Digital Humanities Librarian
Assistant or Associate Professor, University Library
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Position Available:
Position available immediately. This is a 100%, twelve-month, tenure-system appointment.
The University of Illinois is an Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action employer. Minorities, women, veterans and individuals with disabilities are encouraged to apply. For more information, visit
http://go.illinois.edu/EEO. To learn more about the University’s commitment to diversity, please visit
http://www.inclusiveillinois.illinois.edu.
Position Summary:
The University Library at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is seeking a creative, innovative, collaborative, and intellectually curious individual to lead digital humanities services in the Library. The successful candidate will contribute to engaged, inclusive digital scholarship across campus. We encourage applicants who are committed to the principle that a diverse community enhances our institution and who will help the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign achieve new levels of excellence by fostering and sustaining our diverse and inclusive academic environment.
Reporting to the Head of Scholarly Communication and Publishing, the Digital Humanities Librarian leads outreach and services for research and instruction in the humanities and arts that employs digital technologies and data. Working with colleagues in the library’s Scholarly Commons, Research Data Service, and Scholarly Communication and Publishing units, Library Information Technology, Media Commons, special collections curators and archivists, and subject liaisons, the Digital Humanities Librarian is part of a team of functional and subject experts that works with researchers on digital scholarship broadly.
The Digital Humanities Librarian typically serves as the initial point of referral for humanities and affiliated researchers as they begin digital research and teaching projects, referring to and collaborating with these other experts as necessary. Building on a history of increasing library support for digital humanities on campus, the librarian plays a key role in furthering digital humanities library services, collaborating with others to fulfil needs identified in the library’s recent
Digital Humanities Needs Assessment Report and providing ongoing assessment for new and existing activities. This role includes working to further the development of the library’s Scholarly Commons as a hub for digital humanities collaboration and discussion. The librarian also collaborates with other areas of campus that provide complementary services for digital research (including the NCSA Culture and Society Initiative, an emerging design center network, and others) to provide referrals and maximize impact.
Duties and Responsibilities:
- Provide both reference services and in-depth research consultations for faculty and students on digital humanities-related research, in collaboration with colleagues;
- Design and deliver instruction to classes, research groups, and other audiences to further information literacy and digital literacy outcomes;
- Acquire and manage humanities research data (e.g., text and media corpora from commercial publishers) in consultation with others;
- Work with librarians, library IT, and researchers to evaluate digital scholarship tools and select and implement the most appropriate tools to meet specific needs;
- Serve as the primary point of consultation for researchers with questions about text and data mining tools and approaches;
- Work with colleagues on digital humanities-related publishing activities and scholarly communications outreach related to digital humanities research;
- Collaborate with colleagues in the Scholarly Commons and other units on outreach activities related to digital scholarship, and on fostering the Scholarly Commons as a collaborative space for digital humanities work;
- Assess evolving campus needs and represent the Library in campus initiatives and activities involving digital humanities related research and data science, including serving as a liaison to the Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities and other relevant initiatives;
- Facilitate professional development opportunities for library faculty and staff, including subject specialists, in digital humanities areas relevant to their interests and responsibilities;
- Contribute to the national and international reputation of the University Library through professional research, service, and collaboration with national colleagues, organizations, and consortia.
Qualifications:
Required:
ALA-accredited MS-LIS or equivalent, or a PhD in the humanities or humanistic social sciences (completed by start date) with two years of relevant experience with digital projects;
Understanding of traditional and emerging digital approaches to research and publication in humanities work, and of how new digital approaches can reshape research and teaching in the humanities;
Experience with research software or programming languages used within some area of digital humanities, such as text and data mining, network analysis, or multimodal publishing;
Experience teaching in workshop or classroom settings;
Excellent oral and written communications skills;
Demonstrated ability to work both independently and collaboratively with a diverse community, and manage multiple tasks effectively in a team environment;
Evidence of the ability to do research, publication, and service consonant with University standards for tenure and promotion.
Preferred:
Experience teaching technology and digital literacy concepts;
Experience authoring or collaborating on digital humanities projects in research or instruction;
Coursework or experience using a programming language, especially one commonly used in digital humanities projects such as Python or R;
Demonstrated understanding of metadata standards and data curation practices relevant to digital humanities work;
Familiarity with copyright and licensing issues related to digital projects.
