Digital Library Center Blog | UF

The National Library of Jamaica was awarded nearly $3 million through the 2009 Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP) to conserve the Enos Nuttall Manuscripts. The Jamaica Gleaner explains that the grant:

will save historically important documents which once belonged to the esteemed Enos Nuttall who served as bishop. His collection consists of 38 boxes of letters written by governors of Jamaica, clergy and laymen identified as a source of important perspectives during the period immediately following the Morant Bay Rebellion of 1865 up to and including the World War I. The manuscripts also provide information on the formation and development of several institutions including schools, mental institutions, prisons and the poor relief services.

Congratulations to the National Library of Jamaica!

Digital Archivist; Manuscripts & Archives; Sterling Memorial Library; Yale University; Rank: Librarian II

The University and the Library

The Yale University Library, as one of the world’s leading research libraries, collects, organizes, preserves, and provides access to and services for a rich and unique record of human thought and creativity. It fosters intellectual growth and supports the teaching and research missions of Yale University and scholarly communities worldwide. A distinctive strength is its rich spectrum of resources, including approximately thirteen million volumes and information in all media, ranging from ancient papyri to early printed books to electronic databases. The Library is engaging in numerous projects to expand access to its physical and digital collections. Housed in twenty-two buildings including the Sterling Memorial Library, the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, and the new Bass Library, it employs a dynamic and diverse staff of nearly six hundred who offer innovative and flexible services to library readers. For additional information on the Yale University Library, please visit the Library’s Web site.

General Purpose

Reporting to the Senior Archivist for Digital Information Systems/Head of the University Archives, the Digital Archivist will join a dynamic group of archivists and helps to ensure effective acquisition, description, preservation, future migration, access to and security of digital component of manuscripts collections acquired by the department. Primary focus will be on the management, appraisal, description, and preservation of born-digital components of manuscripts collections.

Responsibilities

Drives management, appraisal, description, and preservation of born-digital components of manuscripts collections. Explores and proposes new technologies, including Web 2.0, to meet research and reference needs of
patrons and staff. Serves as the systems team liaison to the public services unit. Under the direction of the Senior Archivist for Digital Information Services, the systems team employs digital technologies to transform
departmental processes and operations and ensures the functioning of the department’s technology infrastructure. Serves as the web manager for the Manuscripts & Archives and Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonials (VAHT) public web portals, utilizing Cascade Server content management system, and is responsible for maintaining and updating the department’s internal policies and procedures web site, utilizing SharePoint. Assists in research services functions of the department through weekly service on the reference desk, involvement in primary source instruction, and assistance with the exhibit program. Utilizing departmental and library digital infrastructure, manages preservation and access copies resulting from digital duplication. Assesses existing infrastructure and suggests changes as necessary. Supports and manages technical aspects of the VAHT digitization collections digitization project. Actively participates in library- and university-wide efforts to preserve
and disseminate digital collections, wherever that work might be undertaken. Serves on requisite committees, as necessary. In particular, participates in the development of digital repository functionality to support users in
determining the existence, description, location, and availability of digital collections stored in the repository, as well as applying restrictions and controls to limit access to specially protected collections, generating responses, and delivering the responses to users. Addresses the integration of digital collections with EAD finding aids. Provides technical skills (XML, XSL – stylesheet transformation and XSL FO for PDF generation) to support EAD finding aids maintenance and development throughout the Yale University Library. Engages actively with professional organizations and literature; keeps abreast of archival trends and developments. Participates in and contributes to library long-term planning and is professionally active in library, scholarly and/or academic organizations. Represents the library and the University in the academic and professional community by serving on various committees and task forces. May be required to assist with disaster recovery efforts. May be assigned to work at West Campus location in West Haven, CT.

Qualifications

Master’s degree from an ALA-accredited program for library and information science and/or Master’s degree in history or related discipline; and a minimum of two years professional archival or digital records management experience and demonstrated professional accomplishments. Demonstrated knowledge of digital archival and records management principles and practices, as well as the systems and automation techniques utilized. Demonstrated ability to work with databases, migrate data from one database system to another, and develop functional requirements for programmers building new database applications. Familiarity with EAD, MODS, METS, XML/XSL and other data structure standards relevant to the archival control of digital collection materials. Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing. Demonstrated skills in web site creation and management. Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a team environment. Preferred: Experience integrating digital and non-digital material into archival arrangement and description. Experience with web-based content management systems and page authoring tools such as Cascade Server and SharePoint. Experience providing reference service in an academic repository. Ability to conduct training in technical areas.

Salary and Benefits

Rank and competitive salary will be based upon the successful candidate’s qualifications and experience. Full benefits package including pro-rated 22 vacation days; 18 holiday, recess and personal days; comprehensive health care; TIAA/CREF or Yale retirement plan; and relocation assistance. Applications consisting of a cover letter, resume, and the names, titles, and contact information for three professional references should be sent by creating an account and applying online at www.yale.edu/jobs for immediate consideration - the STARS req ID for these position is 8022BR. Please be sure to reference #8022BR in your cover letter.

Background Check Requirements

All external candidates for employment will be subject to pre-employment screening. All offers are contingent on successful completion of a background check. Internal candidates are also subject to pre-employment screening for this position (credit).

Yale University is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer. Yale values diversity in its faculty, staff, and students and strongly encourages applications from women and members of underrepresented minority groups.

Brown University’s Center for Digital Scholarship (http://dl.lib.brown.edu.revproxy.brown.edu) (CDS) and the John Nicholas Brown Center for Public Humanities and Cultural Heritage (http://www.brown.edu/jnbc) (JNBC) are seeking individuals to apply for a fellowship to direct the digital aspects of the Fox Point Community History Project. The digital fellow will work with faculty and staff in both the CDS and JNBC as well as other Brown faculty and students undertaking related work to develop an online public history resource that incorporates oral history, primary documents (photographs, letters, clippings), geospatial data, documentary film, statistical data and other materials. This multidimensional, interactive framework will provide avenues for both scholarly and public engagement. This fellowship is contingent upon funding from the NEH Fellowships at Digital Humanities Centers program (http://www.neh.gov/grants/guidelines/fdhc.html).

Interested individuals should provide a 2 page curriculum vitae as well as a statement of interest that provides an overview of relevant experience by September 5. Please submit applications and/or any questions to Patrick Yott, Director of the Center for Digital Scholarship, at Patrick_Yott@brown.edu.

More information at http://proteus.brown.edu/jnbc/819

The Rose Hill Manor Park & Children’s Museum in Frederick, Maryland will soon be printing new copies of historic children’s books from the Baldwin Library of Historical Children’s Literature Digital Collection. The children’s books will be used for their story hour program where they read stories to children and let them act out part of the story and do a craft; their Playtime Monday programs that encourage children and parents to explore their facilities and spend time reading and playing together; tours; and history camp programs where they teach kids about school days for children in the past.

It’s always exciting to share old materials from the University of Florida Libraries in new ways, whether digitally or in print once again!

The second international Congress of the Haitian Diaspora “Haitian Diaspora Unity Congress” is being organized by The Haitian League with the cooperation of its chapters and affiliates, and numerous other supporting organizations and agencies. This will be the first time that representatives of Haitian Diaspora in a number of countries will convene under one roof to find long-term solutions to the major issues that plague Haitians in and out of Haiti.

Themed “HAITIAN DIASPORA UNITY CONGRESS”, the purpose of the 2009 Congress — “La Grande Reunion de la Famille Haitienne” — is to coalesce and capitalize on the Haitian Diaspora´s resources (intellectual, financial, professional, and charitable, etc.) to develop solution-oriented strategies to aid Haitians at home and abroad.

For Haiti, the emphasis will be on economic independence — boosting tourism, stimulating agricultural production, restoring forests and ecology, managing water supplies, preparing for disasters, achieving literacy, thus creating new jobs in cities and the countryside.

For the millions of Haitians outside Haiti, the emphasis will be on ways to improve the Diaspora´s integration into the fabric of their adopted countries - increasing education and employment opportunities, overcoming declining earnings and relative poverty, and advocating justice and fair immigration and justice.

Conference participants are expected to gain a consensus how to best tackle the daunting challenges of Haiti´s underdevelopment, and how to best leverage our adopted lands´ capital (educational, professional, electoral, etc) to improve ours and our children´s future and how to transplant change to Haiti.

For a specific schedule of the weekend´s events, please see the Haitian Diaspora Unity Congress website.