Project Manager

Description

The Digital Public Library of America (DPLA), currently based at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University but moving to a permanent location by spring 2013, is an ambitious project to make the cultural and scientific heritage of humanity available, free of charge, to all. By adhering to the fundamental principle of free and universal access to knowledge, it will promote education in the broadest sense of the term. That is, it will function as an online library for students of all ages, from grades K-12 to postdoctoral researchers and anyone seeking self-instruction; it will be a deep resource for community colleges, vocational schools, colleges and universities; it will supplement the services of public libraries in every corner of the country; and it will satisfy other needs as well—the need for data related to employment, for practical information of all kinds, and for enrichment in the use of leisure.

Content Division
The first major effort to add content to the DPLA is underway through the Digital Hubs Pilot Project, funded by NEH, IMLS and the Knight Foundation. The object of the Hubs Project is to strengthen and connect existing state infrastructure to create a system of Service Hubs from which aggregated data from libraries, museums, historical societies and archives are harvested. Each Service Hub will offer a full menu of standardized digital services to local institutions, including digitization, metadata consultation, data aggregation and storage services, as well as locally hosted community outreach programs bringing users in contact with digital content of local relevance. Service Hubs will serve as an on-ramp for every institution in a pilot state or region to participate in the DPLA network. In addition to Service Hubs, Content Hubs are those existing large digital libraries that will have a one-toone relationship with the DPLA. Large digital content producers like the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Harvard, and others will work with the DPLA directly to identify and prepare their collections for aggregation by the DPLA. Content Hubs that will participate in the initial launch of the DPLA are currently being identified with anticipation of many more to follow.

Position Description
The Project Manager position provides an opportunity to play an important role in the development of our national digital library by working with DPLA staff and collaborators throughout the country.   This position is only available through the ACLS Public Fellows program. You may not contact the host institution to inquire about this position.

The Project Manager will:

• manage a portfolio of select research projects related to the Hubs project (including conducting research and analysis);
• manage the addition of several content Hubs to DPLA, including project management of the process from agreement signing through ingestion of data and data evaluation;
• write blogs posts, presentations, reports, white papers and other  publications for promotion or dissemination of research or activities;
• plan and organize internal and external meetings and workshops;
• broaden the scope of participants through networking,  focused outreach  and or participation in conferences;
• as part of a team, write grants to support content infrastructure development; and
• act as an active participate in the overall development of the organization.

Qualifications

• Ph.D. in the humanities or humanistic social sciences
• Strong desire to research the impact of transformative technologies
• Excellent writing skills and research, data analysis and analytical ability
• Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail
• Flexibility, initiative and strong problem-solving abilities
• Excellent interpersonal and cross-cultural skills
• Ability to work collaboratively and without supervision
• Willingness to move to DPLA permanent headquarters (TBA by April 2013)
• Knowledge of one or more of the following fields is desirable:
• Digital Humanities
• Digital Scholarship
• Data Management/Curation
• Data Modeling
• Libraries and Scholarly Communication

Applications
Information on the ACLS Public Fellows Program:  www.acls.org/programs/publicfellows All applications must be submitted through the ACLS Online Fellowship Application System (ofa.acls.org). Application deadline: March 27, 2013