Students interested in working at the Library should fill out this form. The Library's needs for student staff can vary, depending on the time of year.

About Student Positions

The Caltech Library seeks Library Student Assistants for various positions in its libraries and archives. Library Student Assistants work an average of ten hours per week during the academic term. Caltech Library Student Assistants provide services in accordance with the Caltech Library Service Philosophy.

The Caltech Library is committed to serving the teaching, research, and academic needs of its students, faculty, and staff. We do this by following these four principles:

1. The Caltech Library is an inclusive and accessible environment where mutual respect and professional behavior is always exercised, both among staff and with patrons.
2. Caltech Library staff are highly qualified and knowledgeable in our areas of service and are empowered to make decisions and referrals in the best interest of our patrons. We work collaboratively to promote and develop expertise in meeting the needs of our community.
3. We communicate with the Caltech community in a clear and timely manner regarding Library collections, services, and inquiries.
4. Caltech Library staff provide excellence in circulation, reference, instruction, and digital library services. We equip members of the Caltech community with the skills needed to enhance their learning and research.

In addition, Caltech Archives and Special Collections, a department of the Caltech Library, provides the same level of service to those beyond Caltech conducting historical research to which our collections are pertinent.

Types of Student Positions

Access & Collections

Circulation Assistant 

• Manage the circulation desk.
• Check out and check in library materials to patrons.
• Check IDs when patrons enter the building.
• Register new Caltech patrons.
• Collect head counts hourly.
• Scan patron requests.
• Adhere to privacy policies around patron accounts.  
• Other duties as assigned by shift supervisor.

DocuServe Assistant

• Support the InterLibrary Loan and Document Delivery (DocuServe) Office. 
• Provide user assistance at any ACS service point. 
• Process requests to borrow materials from other libraries.
• Process lending requests made by other libraries to Caltech. 
• Verify patron information.
• Adhere to privacy policies around patron accounts. 
• Other duties as assigned by shift supervisor.

Stacks Maintenance Assistant

• Pull items from multiple Library locations. 
• Re-shelve items across multiple Library locations.
• Shelf reading. 
• Support projects that ensure our Library collection is meeting our overall Library needs and goals.  
• Adhere to privacy policies around patron accounts. 
• Other duties as assigned by shift supervisor.

Student Technology Advisors Assistant

• Provide technical assistance and training to users of the Caltech Library’s TechLab. 
• Assist with user orientation to equipment available in the TechLab.
• Assist with software and printer training to groups.
• Provide expert assistance to student project teams and assigned projects.
• Perform basic maintenance tasks, including equipment and supplies; troubleshooting.
• Provide technical advice and support for projects based in the TechLab.
• Other duties as assigned by shift supervisor.

Metadata & Discovery Services Assistant

• Assist the Systems Librarian in identifying harmful or outdated terminology in the Library’s systems.
• Contribute to researching relevant best practices among other libraries.
• Help update local records and systems with new terminology. 
• If the student is interested, they will be welcome to co-present with the Systems and Discovery Services Librarian at a library conference (to be determined) about the project’s successes, failures, and next steps.
• Other duties as assigned by shift supervisor.

Archives

Oral History Assistant

• The Caltech Archives Oral History Project has recorded oral history interviews with Caltech faculty and other affiliates since the 1970s.

• The Oral History Assistant will conduct their own recorded interviews with Caltech alumni and staff about their lives, careers, and experiences of Caltech.

• Training will be provided on oral history interviewing.

Web Archiving Assistant

• The Caltech Archives runs a web archiving program to preserve Caltech websites as they change over time.

• The web archiving assistant will identify Caltech websites for web archiving and troubleshoot web archiving of websites already captured.

• Training will be provided on web archiving using the Archive-It system.

• The Web Archiving Assistant may also help start a social media archiving program to archive the tweets (and potentially posts on other platforms) of Caltech organizations and faculty.

Digital Archives Description Assistant

• The Caltech Archives has digitized the unpublished papers of aeronautical engineer Paul MacCready, physicist Donald Glaser, and astrophysicist George Ellery Hale as well as thousands of photographs of Caltech people and buildings.

• The Digital Archives Description Assistant will examine these digitized papers and add descriptions, such as the names of those with whom these scientists corresponded.

• The Assistant may also create or edit transcriptions for audio, video, and handwritten manuscripts.

• Training will be provided on archival description and transcription.

Archives Collection Development Assistant

• The Caltech Archives is reaching out to alumni to collect documentation of their experiences of diversity, inclusion, and exclusion at Caltech, including records of student organizations, written recollections, and oral history interviews.

• The Archives Collection Development Assistant will identify alumni as prospects for this collection development effort.

• Training will be provided on how archives work with donors to build collections.

Business & Operations

Accounts Payable Processor

• Receive and process invoices for book purchases and periodicals subscriptions.

• Intake invoices.

• Record pertinent data into our electronic resource management system.

• Ensure proper submission for final payment.