Data Integrity and Metadata Coordinator

Description

Data Integrity and Metadata Coordinator
Department of English and Film Studies
Competition No.  -     S110419248
Posting Date  -     Nov 28, 2012
Closing Date  -     Dec 09, 2012

Position Type  -     Part Time - Grant Funded
Salary Range  -     $3,064 to $4,201 (pro-rated) per month
Grade  -     09
Hours  -     25


This position has an end date of March 31, 2014 and offers a comprehensive benefits package which can be viewed at: www.hrs.ualberta.ca.

Summary

The Canadian Writing Research Collaboratory virtual research environment’s system will rely on the quality of the data it contains. While the CWRC platform is being developed, data entry will begin using Orlando’s existing systems and protocols. Within that system, the Data Integrity and Metadata Coordinator will have primary responsibility for data quality control and for contributing substantially to the development of metadata and workflow management within the Collaboratory system. As the Collaboratory moves into testing and production mode, the activity of this team member will shift from the cleanup, monitoring, and disambiguation of materials and participation in specifications and development of the Collaboratory, to the evaluation, beta-testing and documentation of the new automated systems within CWRC. The position involves assisting with the supervision of project employees, including graduate research assistants and employees of the Arts Resource Centre.

Duties

A major responsibility of the Data Integrity and Metadata Coordinator is to ensure the integrity of encoded materials in the developing CWRC system.  S/he will play a key role in the design of the entity management system for CWRC in order to provide a single point of reference for which all people, places, organizations, titles, and bibliographical records will refer.  Providing expertise and guidance in metadata standards and management, s/he will develop metadata crosswalks to ensure the interoperability of CWRC materials and their metadata.  S/he will develop, implement, and document XML schemas and advise the development team to ensure metadata standards are incorporated into the repository content model.  In this position, the successful candidate will initiate suggestions for functionalities, develop scenarios describing the functionalities in use, and play a central role in the development of those specifications for tools to automate the production system.  In addition, s/he will oversee data conversion to appropriate formats for CWRC.  As a part of CWRC’s ongoing development, the successful candidate will test, make recommendations, and assist with the integration of various digital tools, such as mapping and timelining.  Also, s/he will work with members of the larger team to test, develop, and improve various CWRC interfaces, including input pages, search pages, and other sites of user interactivity. In conjunction with programming team, s/he will also take a lead role in prototyping spatial interfaces, evaluating possible software solutions, and developing specifications for the spatial visualization interface.

Qualifications

    The ideal candidate will have a B.A. in any subject (literature or history preferred); M.A. preferred; equivalent combinations of education and experience may be considered
    Further qualification in library science, humanities computing, or IT highly desirable; such expertise will lead to deeper involvement in the research side of project
    Knowledge of XML, including schema development, and of metadata schemas and practices related to the humanities highly desirable
    Experience in software development projects, user testing, and digital humanities research highly desirable
    Experience working with Fedora and/or Drupal desirable
    Solid electronic literacy with respect to standard tools, file management, and use of the internet for research purposes; preferably some familiarity with text encoding or advanced web design; confidence around technology; willingness to learn new skills and experiment with new tools
    Some experience of large collaborative research projects (especially in the humanities) an advantage, but not essential