Librarian

ICRC - International Committee of the Red Cross

Open positions at ICRC

Geneva (Switzerland)

IT & Telecom

Show advice for this position

Open application form

Contract

This is a ICRC - Open-ended contract. More about ICRC - Open-ended contracts.

Fast-track your UN career: Let the AI Application Assistant tailor your applications to catch recruiters' attention.

AI Application Assistant

Details

Reports to (role)

Head of Library & Public Archives

What we do

The Division of Archives, Library and Outreach valorises ICRC’s past actions and thinking to inform current and future decision-making and promotes the ICRC’s present thinking, legal and policy positions internally and externally.

The Archives and Library preserve and valorize evidence of and information on the ICRC’s activities, legal and policy positions for long-term use and access, contributing to the ICRC’s business continuity, accountability, and transparence. They form the memory of the organization and of individuals and their families affected by armed conflict and other situations of violence and contribute to the development of knowledge on ICRC’s past actions and on the development of IHL.

The ICRC Library holds unique collections on the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, and international humanitarian law (IHL). Internally, it is a service available to all ICRC colleagues, to help them find, access, and search the literature they need for their work. The library also welcomes external researchers and practitioners interested in IHL and the ICRC’s work throughout the years. Its online catalogue is the gateway to the most recent scholarship on the subject, documents of diplomatic and international conferences, all ICRC publications, and heritage collections documenting the early development of international humanitarian law and action.

Purpose of the post

The Librarian for ICRC and IHL primary sources oversees the institutional repositories for Diplomatic and International Conferences, as well as National Practice. S/he supports research and provides guidance on collection and access to those documents. S/he contributes to showcase these repositories on the CROSS-files blog and social media.

The Librarian for ICRC and IHL primary sources works hand in hand with the IHL Librarian and the ICRC Librarian, who are responsible for their respective thematic collections. S/he is responsible for the administration of the library management system and for the training of the apprentice “Agent en information documentaire” and reports to the head of the Library and Public Archives unit. S/he works in close collaboration with division staff. S/he serves as ambassador for the collections and repositories managed by the Archives and Library.

Accountabilities & Functional responsibilities

Collection management and preservation

Oversees and develops institutional repositories of the library (Diplomatic and International Conferences, as well as National Practice), ensures structure and coherence within those repositories;
Monitors ratification notifications from treaty depositaries, updates the IHL Treaties database accordingly, contributes to annual and specific reports and responds to ad hoc requests;
Maintains the library management system (NetBiblio), motivates and tests upgrades;
Supervises cataloguing: keeps cataloguing manual up to date, corrects bibliographic records;
Participates in consultations relating to the digitization of library collections and supports the digitization of the ICRC Publications;
Collaborates with staff members in charge of preservation to ensure the physical upkeep and longevity of the library heritage collections and institutional repositories;
Contributes to discussions and participates in working groups relating to the role, services, needs and plans relating to the library as well as the other archive services;
Contributes to the strategic orientation and development of the library research services and resources.

Reader services and promotion of library collections

Answers requests from internal and external library patrons on the repositories falling under his/her responsibility
Assumes research services onsite;
Collaborates with colleagues in charge of the other archival holdings and repositories (Tracing Archives, Audiovisual Archives, Public and Classified Archives) and research services of the ICRC;
Contributes to the promotion of the library collections, including through the drafting of blog posts on CROSS-files;
Represents and promotes the library internally and externally (through presentations, briefings, etc.).

People management responsibilities

Yes

Relationships

Internally, interacts with all levels of the organisation, especially the legal division.
Externally, interacts with researchers, academics, general public, ICRC visitors and interlocutors interested in the International Committee of the Red Cross and international humanitarian law.

Required Education and Experience

University degree in information, archival or library science;
University degree in law, history or other relevant fields or confirmed experience in academic/specialized library;
Swiss Federal Certificate of “formateur/trice d’apprenti/e”, or interest in acquiring it;
Professional experience in the administration of a library management system strongly favoured;
Knowledge of bibliographic, preservation and digitization standards;
Knowledge of practices and trends in the library world;
Knowledge of the history of the ICRC, humanitarian action or international humanitarian law an asset.

Desired Profile and Skills

Fluency in oral and written French and English, other languages an asset;
Ability to work as part of a team in a multicultural environment;
Sense of initiative and ability to work autonomously;
Rigor and organisational skills;
Tech-savvy;
Interest in supervising junior staff;
At ease with communicating with a broad range of audiences;
Good analytical and drafting skills;
Patron-oriented;
Sensibility to the historical and heritage value of library documents;
Intellectual curiosity and open mindedness.

Our Values

At the ICRC, we value impact, collaboration, respect, and compassion. We seek candidates who demonstrate behaviours based on these shared values. For more information on the ICRC values, please visit this page.