist listed in this announcement either by e-mail or 
faxed to the number on the FAX coversheets by midnight Eastern Time 
on the closing date of the announcement. You only need to submit 
documentation that applies to you - do not view the list of 
coversheets available as a list of required documentation.

Special Consideration:
Certain veterans, displaced federal employees, and the disabled may 
be eligible for special consideration. Please refer to the following 
links for additional information and documentation requirements.

Veterans
CTAP
ICTAP
Schedule A Appointments for the Disabled

Within 10 - 15 business days of the closing date you may check the 
status of your application online. If you were rated eligible, it 
will indicate whether or not your application was referred to the 
selecting official for consideration.

Applicants may check the status of applications by accessing MYUSAJOBS.

Enter your user name and password.
Click on "Applications" in the section above My Resumes to reach 
the USAJOBS online application history screen.
Locate the appropriate announcement/position and review the 
information in the next to last column to see your status. For more 
information you may click on the "More Information" link.
From the Welcome page, select the radio button for "View 
Detailed Status of applications with this agency," and click the 
continue button.
On the "Current Applicant Status" page, you will be able to view 
the vacancy status and any additional information in the "Comments" 
section.