HELP PEER REVIEW FOR THE JOURNAL OF DIGITAL HUMANITIES

Digital Humanities Now is pleased to announce the Journal of Digital Humanities (ISSN 2165-6673), forthcoming in March 2012.

Select pieces are available for open peer review from February 14-29. We invite and encourage you to read, view, and listen to these posts and provide your comments and critiques for the authors.

INTRODUCING THE JOURNAL OF DIGITAL HUMANITIES

Digital Humanities Now is pleased to announce the Journal of Digital Humanities (ISSN 2165-6673), forthcoming in March 2012. In this comprehensive, peer-reviewed journal we will feature the best scholarship, projects, and tools produced by the digital humanities community in the previous quarter.

The Journal of Digital Humanities will offer expanded coverage of the digital humanities in three ways. First, we publish scholarly work beyond the traditional research article. Second, we select content from open and public discussions in the field. Third, we encourage continued discussion through peer-to-peer review.

The journal will be comprised of individual works that were selected as Editors’ Choice in Digital Humanities Now. These works range from written texts, to visual arguments, to audio-visual presentations. In order to promote the peer review of non-traditional scholarship, each issue will include solicited reviews of digital tools. When the community focuses extensively on a particular topic, a special section of the issue will feature the broader conversation. In our inaugural issue, Natalia Cecire, a postdoctoral fellow at the Fox Center for Humanistic Inquiry at Emory University, will introduce and guest edit a special section about theory and the digital humanities.

The works considered for inclusion in the Journal were made available for public consumption outside of formal publication methods by more than 400 scholars and groups in our Compendium of the Digital Humanities. From the more than 15,000 pieces published or shared by the digital humanities community last quarter, 85 were selected as Editors’ Choice in Digital Humanities Now. Of these 85, the ones that most influenced the community, as measured by interest, transmission, and response, have been selected for formal publication in the Journal.

We invite the digital humanities community to participate further in the review process through open peer review of the items selected for the Journal from February 14-29. If you would like your work to be considered for Digital Humanities Now and the next issue of the Journal, you can learn how to submit your work.

Our hope is that scholarship in the digital humanities is both refined and expanded through an open discussion of the ideas proposed and the methods pursued in the Journal.

- The Editors

Dan Cohen, Sasha Boni, Jeri Wieringa, and Joan Fragaszy Troyano

We are pleased to announce the publication of the inaugural issue of the Journal of eScience Librarianship (http://escholarship.umassmed.edu/jeslib/), a new online journal published by the Lamar Soutter Library at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.  The Journal of eScience Librarianship is an open access, peer-reviewed journal that advances the theory and practice of librarianship with a special focus on services related to data-driven research in the physical, biological, and medical sciences.  The inaugural issue includes the Proceedings of the Third Annual University of Massachusetts and New England Area Librarian e-Science Symposium held in the Spring of 2011. Feature articles include topics such as DataONE, librarian competencies, and the various levels of data services.

The Journal of eScience Librarianship explores the many roles of librarians in supporting eScience and is currently seeking submissions related to education, outreach, collaborations, current practices, and reviews of relevant resources and tools, by contributors from all areas of the globe. Articles covering both the theoretical and practical applications are welcomed. The Journal of eScience Librarianship also provides special features in each issue which include book reviews on subjects of interest to librarians supporting eScience and information on new technologies.  To read more, including our aims and scope and editorial board membership, please visit our website:http://escholarship.umassmed.edu/jeslib/

Elaine Martin, Editor-in-Chief

Florida State University Libraries Digital Archivist
Assistant or Associate Librarian (rank to be based on qualifications)

The Florida State University Libraries seeks a Digital Archivist to develop, implement, and provide leadership for digital initiatives involving Special Collections materials and services. The Digital Archivist will be creative, dynamic, and articulate and be skilled in digitization, metadata, project and website management, and digital preservation. The Digital Archivist will report to the Associate Dean for Special Collections and Archives.

Responsibilities:
 Collaborate in planning, creating, and managing digital collections
o Implement quality control procedures
o Prioritize and manage digital production across collections
o Investigate, plan, and manage format conversions and migration
o Investigate and provide leadership in the implementation of appropriate metadata
standards
 Oversee Special Collections’ archival and metadata operations and supervise metadata staff and
students
 Evaluate, plan, test, and implement migration of legacy finding aids, inventories, accession
information, and other relevant documentation into Archon, Special Collections’ archival data
management system
 Develop and provide training to library staff regarding resource description and metadata
management.
 Develop an expertise in linked data, semantic web applications, and ontologies for discovery of
bibliographic data and information.
 Serve as a metadata consultant to larger library projects/initiatives.
 Serve on a library team to create digital collections workflows and to address improving discovery
and access solutions for library users.
 Serve as a leader within and beyond Special Collections on matters of resource description and
metadata management.
 Communicate with the Digital Scholarship & Technology Department regarding Special Collections &
Digital Collections needs related to digital collections workflow, discovery metadata, etc.
 Provide leadership in defining preservation and access protocols for born-digital materials
 Maintain and expand web applications on the Special Collections Website using standards-compliant
markup, emerging web technologies, and best practices.
 Identify and collaborate with technical partners within the Library and across campus to design and
implement creative applications for access and preservation
 Actively promotes use of all the department’s collections by seeking out university faculty and
students, historic site and museum personnel, and members of the scholarly community and
general public who could benefit from the department’s services.
 Provides instructional classes on campus and makes presentations to non-university groups
 Shares responsibility for reference service in Special Collections with other department faculty and
staff.
Required Qualifications:
 Master’s degree in library and information science from a program accredited by the American Library Association or other relevant master’s degree
 Demonstrated organizational skills in planning, prioritizing, and achieving goals
 Experience with digital collections architecture and infrastructure.
 Experience developing functional requirements and workflows for programmers building new
content management applications and databases.
 Experience in the development and maintenance of web sites.
 Broad understanding of archival and digital technology related activities in an academic research
library setting
 Knowledge of emerging trends in digital technologies and archival practice and where they
might intersect.
 Knowledge of standards-based metadata schema, such as EAD, XML, MODS, and METS.
 Knowledge of digital archival and records management principles and practices.
 Knowledge of digital preservation best practices and standards for a variety of formats.
 Knowledge of principles, practices, and trends in archival administration and in historical
scholarship, methodology, and the use of sources.
 Ability to think creatively and problem solve.
 Ability to plan, coordinate, and implement effective programs, complex projects, and services
 Ability to communicate effectively in writing and verbally.
 Ability to take initiative and work independently and collaboratively
 Ability to relate to users at a variety of educational levels.
 Ability to work independently and as a member of a group in a changing environment.
 Record of successful performance of duties in prior job(s).
 Evidence of professional growth and mastery of ASERL competencies relevant to the specific job
assignment.

Preferred Qualifications:
 Experience writing, obtaining, and managing grants.
 Experience with Drupal
 Experience with linked data, semantic web applications, ontologies, and RDF.
 Experience in transformation of XML documents using XSLT
 Ability to write scripts and/or other programming skills.
 Experience with metadata issues related to the discovery of academic resources.

Additional Details:
This is a full-time, 12-month non-tenured faculty appointment. Benefits include 22 days vacation, 13 days sick leave, group medical, dental, and life insurance, an optional retirement program or state retirement, and no state or local income tax. With supervisor’s approval, may qualify for University tuition scholarship for up to six hours credit each semester. A full listing of benefits can be found at http://hr.fsu.edu/index.cfm?page=FacultyStaff_homepage.
Located in beautiful Tallahassee, Florida’s capital city, a growing community with a population of more than 357,000, the Florida State University, a public, coeducational institution of the 11-member State University System of Florida, has an enrollment of over 40,000 students. The Library system includes ten libraries and a variety of subject based Library Resource Reading Rooms. Campus libraries have combined volume holdings totaling over 3 million volumes. The Library is a member of ARL, ASERL, CRL,

OCLC, and Lyrasis. For more information about the Florida State University Libraries, see our home page at: http://www.lib.fsu.edu/

SALARY: Minimum starting salary – $45,000

Contact:
Policia Clyne, Library Human Resources Florida State University Libraries Tallahassee, FL 32306-2047 pclyne@fsu.edu
Phone: (850) 645-8404 Fax: (850) 644-5016

How To Apply :
If qualified and interested in the position as advertised, please apply through the Florida State University job site at https://jobs.fsu.edu. (Job ID # 33866)

Applicants are required to complete the online application with all applicable information. In one attachment, please include a cover letter with a complete statement of qualifications, a full resume of education and relevant experience, and the names, telephone numbers and e-mail addresses of at least three persons who are knowledgeable about your qualifications for this position. Applications must include work history and all education details (if applicable) even if attaching a resume. Equal Employment Opportunity. An Equal Opportunity/Access/Affirmative Action Employer.

Special Projects Librarian, Library Information Technology
(Three Year Term Appointment)

Basic Function and Responsibility:

The Special Projects Librarian assists the Associate University Librarian for Library Information Technology (AUL for LIT) in the coordination of major digital initiatives within the University Library. The Special Projects Librarian works with the AUL for LIT, as well as with key staff, in the delivery and management of digital library content and services, and will assist in the research and development of new library technologies. The Special Projects Librarian will assist in conducting the work of the LIT division. A significant component of this position includes coordination of activities such as digitization, which touch on a variety of LIT units. A high degree of coordination with staff within the Library is required. The Special Projects Librarian coordinates tasks, performs outreach and communication (particularly to other project staff), tracks the progress of projects, and performs a variety of duties as assigned, such as documentation. A specific area of focus currently includes coordinating our implementation of Omeka for the creation and presentation of online exhibits. This may constitute as much as 30% of the Special Project Librarian’s work in the first two years of the appointment and will include overseeing the development and documentation of policies, procedures, and workflows to guide, support, and inform the online exhibit creation process.

Specific responsibilities include:

Project management—50%

• Manage administrative aspects of ongoing large and complex projects; track project work-in-progress by senior staff to ensure that deadlines are met.
• Assist in defining appropriate workflows for projects and assume primary responsibility for documenting them.

• Independently research topics and prepare reports, presentations and/or written materials for use by the AUL for LIT.
• Gather, analyze and synthesize data and generate materials needed to facilitate decision-making.
• Edit and facilitate production of a variety of documents, including letters, special reports and sensitive communications.

General Divisional Support—25%

• Oversee/coordinate LIT web pages, including content, development and maintenance.
• Serve as a key resource for LIT policies and procedures (including generating and updating policies when required).
• Manage the flow of information to and from the AUL; disseminate information on his behalf to internal/external constituencies.
• Assist the AUL in maintaining communications and involvement with senior staff, including serving as liaison to AUL’s senior management staff.

Qualifications:

Required

• An ALA-accredited Master’s degree in Library or Information Science; or an equivalent combination of a relevant degree and experience.
• Demonstrated experience with project planning/tracking.
• Demonstrated experience with project communication with a diverse project team, including external partners.
• Experience in working with information resources, document analysis, and implementing resources on the World Wide Web.
• Ability to work independently and to contribute successfully to and function effectively within a team setting.
• Ability to establish measurable goals and objectives and to implement strategies to achieve them.
• Interpersonal skills to work effectively up and down reporting lines as well as with external constituencies.
• Demonstrated oral and written communication skills.
• Strong analytical skills and ability to solve problems creatively and diplomatically.

Preferred:

• Basic web programming experience (e.g., Perl or PHP).

BENEFITS, RANK, and SALARY

It is anticipated that the position will be filled at the Assistant Librarian level; final rank and salary are dependent on experience and qualifications. Librarians receive 24 days of vacation a year, 15 days of sick leave a year with provisions for extended benefits, as well as opportunities for professional development and travel.

Further information regarding benefits can be found at http://benefits.umich.edu/benefitgroups/faculty.html.

RETIREMENT OPTIONS: TIAA-CREF and Fidelity Investments options available.

APPLICATION PROCESS
Email a cover letter and CV as attachments to libhumres@umich.edu, addressed to:
Jane Havens
Head of Library Human Resources
404 Hatcher Graduate Library North
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1190

THATCamp Caribe will be hosted by the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus, November 12-14.

This is a great opportunity for attendees to the American Studies Association 2012 conference (in San Juan, Nov. 15-18) to also take in a THATCamp. The Haitian Studies Association Conference is Nov. 8-10, so it’s possible to add another trip right after HSA.

Brooke Wooldridge, Director of the Digital Library of the Caribbean (dLOC), will be flying from HSA to THATCamp Caribe, where I’ll be meeting Brooke. We’re both looking forward to THATCamp Caribe, sharing about dLOC, and learning about what other folks are doing and interested in!

Mark your calendars! Registration for THATCamp opens April the 17th!

The full posting is on TAMU’s IDHMC website, and also copied below for ease.

Job Posting

Texas A&M University seeks to hire at the level of Associate or Full Professor a dynamic scholar with an established record in digital humanities research and academic leadership to participate–as Associate Director–in establishing an interdisciplinary Institute for Digital Humanities, Media, and Culture. The Institute has been designated one of eight Texas A&M Initial University Multidisciplinary Research Initiatives (and thus is the recipient of substantial start-up funding). The new appointment would be hired with tenure in an academic department that is closely associated with his or her main research direction, including Texas A&M’s innovative Visualization Department. Possible research areas include but are not limited to Visualization (including information and scientific visualization), Computer Science, Anthropology, Architecture, Digital Rhetorics, Ethics, or Philosophy. The Institute for Digital Humanities, Media, and Culture supports interdisciplinary scholarly and creative work that broadly explores the relationship between computing technologies and culture.  Candidates may be trained in disciplines related to visual culture and media literacy, broadly construed, and globalization and internationalization of culture.   Furthermore, we are interested in scholars who bridge the gap between critical and creative studies as well as those who have an interest in developing grant and funded projects.

The appointee’s responsibilities include working with the Director to initiate and develop an internal research program and facilities (including a new digital humanities laboratory), actively engaging external partners (including other research programs, educational institutions, and leaders in the technology industries, securing supplemental funding from such external agencies as NEH, Mellon, ACLS, and NEA), and teaching. The successful applicant will have an outstanding scholarly or artistic record in digital humanities, digital media, and/or digital culture, including substantial experience in interdisciplinary, collaborative research and in obtaining and administering grant funding.  Classroom teaching expected outside the Institute for Digital Humanities, Media, and Culture, within the successful candidate’s home department.

Texas A&M University already supports a variety of high-profile and emerging projects involving digital humanities and offers a Digital Humanities Certificate (http://dh.tamu.edu/certificate). The new appointee will help to develop these existing strengths into a top-echelon, interdisciplinary Digital Humanities Institute and program.  A copy of the whitepaper that established this research area is available upon request.

Minorities and women are strongly encouraged to apply. Texas A&M is an AA/EEO employer, is deeply committed to diversity, and responds to the needs of dual-career couples.

Please send a letter of application, a curriculum vitae, and 4-6 recommendation letters.  Applications will be considered until the position is filled.

Professor Laura Mandell
Director, Initiative for Digital Humanities, Media, and Culture
Department of English
4227 TAMU
College Station, TX 77843-4227
mandell@tamu.edu

I guess the first things that I am trying to build are bridges. Bridges between different humanities disciplines (translation, comparative literature) and bring them into digital humanities, at least in a more visible way. Looking at Mark Sample’s list of DH sessions at MLA 12, I was struck at how those working in a language other than English were off on their own panels, and probably largely attended not by those in DH but those who also worked in that language area. I think, more generally, DH could do more to bridge linguistic divides.

At MLA, I heard a few people who were focused on languages other than English say that the areas they were in hadn’t done as much with the digital humanities as English. I thought this was strange because the desires and structures in the digital humanities, in many ways, have so many analogs to existing departments and programs that bridge linguistic divides, especially with National Resource Centers.

The Department of Education makes grants to National Resource Centers to:

establish, strengthen, and operate language and area or international studies centers that will be national resources for teaching any modern foreign language. Grants support: instruction in fields needed to provide full understanding of areas, regions or countries; research and training in international studies; work in the language aspects of professional and other fields of study; and instruction and research on issues in world affairs. (Department of Education website)

This statement seems rather far-reaching and inclusive, and that’s what I’ve seen of the amazing work done by National Resource Centers. Through the Digital Library of the Caribbean (dLOC), I’ve had the opportunity to collaborate with several National Resource Centers, including the Center for Latin American Studies UF.  UF’s Center for Latin American Studies does fabulous work with a wide array of research, teaching, and service. The work includes a high degree of cross-disciplinary collaboration and a great deal of building, including being active collaborators and partners in building dLOC. For dLOC, UF’s Center collaborated with FIU’s Latin American and Caribbean Center, another partner in founding dLOC, and many others.

dLOC is absolutely incredible. It’s inspired me to learn many things, including more about the history, structure, and relationships of various aspects of academia, including National Resource Centers. I love dLOC for what it is, does, and represents in terms of the possibilities for the digital humanities. dLOC is only one, granted a successful and wonderful one, example of things built with collaboration by National Resource Centers.

Given that National Resource Centers actively build things, they do it collaboratively, and they include many alternative academics, to me, they seem always already present in conversations about the digital humanities to me, except in regards to terminology. UF’s Center for Latin American Studies has always built things in collaboration with others, using the appropriate technology of the time. Perhaps the “digital humanities” terminology hasn’t yet had enough time to articulate its difference to, yet connection with, the work already being done.

Or, maybe I have more to learn on the Centers and their relationship to the digital humanities.  That’s certainly an exciting possibility, given the rich history of UF’s Center for Latin American Studies. Whatever the case may be, for future work I’m excited to be able to have National Resource Centers as partners in and models for doing digital humanities work. I’m looking forward to doing more digital humanities work with dLOC with National Resource Center partners, and more digital humanities work with other National Resource Center partners. UF has other National Resource Centers as well. For example, I’ve worked closely with Dan Reboussin, Head of the African Studies Collection in the Libraries, to support the Center for African Studies by working with Dan to build the African Studies Digital Collections.

The Department of Education website includes a list of all of the currently funded National Resource Centers, which is a great resource for finding collaborators for many projects, including the digital humanities.

This is a great example of how researchers can use the web to both share and further their research. I’m hoping Rebecca soon has new leads, of her own finding and from others!

As a result of this agreement, the CDL will assist with PKP’s ongoing development and support of its open source software suite — Open Journal Systems (OJS), Open Conference Systems (OCS), and Open Harvester System (OHS), with Open Monograph Press (OMP) due for release in the coming year.

Chuck Eckman, Dean of Library Services at Simon Fraser University stated: “The California Digital Library is widely recognized for its record of innovation and leadership in the domain of scholarly publishing and the SFU Library is thrilled at the prospects this new collaborative venture creates for advancing our shared scholarly communication goals.”  Laine Farley, Executive Director of CDL, noted, “Not only are we extremely pleased with the flexibility afforded by OJS, we are also delighted to join this growing international community and contribute to the future growth of this publishing solution.”

The California Digital Library, in partnership with the University of California campus libraries, supports and encourages open access publishing initiatives within the UC system through its eScholarship publishing and institutional repository platform. eScholarship provides a suite of open access, scholarly publishing services and research tools that enable departments, research units, publishing programs, and individual scholars associated with the University of California to have direct control over the creation and dissemination of the full range of their scholarship.  Home to 45 peer-reviewed journals (http://escholarship.org/uc/search?smode=browse;browse-journal=aa), eScholarship has recently transitioned to OJS as its journal management and submission system and has integrated OJS with its pre/post-print, books and working papers repository, which contains more than 45,000 UC-affiliated publications.

John Willinsky, Khosla Family Professor of Education at Stanford University, Library Scholar in Residence and Professor (Limited Term) in Publishing Studies at Simon Fraser University, and founding Director of PKP stated: “Given the leadership, innovation, and engagement shown by CDL in moving scholarly communication into a digital era marked by a spirit of greater openness and sharing aimed at the advancement of learning, this partnership provides a wonderful opportunity for PKP to further explore ways that faculty and librarians can work together to make more of what we do more of a public good.”

The California Digital Library provides digital library development and support for the University of California libraries and the communities they serve.  The CDL Publishing Group delivers open access digital publication services to the University of California academic community, supports widespread distribution of UC research materials, and fosters new models of scholarly publishing through the development and application of advanced technologies. (For further information contact Catherine Mitchell, director of CDL Publishing atcatherine.mitchell@ucop.edu 510.587.6132.)

PKP is dedicated to improving the scholarly and public quality of research.  With more than 11,500 installations of Open Journal Systems (OJS); Open Conference Systems (OCS); and Open Harvester Systems (OHS) around the world, the Public Knowledge Project (PKP) has proven that open source software can be a game changer in scholarly publishing.

In September 2011, PKP officially launched a major sustainability campaign to ensure the continued development and enhancement of its open source software suite and to provide better support for the growing PKP user community.  To find out more about this initiative and how your site can become a PKP sponsor visit the PKP Web site at http://pkp.sfu.ca

dLOC has now had over 10 million hits!

To be exact, dLOC has had 10,447,708 hits with 747,711 in January 2012 alone.

Congratulations to dLOC, all who work to support and contribute to dLOC, and to the world for making so many wonderful materials available, recognizing dLOC’s value, and using dLOC!