Technical Collaboration Facilitator

Description

The Technology Collaboration Facilitator within the Stanford University Libraries (SUL) serves as an expert in the software, standards, architectures and models for technologies of use to Libraries, Archives and Museums (LAMs). As part of its digital library strategy, SUL aggressively promotes and engages with the technical communities in the LAM sector, with the objective of developing mutually rewarding collaborations, development of shared solutions, and convergence on common architectures, models and standards that advance SUL's mission and services.

This position will serve as a vital conduit between SUL and the larger technology community. As an expert technologist, the Technology Collaboration Facilitator will demonstrate exceptional depth and breadth of issues and solutions in this space, and the ability to quickly come up to speed in new areas. As an advocate, the incumbent will do outreach, training and dissemination of emerging technologies within Stanford and to other LAM institutions. As an ambassador, s/he will identify and broker connections, collaborations and opportunities for convergence and reuse of existing technologies.

This is a three-year term position, with the possibility for renewal.

Primary Responsibilities:

Advance the IIIF and Shared Canvas initiatives; capture use cases, organize workshops, convene working group meetings, collaborate to enhance, extend and update both specifications. Organize and deliver outreach and training events to potential adopters. Identify opportunities for uptake by LAMs and software developers (open source and commercial). Assist new adopters and integrators with implementation and issues. Produce and maintain public documentation and demonstrators of both specifications. (30%).

Cross-pollinate sites and projects with technological expertise; serve as a vector for capturing and diffusing know how among the LAM community via reports, blog postings, proposed designs, recommended collaborations, conducting trainings, organizing workshops, and producing "state of the art" reports on emerging issues and solutions. Orchestrate the annual LDCX Conference at Stanford. (30%)

Engage in strategic LAM technology projects in any of various possible capacities: architect, data modeler, prototype developer, engineer, evaluator, documentation writer / trainer, evangelist and advocate for collaboration and convergence. Identify and articulate opportunities for definition of or convergence on standards, adaptation of existing code, and cross-project synergies. Arrange for inter-institutional code sprints on projects of common interest. (20%)

Track and, as appropriate, contribute to known and emerging best practices in digital resource access for both human and machine users, such as W3C standards, RDF, linked data, Open Annotation, and schema.org. (15%).

Conduct site visits, detailed exploration of other projects, and consulting for specified LAM initiatives. Identify opportunities to use and contribute to existing community efforts (5%).

Qualifications:

Required Qualifications and Demonstrated Experience:

• Demonstrated expertise in web architectures, technology and standards.
• Demonstrated ability to develop new programming skills quickly, and to grasp unfamiliar architectures and application designs quickly.
• Demonstrated expertise with XML and related tools and technologies (e.g., XML schema, schema management and databases, XSLT, X-forms).
• Demonstrated familiarity with RDF and linked data, and related tools, technologies and issues.
• Broad experience with software architectures, from n-tier, RDBMS-backed web applications, to no-SQL stores and semantic web systems.
• Demonstrated expertise in user-centered design, test-driven development, traditional and agile software development methodologies.
• Experience in and ability to work on complex software projects from specification to launch.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills; ability to write extensively, accurately and in a timely manner on technical topics for audiences of all levels.
• Excellent interpersonal skills; ability to work with all levels of staff, vendors, and community members. Sensitive to and effective in working with the LAM sector, nationally and internationally.
• Quick and self-bootstrapping learner. Particularly adept at quickly learning new scripting and programming languages.

Desired Knowledge and Skills:

• Advanced degree desired
• Demonstrated experience participating in open source software project, including distributed development, community engagement, building and maintenance.
• Demonstrated experience with library applications and technology, including experience participating in relevant library open source efforts.
• Familiarity with XML schemas used to describe digitized cultural heritage materials, such as TEI, MODS, METS, and EAD.
• Prior, successful experience working as a professional in an academic, archival, library and/or museum environment.
• Seven plus years of relevant experience required for 4P4 classification. More than 10 years relevant experience and proven, substantial contributions to significant national or international LAM or information science endeavors required for 4P5 classification.