Librarian, Volunteer

LIBRARIAN, VOLUNTEER

About the Pet Cancer Foundation

The Pet Cancer Foundation’s vision is to increase the life expectancy and improve the quality of life of pets diagnosed with cancer. Each year, an estimated 12 million dogs and cats are diagnosed with cancer, roughly six times the rate in humans. We’re working to change that.

As our website and content library continue to grow, we need a centralized, searchable repository for the thousands of source materials and images that support our articles and visuals. The volunteer Librarian will make it easy for our research, writing, and design teams to find, reuse, and cite resources efficiently while avoiding duplication and ensuring consistency. That’s where you can help.

About the Position

The volunteer Librarian is responsible for creating and overseeing PCF’s centralized digital library of research assets (peer-reviewed manuscripts, GRADE and GRADE-CERQual summaries) and visual assets (images used across our online platforms). Starting with a comprehensive audit of existing files scattered across Google Drive, the Librarian will organize them into a structured, searchable system, develop standardized metadata tagging protocols, and implement processes for ongoing ingestion, deduplication, and retrieval. This role lays the foundation for scalable knowledge management as PCF grows, potentially supervising assistant volunteers in the future, and ensures our teams can quickly access high-quality, properly attributed resources to produce accurate and impactful content.

Please leave a note with your application to acknowledge your awareness that this is a volunteer role. We will only proceed with candidates who confirm their understanding of its volunteer nature.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Conduct a full audit of existing research manuscripts, GRADE/GRADE-CERQual summaries, and website images stored in Google Drive and other locations to compile a complete inventory.
• Design and implement a logical folder structure, naming conventions, and metadata schema tailored to scientific literature (e.g., topic, cancer type, treatment modality, publication year) and images (e.g., subject, breed, usage rights, source).
• Apply consistent metadata tags to all assets, enabling advanced search, filtering, and retrieval; develop and document tagging guidelines for future contributors.
• Identify and remove duplicate images and manuscripts while maintaining version control and attribution records.
• Establish workflows and SOPs for ingesting new research papers, summaries, and images, including quality checks, copyright/licensing verification, and proper categorization.
• Recommend and help implement tools or enhancements (e.g., Google Drive advanced features, shared spreadsheets, or affordable third-party solutions) to improve searchability and collaboration.
• Work with the HR Training and Development team to provide input on their development of training and support materials for the PCF team on how to search, submit, and properly use library assets.
• Monitor library usage, gather feedback, and continuously refine organization, metadata standards, and processes to support PCF’s growing content needs.

About You

You’re a highly organized, detail-oriented individual with a passion for turning chaos into order. You thrive on creating systems that make information instantly accessible and enjoy the detective work of auditing and categorizing complex assets. With strong analytical skills and a methodical approach, you’re comfortable working independently while collaborating with multiple teams. You bring:

Qualifications

• 2+ years of experience in library science, digital asset management, knowledge management, archival work, or research repository administration (academic, medical, or nonprofit settings preferred).
• Familiarity with metadata standards, taxonomies, controlled vocabularies, and tagging best practices (experience with Dublin Core, IPTC for images, or scientific schemas is a plus).
• Proficiency in Google Workspace (Drive, Sheets, Docs) and comfort evaluating or learning digital asset management tools (e.g., basic DAM platforms or resource libraries).
• Strong organizational skills with experience auditing, deduplicating, and structuring large collections of documents and images.
• Excellent attention to detail and ability to develop clear documentation and training materials.
• Understanding of copyright, licensing, and attribution issues for research papers and stock/user-generated images.
• A background in library/information science, is advantageous but not required.

What We Provide You With

Volunteering as Library Manager gives you the opportunity to build a lasting infrastructure that directly powers PCF’s evidence-based content and reaches millions of pet families. You’ll work closely with our editorial and creative teams, gain hands-on experience in scientific knowledge management, and create a tangible legacy as our resource library becomes the backbone of our growing organization.

Footnotes

• Community Service: Please include a short note with your application that clearly states you are willing to volunteer.
• Location: Fully virtual, open to candidates across Canada and the United States.
• Time Commitment: 4-6 hours per week.
• Learn More: Visit www.petcancerfdn.org for more about our mission and impact.